THE END 295 



often seem to be a mere mockery of suffering. On this 

 subject his old friend Sir James Dobbie writes : 



"He often spoke to me with great feeling of the miseries 

 inflicted on certain families known to us both by the irregularities 

 of certain of their members, but his sympathies seemed always 

 to be divided between the sinners and those sinned against. He 

 had a strong belief, as you know, in the transmission of ancestral 

 qualities by heredity, and it may be that his views on the subject 

 of personal responsibility were influenced thereby. But I am 

 inclined to think that his conduct in such cases was prompted 

 solely by his large-hearted human sympathy and was not 

 influenced, at least consciously, by any scientific theories." 



The views about heredity here referred to are clearly 

 expressed in the early part and are again hinted at in 

 the concluding words of the autobiographical sketch 

 contributed to the volume already referred to, " Ver- 

 gangenes und Kiinftiges aus der Chemie." The follow- 

 ing is a translation of the last paragraph : 



" In conclusion I should like to quote a passage from Robert 

 Boyle, which, however, I have slightly altered. ' To have been 

 the son of such parents as were my father and mother, to have 

 had such a helpmate as my wife, has brought me happiness 

 which I must acknowledge with the greatest thankfulness : my 

 birth and career agree so closely with my inclination and views 

 that if a choice had been permitted to me I could hardly have 

 wished to change the ordinance of God.' ' 



There is no need to enlarge further on this side of 

 Ramsay's private life. Whatever acts of benevolence 

 he did were performed quietly and unaffectedly and were 

 known to few even among his friends. 



Another characteristic was his perennial cheerfulness 



