June 21, 19 17] 



NATURE 



O^D 



THE RAMSAY MEMORIAL FUND. 



THE executive committee of the projected 

 memorial to the late Sir William Ramsay 

 has now issued an appeal to the public for the 

 sum of ioo,oooL to carry out its objects. The 

 intentions of the committee are described briefly 

 in the subjoined letter, which we trust will be 

 given earnest consideration and be mad6 widely 

 known among people in the position to give the 

 financial support necessary to establish the 

 memorial on a sound basis. The organisation of 

 the movement for a memorial to Sir William 

 Ramsay was described in an article in Nature 

 of May 10. The final form to be taken by the 

 memorial will depend upon the fund obtained, 

 but the main objects are the institution of Ram- 

 say Research Fellowships and the establishment 

 of a Ramsay Memorial Laboratory of Engineering 

 Chemistry' at University College, London. The 

 sum already subscribed by Sir William Ramsay's 

 friends, and through their private efforts, 

 •amounts to more than 14,000/. This includes 

 the generous gift of 5000L from Messrs. Brunner, 

 Mond, Ltd. ; loooZ. each from Lord Glenconner, 

 Sir Hugh Bell, Sir Ralph C. Forster, Sir Robert 

 Hadfield, Mr. Robert Mond, and Mr. J. B. 

 Noble ; and 500Z. each from the president of the 

 British Science Guild (Sir William Mather), Mr. 

 Charles Hawksley, and Miss Lilias Noble. 



The projected memorial has been conceived 

 on a scale and in a form not unworthy of the 

 great name it is designed to perpetuate, and it 

 is to be hoped that the scheme will be carried 

 speedily to completion by the good will and 

 generosity of a very large public. 



The appeal that is made has three features 

 which deserve remark. In the first place it is 

 perl>aps the first crucial test put upon the public 

 which will show how far the public opinion of 

 this country, after the stimulus of things revealed 

 by the war, has come to appreciate the worth of 

 those who lead in the advance of science. In 

 the second place it asks for the endowment of 

 the study of science in special relation to its 

 industrial applicatioB by the institution of some- 

 thing new in kind. Everyone admits the supreme 

 importance for industry of a close association 

 between chemistry and engineering. Discussion 

 as to the possibility of a new type of university 

 product in the form of chemical engineers or 

 engineer-chemists has recently been eager, and 

 no advocate has been more persuasive than Prof. 

 Donnan, Sir William Ramsay's successor at 

 Universitv' College, London. However opinion 

 may differ on some aspects of the question, all 

 will agree that there is much that may be done 

 in the direction desired, and it will be entirely 

 consonant with Sir William Ramsay's interests 

 and his enterprise that first-rate provision should 

 be made for this new experimental development 

 of chemical education. 



Lastly, the appeal, made to the whole country, 

 asks for something that is to exist in substance 

 <^nly in one place. It is greatly to be hoped that 

 NO. 2486, VOL. 99"! 



this will in no degree impede support. It is very 

 necessary that it should be realised in connec- 

 tion with the highest education that there must 

 be some localisation of special branches, and this 

 is eminently a case of the kind. The particular 

 centre of localisation must be determined by the 

 circumstances of the case. Centralisation in 

 London is not likely to be carried beyond a cer- 

 tain point, but in the present instance it can 

 scarcely be considered as otherwise than 

 appropriate, if only from the consideration 

 that the longest and greatest labours of Sir 

 William Ramsay's splendid career were during 

 the tenure of his professorship at University 

 College. 



The scientific world may be confidently 

 expected to give its utmost support to the 

 memorial not only by subscribing to the fund, but 

 also by bringing the scheme before all who are 

 interested in the promotion of national develop- 

 ment through science. W'e trust that the appeal 

 for funds will meet with a ready and generous 

 res{X)nse from a large public. 



A COMMITTEE has been formed with the object of 

 raising a suitable memorial to the late Prof. Sir 

 William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S., by collecting a 

 substantial fund to be utilised for the purpose of pro- 

 moting chemical teaching and research. 



The committee, after prolonged and careful con- 

 sideration, has resolved to aim at raising a sum of 

 loo.oooZ., and to devote that sum to two principal 

 objects, viz. : — « 



(i) The provision of Ramsay research fellowships, 

 tenable wherever the necessary equipment may be 

 found. 



(2) The establishment of a Ramsay Memorial 

 Laboratory of Engineering Chemistry in connection 

 with University College, London. 



We should hesitate to ask for so large a sum of 

 money in such exceptionally difficult times, were it not 

 that the objects specified are objects of real and urgent 

 national importance. The war has demonstrated in 

 a manner previously unrealised the supreme import- 

 ance of scientific, and in particular chemical, research 

 to the national life, both in the conduct of the 

 war and in the pursuits of industry and manu- 

 facture. 



The late Sir William Ramsay was himself engaged 

 up to within a comparatively short- time of his death 

 in various important problems concerned with the 

 bearing of chemistry upon the war, and no one 

 realised more completely than he the potentialities of 

 the plans which have since been formulated by this 

 committee as a memorial to him. 



It is important that the fjand should be raised 

 speedily, so that the plans for the laboratory of 

 engineering chemistry and the scheme for the award 

 of fellowships may be prepared before the end of the 

 war, and so that both schemes may begin to operate 

 with as little delay as possible after the return of 

 p>eace. 



Accordingly, we desire, through the columns of your 

 paper, to appeal to friends and admirers of the late 

 Sir William Ramsay, to old students, and to all persons 

 who are interested in chemistry and its application to 

 industry and manufacture, to contribute to this great 

 national and international memorial to the late Sir. 

 William Ramsay, and to send their subscriptions to 



