L. Mond, W. Weldon, W. Perkin 199 



be insufficient, and it was decided to establish a separate 

 institution, under the name of the Royal College of Chemistry. 

 The proposal matured largely through the influence of the 

 Prince Consort and the Queen's physician, Sir James Clark. 

 Temporary accommodation was found in George Street, 

 Hanover Square, until a larger building in Oxford Street 

 could be adapted. Justus Liebig, whose authority in questions 

 of chemistry was paramount at the time, was asked to 

 recommend a suitable director for the new institution, and 

 ultimately August Wilhelm Hofmann, a young assistant at 

 the University of Bonn, accepted the appointment. The 

 school was opened in 1845, and Hofmann threw himself 

 so heartily into the work that it soon attracted a large 

 number of promising pupils. It is, indeed, remarkable to 

 find among the early students of the Royal College so many 

 men who subsequently rose to eminence ; we note among them 

 Sir William Crookes, Sir Frederick Abel, Herbert Macleod, and 

 Sir William Perkin. The College continued until 1864, when 

 it was absorbed into the School of Mines. Perkin (1838- 

 1907) was fifteen years old when he came under the influence 

 of Hofmann. After passing through the ordinary training, 

 he was appointed honorary assistant to his teacher, and 

 henceforward devoted himself to research work. Hofmann's 

 own investigations at the time dealt with the organic 

 compounds derived from coal-tar; it was a purely scientific 

 research, undertaken without reference to any industrial 

 applications. Perkin was set to work on anthracite, and, 

 though interesting results were obtained, the chief value of 

 his early work was the acquisition of the experience which 

 he was to turn to such good account later. 



The artificial production, or synthesis, as it is techni- 

 cally called, of natural organic compounds was then in its 

 infancy, and it was generally supposed that if, by abstracting 

 or adding oxygen or water, a compound could be formed 

 having the same number of oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen 

 atoms as the desired substance, the synthesis was likely 

 to be successful. Hofmann had suggested the artificial pro- 

 duction of quinine as a useful subject for research. The 

 problem attracted Perkin, and as he was at the time busy 

 with other work for his Professor, he decided to pursue the 



