1814-1840 EARLY STRUGGLES 9 



and treatment. The concluding number closes with 

 an editorial farewell : ' May our journal rest quietly 

 in its grave ; and if ever its pages should be used to 

 light your pipes, peace be with its ashes ! ' 



Though he had not himself matriculated at the 

 University of Glasgow, he came into close personal 

 relations with some of its professors and many of its 

 students. Chief among his academical friends and 

 advisers was Dr. J. P. Nichol, the well-known and 

 accomplished Professor of Practical Astronomy. To 

 this sympathetic associate he owed more than to any 

 other for the guidance and encouragement which 

 eventually led him into the career of a man of science. 

 Among the young men then attending the University 

 his closest friend was Lyon Playfair, now Lord Play- 

 fair, who was one of the boarders in Mrs. Ramsay's 

 house. 



In pursuance of the intention that he should follow 

 a mercantile profession, Ramsay, about the year 1837, 

 entered into partnership with a Mr. Anderson as 

 dealers in cloth and calico. The firm took an office 

 in the Candleriggs of Glasgow, and carried on 

 business for some three years. But the venture 

 was not successful, and the copartnery was dis- 

 solved, leaving Ramsay poorer in purse, some- 

 what enfeebled in health, and rather depressed in 

 spirits. 



It was natural that these successive disappoint- 

 ments should create a strong revulsion in his mind 

 against an occupation which had never had great 

 attraction for him. In a letter to his brother William, 

 written in 1846, when he had thoroughly established 

 his position in the Geological Survey, he refers to 

 these early and bitter experiences of his life : * You 



