Manchester Memoirs, Vol. xlvii. (1903), No. 11. 31 



Dalton's statue stands in Manchester, a fitting tribute 

 to his fame. But it is something which is finished, some- 

 thing on which no more can be done, something to be 

 seen only by the few. As a local memorial it serves a worthy 

 purpose, but Dalton's true monument is in the set of 

 constants which he discovered, and which are in daily 

 use by all chemists throughout the world. Here is 

 something that is not finished ; and here Dalton's 

 memory can be still further honoured, by good work, 

 good researches, honest efforts to increase our know- 

 ledge. We have seen that the atomic weights are the 

 fundamental constants of all exact chemistry, and that 

 they are almost as important also to physics ; but the 

 mathematical law which must connect them is still 

 unknown. Every discovery along the line of Dalton's 

 theory is another stone added to his monument, and 

 many such discoveries are yet to be made. 



What, now, is needed ? First, every atomic weight 

 should be determined with the utmost accuracy, and 

 what Stas did for a few elements ought to be done for all. 

 This work has more than theoretical significance ; its 

 practical bearings are many, but it cannot be done to the 

 best advantage along established lines. So far the 

 investigators have been a mob of individuals ; they 

 need to be organised into an army. Collective work, 

 cooperative research, is now demanded, and the men 

 who have hitherto toiled separately should learn to 

 pull together. Ten men, working on a common plan, in 

 touch with one another, can accomplish more in a given 

 time than a hundred solitaries. The principles at issue 

 are well understood ; the methods of research are well 

 established ; but the organising power has not yet 

 appeared. Shall this be a great institution for research, 

 able to take up the problems which are too large for 



