4 SIK WILLIAM EAMSAY 



grandfather became physicians, but they all died 

 comparatively young. The author of the Autobiography 

 is therefore justified in his remark that "whatever 

 chemical talent I possess is an inheritance from my 

 ancestors on both sides " (p. 4). 



The family history has already been traced by Sir 

 Archibald Geikie in the interesting life he has given of 

 Sir Andrew Eamsay the geologist (Macmillan, 1895), 

 uncle of Sir William. From this volume the following 

 introductory passage may be quoted : 



" In the little town of Haddington during last century several 

 generations of B-amsays carried on the craft of dyers. At length 

 one of the family, William by name, the son and grandson of 

 previous Williams who had been content to pursue their calling 

 by the banks of the East Lothian Tyne, determined to push his 

 fortune in a wider sphere. He appears to have been a man of 

 high principle and great energy, wide-minded and good-tempered, 

 with a strong bent towards chemical pursuits, and not a little 

 originality as an investigator. About the year 1785 lie went 

 to Glasgow, and became there junior partner in the firm of 

 Arthur and Turnbull, manufacturers of wood spirit and pyro- 

 ligneous acid. Besides making dyer's chemicals and a variety 

 of prussian blue still known as ' Turnbull's Blue,' this firm was 

 the first to manufacture ' chloride of magnesia ' as a bleaching 

 liquor and also ' bichrome.' Had William Ramsay patented 

 some of his processes it was generally believed among his friends 

 that he might have become one of the richest men in the west of 

 Scotland. But he did not consider himself entitled to retain 

 for his own behoof a discovery which, if made widely known, 

 would benefit the general industry of the country, and he was 

 content to remain comparatively poor. The requirements of 

 his business made him an excellent practical chemist, but his 



