May io, 19 17] 



NATURE 



207 



THE RAUSAY MEMORIAL FUND. 



AT the request of numerous friends and 

 admirers of the late Sir William Ramsay 

 a public meeting- was held last October at 

 University College, London, to consider the best 

 means of establishing a memorial to him. The 

 meeting- was attended by representatives of 

 H.M. Government, of the Allied and neutral 

 Powers, and of the principal scientific societies 

 of the United Kingdom. It was resolved, 

 on the Vnotion of the Rt. Hon. Lord Gainford, 

 with the support of Sir J. J. Thomson, his Excel- 

 lency the Belgian Minister, and Mr. W. H. 

 Buckler, of the American Embassy, that a fund 

 should be raised as a memorial to Sir William 

 Ramsay, and that such a fund should be utihsed 

 for promoting chemical teaching and research 

 under a scheme to be approved by the 

 subscribers. / 



Since then the organisation of the appeal has 

 been set up and is now complete. The Rt. Hon. 

 H. H. Asquith has consented to act as president 

 of the fund, whilst the vice-presidents include 

 the Ambassadors and Ministers of Allied and- 

 neutral Powers, the Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd George, 

 the President of the Board of Education, the 

 President of the Royal Society, the Chancellors of 

 the Universities of Cambridge, Glasgow, and 

 London, the Rt. Hon. Lord Gainford of 

 Headlam, and the chairman of University College- 

 Committee. The general committee, consisting 

 of the subscribers, is under the chairmanship of 

 the Rt. Hon. Lord Rayleigh. The Rt. Hon. 

 Lord Glenconner and Prof. J. N. Collie share the 

 office of honorary treasurer, and Dr. Smiles is 

 acting as honorary secretary. 



An executive committee, formed under the 

 chairmanship of Sir Hugh Bell, has drawn up an 

 appeal, which is at present only privately issued, 

 but will shortly be circulated publicly. The com- 

 mittee aims at obtaining a sum of ick>,oooZ., and 

 whilst the final form to be taken by the memorial 

 will be submitted to the subscribers, and will 

 necessarily depend on the amount obtained, the 

 objects recommended are : (i) The provision of 

 Ramsay Research Fellowships, tenable wherever 

 the necessary equipment may be found ; and (2) 

 the establishment of a Ramsay Memorial 

 Laboratory of Engineering Chemistry in connec- 

 tion with University College, London, where Sir 

 \Mlliam Ramsay's most important discoveries 

 were made during his twenty-six years' tenure of 

 the chair of chemistry. The committee has also 

 in mind the inclusion of other forms of memorial, 

 such as the institution of a Ramsay Medal for 

 Chemical Research. 



The committee considers that the conditions 

 g-overning the award and tenure of the fellow- 

 ships should be as elastic as possible. It is pro- 

 posed that fellows should devote their time to 

 investigating either chemical or chemico- 

 technological problems, and, since it is further 

 suggested that the fellowships should be tenable 

 in any suitable place possessed of adequate equip- 

 ment, it is evident that the scheme would permit 



NO. 2480, VOL. 99] 



fellows to carry out their researches in the 

 laboratories of works. Also, in the second pro- 

 posal the committee shows its sense of the neces- 

 sity of meeting the demands of chemical industry. 

 Being- deeply impressed with the importance of 

 providing" for further teaching in relation to 

 chemical and metallurgical industry, it proposes 

 to provide for young chemists who intend to 

 enter an industrial career a means of obtaining- 

 I adequate training in the application of engineer- 

 ! ing principles to cltemistry on a commercial scale, 

 } It is hoped that the establishment of a school of 

 engineering- chemistry in connection with a uni- 

 i. versity will not only be to the mutual benefit of 

 I chemical industry and the chemists in its service, 

 i but will also promote the closer relations between 

 I industry and the schools of chemistry. In view 

 I of the importance of these objects, the committee 

 is confident that the amount necessary to carry 

 its proposals into effect will be obtained. 



The sum already obtained by the private efforts 

 of Sir William Ramsay's friends and from their 

 own generosity amounts to about 13,500/. This 

 includes the munificent donation of 5000/. from 

 Messrs. Brunner, Mond, Ltd. ; loooZ. each from 

 the Rt. Hon. Lord Glenconner, Sir Hugh Bell, 

 Sir Ralph C. Forster, Sir Robert Hadfield, Mr. 

 Robert Mond, and Mr. Hug^h Brunei Xoble ; and 

 -00/. each from the president of the British 

 Science Guild and Miss Lilias Noble. 



i INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH IN CANADA. 



THE subject of industrial research in Canada 

 is discussed in an interesting manner by 

 I Prof. J, C. McLennan, of Toronto L'niversity, in 

 ' a presidential address to the members of the Royal 

 i Canadian Institute. In the address, publicity is 

 ! given to several striking examples of the g-eneral 

 ! indifference to scientific research, and among them 

 is one which shows that Canada has not been in 

 i advance of the Mother Country in this respect. 

 ] A department of the Government got interested 

 ' in some way in the possible discovery of radium- 

 bearing minerals in Canada, but the steps these 

 officials took to find them showed that they were 

 in complete ignorance of the work that had been 

 done in their own universities in connection with 

 radio-activity, although this work had gained for 

 its authors a world-wide reputation in scientific 

 circles. 



Prof. McLennan makes a strong plea for the 

 conservation and development of the natural re- 

 sources of Canada. He tells us that a large per- 

 centage of the electrical power produced on the 

 Canadian side of the Niag^ara River is being used 

 to further the industries of their neighbours on 

 the south, and he pleads for more energy and 

 enterprise in the use of electrical power on the 

 Canadian side. It is gratifying to learn that he 

 is pleased with the work of Government depart- 

 ments in promoting the agricultural prosperity of 

 Canada, but he thinks that much remains to be 

 done in applying electrical power to agriculture, 

 in the more extensive use of fertilisers, in ameli- 



