- NoveMBER 9, 1916] 
NATURE 
197 
RAMSAY. 
: @* Tuesday, October 31, a public meeting was held 
at University College, London, to consider the 
steps to be taken to raise a memorial to the late Sir 
William Ramsay. The assembly included the Ministers 
_ of Belgium, Roumania, Serbia, Chile, China, a repre- 
sentative of the American Embassy, 
_ Officials and members of scientific and academic bodies, 
_ many of whom took part in the proceedings. 
and various 
The Rt. Hon. Lord Rayleigh presided, and, in the 
course of his introductory speech, made brief references 
to his work with Sir William Ramsay. We heard, he 
_ said, a great deal of the research which was needed in 
connection with industry, but there seemed to be no 
thought of the difficulty of getting the right kind of 
people to do it. Among every six people who were able 
to understand, form intelligible opinions, and explain 
scientific matters, there was probably not one who had 
the gift of scientific initiative, This Sir William Ramsay 
had to an extraordinary degree. Lord Rayleigh paid a 
tribute to his thoroughness of method and his in- 
difference to criticism which did not rest on cogent 
argument. Ramsay’s discovery of helium he described 
as one of the most romantic pages of science, and his 
further discovery that helium appeared during the 
breakdown of radium was most important. Sir Wil- 
liam’s gifts were not only scientific; he was a master 
of several languages, and this faculty placed him in 
touch with the scientific genius of the world; com- 
bined with his extraordinary experimental skill and 
rapidity, it went a long way to explain his success. 
In conclusion, Lord Rayleigh spoke of Sir William’s 
unusual power of influencing people, as the result of 
which many things had been done since the war began 
that but for him would not have been done at all. 
The following was the main resolution of the meet- 
ing :—‘‘ That steps be taken to raise a substantial fund 
as a memorial to Prof. Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., 
F.R.S., such fund to be utilised for the purposes of 
promoting chemical teaching and research under a 
scheme to be approved hereafter by the subscribers.” 
The resolution was moved by the Rt. Hon. J..A. 
Pease, Postmaster-General, formerly President of the 
Board of Education. He laid stress on the importance 
of discoveries such as those of Sir William Ramsay, 
because they widened the horizon of all educated 
people, irrespective of country or of race; they enforced 
an essential unity of knowledge among civilised people, 
just as we were struggling for a similar unity of 
Standard in conduct among the civilised States. One 
of the lessons of the war has been that we have learnt 
as a State to respect and be guided by scientific method 
and scientific men to a degree which nothing but a 
reat necessity could have achieved. The work of 
say illustrates not only the necessary co-operation 
of sciences, but the necessary co-operation of nations. 
Was it therefore too much to ask that his memorial 
should be an international as well as a national one? 
A magnificent response has been made to an appeal 
for funds for the memorial to a great figure in the 
field of war, Lord Kitchener; cannot a similar response 
be made to an appeal for the memorial to a great 
figure in the field of science? To a people who could 
raise five millions a day for the purposes of the war, 
surely it is possible to raise this memorial to show 
their belief in Ramsay’s work and what it stood for? 
The form in which that belief shall be clothed can be 
determined later. 
The President of the Royal Society (Sir Joseph J. 
_ Thomson), in seconding the resolution, dwelt on the 
more -scientific aspect and importance of Ramsay’s 
work and influence. r j 
His Excellency the Belgian Minister (a vice-president 
NO. 2454, VOL. 98] 
MEMORIAL TO THE LATE SIR WILLIAM | of the University of Brussels) paid a graceful tribute 
to the memory of Ramsay, recalling a visit he paid to 
Brussels and the part he played in connection with 
the foundation by Solvay of the Institut International 
de Chimie; Ramsay did not merely belong to his own 
country; he belonged to humanity, Mr. W. H. Buck- 
ler, representing the American Ambassador, recorded 
the veneration in which Ramsay and his work were 
held in the United States. 
In moving ‘‘ That this meeting resolve itself into a 
General Committee for the purpose of raising the fund 
for the memorial to Prof. Sir William Ramsay,’ Sir 
Hugh Bell, Bart., referred to a suggestion made to 
him by Ramsay some time ago as to the possibility of 
distilling small seams of coal in situ. Probably no 
person other than Ramsay would have been able to 
persuade him that the experiment was at all possible, 
but, like others, he fell under the glamour of an en- 
trancing personality, and arrangements were made 
for trying the experiment under extremely favourable 
conditions. These were nearly complete on the out- 
break of war; the place was ready, and, if there were 
anyone found bold enough to pursue Sir William’s 
suggestion, he would gladly put the preparations at the 
disposal of such person. 
Prof. J. Norman Collie, the chairman of Convoca- 
tion of the University of London and vice-chairman 
of the University College Committee (Sir Edward 
Busk), the president of the Chemical Society (Dr. 
Alexander Scott), Sir William A. Tilden, Dr. Morris 
Travers, Sir Joseph Larmor, and Prof, E. C. C. Baly 
also spoke. 
The following were appointed an Executive Com- 
mittee to make such arrangements as they deem desir- 
able for furthering the memorial :—The Rt. Hon. Lord 
Rayleigh, the Rt. Hon. Lord Parmoor, Sir Hugh Bell, 
Bart., the Rt. Hon. Sir John Brunner, Bart., Sir 
Ralph C. Forster, Bart., Sir Charles Bedford, Sir 
G. T. Beilby, Sit James Dobbie, Sir Robert Hadfield, 
Sir Alexander Kennedy, Sir William Tilden, the Presi- 
dent of the Royal Society, the President of the Chem- 
ical Society, the President of the British Science Guild, 
the President of the Society of Chemical Industry, 
Prof. Baly, Mr. Chaston Chapman, Prof. J. Norman 
Collie (hon. treasurer), Prof. F. G. Donnan, Mr.-Alex. 
Duckham, Dr. T. Gregory Foster, Prof. F. Francis, 
Mr. Gathorne-Young, Mr. J. Gretton, Dr. R. Messel, 
Dr. Robert Mond, Dr. H. F. Parshall, Dr. Walter 
Seton, Dr. Samuel Smiles (hon. secretary), Lieut.-Col. 
Smithells, Dr. Morris Travers, and Prof. James 
Walker. 
The proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks 
to Lord Rayleigh for presiding, moved by the Vice- 
Chancellor of the University of London (Sir Alfred 
Pearce Gould, K.C.V.O.), and seconded by Prof. F. G, 
Donnan, Sir William Ramsay’s successor in the chair 
of general chemistry at University College, London. 
After the meeting, Prof. J. Norman Collie delivered 
a memorial lecture on ‘The Scientific Work of Sir 
William Ramsay.” 
THE SWISS SOCIETY OF NATURAL 
SCIENCES. 
yp HE yearly meeting of the Société Helvétique des 
Sciences Naturelles was held in August at Schuls- 
Tarasp, in the Engadine. The chief object was an 
excursion into the National Park of Switzerland, 
which, though officially opened a year or two ago, had 
not yet been visited by the great society which has been 
primarily interested in its foundation. 
We would recall to our readers the history of this 
institution. A large portion of the country in a moun- 
tainous region has been obtained from the communes 
