CH. v PROFESSOR AT OWENS COLLEGE 101 



acid contained in the air of a crowded theatre. The 

 results of these investigations were published in a Blue- 

 book, and also communicated by me to the Chemical 

 Society and appeared in the " Journal." One re- 

 sult of my experiments was to prove that the state- 

 ments made by Dr. Neill Arnott as to the ventilation 

 of dwelling-rooms are erroneous. According to his 

 theory, little children breathing the air below the level 

 of the fireplace (which acted as a ventilator) were 

 healthy, while the nursemaids were unhealthy owing to 

 the fact that they inhaled a large amount of carbonic 

 acid gas, which collected in great quantities in the upper 

 part of the room. He maintained that the nursery 

 could only become healthy for both children and adults 

 if his patent ventilators were placed in the wall above 

 the fireplace. My investigations proved that the 

 amount of carbonic acid at the top of the room and 

 below the level of the fireplace was exactly the same 

 in all cases. 



In the summer of 1857 an advertisement appeared 

 in the newspapers, stating that the chair of Chemistry 

 at the college recently founded in Manchester by John 

 Owens was vacant through the resignation of Pro- 

 fessor (afterwards Sir Edward) Frankland. I deter- 

 mined to apply for the post, and obtained the usual 

 testimonials of efficiency from Bunsen, Liebig, William- 

 son, Graham, and others. In course of time I was 

 informed that I was one of the selected candidates, and 

 I was requested by the secretary of the trust to come 

 down to be trotted out before the trustees. On 

 arriving in Manchester at the office of Mr. Aston (the 

 secretary of the trustees), I was received by an old 

 gentleman whom I could barely understand, as he had 

 no roof to his mouth. I was then interviewed. In the 

 same room I met the late Dr. Grace Calvert and the 



