viii PREFACE 



features of his character, which are quite in accord with 

 the estimation formed by the friends who knew him 

 from earliest days. The contents of some of these 

 letters, especially to his wife, are too sacred to be quoted, 

 but they have left deep impressions on my mind, and 

 these I have endeavoured to indicate in the book. 



Since the beginning of the war it has become more 

 than ever obvious that in the interest of national in- 

 dustries a larger number of able young men and women 

 should be induced to take up the study of chemistry 

 with a serious view to the applications of the science. 

 But it is clear that for this purpose assistance must be 

 given in many cases to enable promising students to 

 follow to the end the protracted course of study necessary. 

 And it is with this object that the movement for a 

 " Ramsay Memorial " has resulted in the scheme which 

 includes provision of opportunities for further study by 

 advanced students of chemistry. It is even hoped that 

 the idea of founding a Ramsay Memorial Fellowship 

 may assume an international character. There is every 

 reason for believing that the scheme would have received 

 approval from Sir William Ramsay himself, with pro- 

 bably two conditions, namely, that the Fellows selected 

 should be chosen by some method which does not involve 

 competitive examination, and that they should devote 

 the greater part of their time during tenure of the 

 Fellowship to scientific research. 



W. A. T. 



NOBTHWOOD, February, 1918. 



