258 SIR WILLIAM RAMSAY 



of the development of some industry, and the utilisation of some 

 natural product ; each will associate with him some students as 

 assistants, and they will develop the processes as far as laboratory 

 work can do it. There is the 1200 a year to draw on for large- 

 scale experiments. I suggest that small works should be put up, 

 so as to get beyond the laboratory stage. And, lastly, the 

 Mysore government out of its surplus should provide half the 

 capital, on terms. . . . 



There are really no industries in India ; any amount of raw 

 material, easily got and cheaply worked ; and there is no opening 

 for any young men scientifically trained, unless openings are 

 made. The colleges are wretched places as a rule, though here 

 and there exceptions must be made, and the whole system is 

 rigidly examinational like the L.U. They are reaping the fruits 

 of it in a number of cramming shops, miscalled colleges. . . . 



I can't in a letter tell you all about our tour. It was the 

 most interesting experience from first to last that I have ever 

 had, and we met all the most interesting people from the Viceroy 

 to the coolie. I can speak enough Hindostan to get on ... and 

 really to understand the drift of the answers made. 



Now adieu, and affectionate regards from both of us to both 

 of you. Ever yours, W. RAMSAY." 



FINLAND, 1907. 



When Ramsay arrived in a foreign country the first 

 thing he did was to buy some books in its language in 

 order, as he would have expressed it, to rub it up. When 

 in Sweden to receive the Nobel Prize, the book that 

 interested him most was one called From Golden Locks 

 to Silver Hair, by a certain Andreas Eamsay of Finland. 

 It was partly an autobiography and partly a family 

 history, and dealt with the stories of many of the Swedish 



