378 General Monthly Meeting. [July 2, 



GENERAL MONTHLY MEETING, 



Monday, July 2, 1894. 



Sir James Crichton-Browne, M.D. LL.D. F.R.S. Treasurer and 

 Vice-President, in the Chair. 



George W. Field, Esq. F.R.G.S. 

 Mrs. Henriette Kellgren, 



were elected Members of the Royal Institution. 



The Special Thanks of the Members were returned for the following 

 donation to the Fund for the Promotion of Experimental Research at 

 Low Temperatures : — 



Sir Douglas Galton .. .. .. .. £25 



The Chairman reported that Mr. Ludwig Mond, F.R.S. had 

 made a proposal to the Managers of the Royal Institution of Great 

 Britain, to convey to the Members of that Institution the freehold of 

 No. 20 Albemarle Street, to be held by them for the purpose of a 

 laboratory to be named " The Davy-Faraday Research Laboratory of 

 the Royal Institution," and for the purpose of providing increased 

 accommodation for the Institution, and that the Managers, at their 

 Meeting held this day, had most cordially and gratefully accepted 

 this munificent gift made in the communication from Mr. Mond, of 

 which the following is an extract : — 



" In the year 1843 a proposal was made to establish at the Royal Institution 

 a School of Practical Chemistry, which was not only to give practical and 

 systematic instruction to students, but was also to provide a place where original 

 researches could be conducted by individuals skilled in manipulation, and where 

 the professors could work out their problems by the aid of many qualified hands. 



" This proposal was submitted by the Managers of the Royal Institution to 

 Professors Faraday and Brande, who expressed their strong approval of the end 

 proposed, and their desire that it might be carried out at the Royal Institution, 

 ' if it could be done well.' But, on a closer examination of the limited space 

 within the walls of the Institution, it appeared impracticable to afford accommoda- 

 tion for carrying out the proposed scheme. 



" In 1846 the Royal College of Chemistry was founded, and since that time 

 numerous schools for the teaching of practical chemistry have been established 

 all over the country. These, however, only cope with the first part of the 

 scheme recommended in 1843, while as to the second part, viz. founding a 

 laboratory for the carrying out of independent researches, no adequate provision 

 exists in England up to this date, although the need for it was so strongly felt 

 so many years ago, and its importance for the advancement of science so forcibly 

 dwelt upon by the promoters of the scheme and by such men as Faraday and 

 Brande. 



" I have felt that the need for such a laboratory has become greater and 

 greater since the work of the scientific investigator has become more and more 

 subtle and exact, and, in consequence, requires instruments of precision and a 

 variety of facilities which a private laboratory can only very rarely command ; 

 and surely this need exists nowhere to a greater extent than in England, and 



