November 25, 1922] 



NA TURE 



JiJ 



The Harrison Memorial. 



Unveiling at the Chemical Society. 



^VHEX, casting aside the shreds of national 

 " ' honour, the Germans initiated the use of 

 chemical poisons on April 22, 1915, they added yet 

 another phase to the invisible struggle which ac- 

 companies every modern war. In this phase of the 

 late war, involving the chemical laboratories and 

 industries of the com- 

 batant nations, the late ^^tittS 

 Lieut. - Col. E. F. 

 Harrison was destined 

 to play a notable part. 



Leaving a busv chem- 

 ical consulting and 

 analytical practice, he 

 succeeded, in May 1915, 

 despite his age, in en- 

 listing in an infantry 

 battalion. On account 

 of his chemical know- 

 ledge, he was soon 

 transferred to the Royal 

 Engineers, and took 

 part in the early work 

 of the Anti-Gas Depart- 

 ment, created to provide 

 troops in the field with 

 protection against the 

 new chemical weapon. 

 He quickly received a 

 lieutenant's commission 

 and thereafter rose in 

 rank as his duties in- 

 creased in importance 

 and responsibility ; by 

 the end of 191 7 he was 

 head of the Anti-Gas 

 Department and in 

 charge not only of the 

 manufacture of respira- 

 tors, but also of the 

 incessant research neces- 

 sary to perfect the re- 

 spirator and render it 

 impervious to any new- 

 chemical substance the 

 enemy might be ex- 

 pected to use. At this 

 time the Anti-Gas De- 

 partment was united 

 with the Chemical War- 

 fare Department, under 

 the Ministry of Muni- 

 tions, and Harrison was 

 appointed Deputy Con- 

 troller of the combined 

 organisation. Shortlv 



before his death on 

 November 4, i<ii8, he 

 became Controller of 

 the Department. 



It has been said that Harrison was one of the 

 discoveries of the war ; the discovery was a pro- 

 vidential one for this and other countries. It 

 revealed a man of intense, incessant energy and 

 determination, of exceptional organising power ; it 

 brought forward a chemist of foresight prepared to 

 face the gravest responsibilities. To this man was 

 largely due the fact that our troops, once the initial 

 surprise was past, were furnished with adequate 

 and timely supplies of the most efficient respirator 



no. 2769, vol. i 10] 



employed by any nation during the Great War. 

 No more fitting verbal tribute could be paid than 

 that of F. H. Carr in his Harrison Memorial 

 Lecture {Pharmaceutical Journal. 1919, p. 03), to 

 which the reader is referred for a detailed account 

 of Harrison's life and work. 



Energy and devotion 

 ^^>-^ were the cause of his 



death. Attacked by in- 

 fluenza and weakened by 

 his exertions, he refused 

 to leave his work. Those 

 who attempted to dis- 

 suade him — the present 

 writer was one — were 

 told that he was going 

 to see his job through ; 

 by a week he failed to 

 do so. But his death did 

 not occur until the 

 country was assured of 

 victory and he himself 

 had realised the final 

 success of his labours. 

 He gave his life to his 

 country as truly as did 

 those who died on the 

 field of battle. 



To Harrison and other 

 fellows of the Chemical 

 Society who gave their 

 lives during the war, a 

 memorial in the rooms 

 of the societv was un- 

 veiled by the Earl of 

 Crawford and Balcarres 

 on Thursday, November 

 16. As chairman of the 

 Harrison Memorial Fund, 

 Sir George Beilby stated 

 that a sum amounting, 

 with accrued interest, to 

 some 1640/. had been 

 collected from Col. 

 Harrison's colleagues and 

 friends. A portion of this 

 sum had been utilised in 

 erecting the upper part 

 of the memorial ; the 

 Chemical Societv co- 

 operated in adding the 

 lower portion, on which 

 are inscribed the names 

 of those Fellows who 

 gave their lives during 

 the war. The remainder 

 of the fund had been con- 

 veyed in trust to the 

 Chemical Society- ; the 

 interest upon the fund 

 will be used in providing, every three years, a prize of 

 approximately- 150/. to the chemist — man or woman — 

 not more than thirty years of age, who, during the 

 previous five years, shall havecarriedout the most meri- 

 torious original investigations in chemistry. The prize 

 will be awarded upon the recommendation of a com- 

 mittee composed of the presidents, for the time being, 

 of the Chemical Societv, Institute of Chemistry, Sociel y 

 of Chemical Industry, and the Pharmaceutical 

 Society ; it will be given, provided that a sufficiently 



-The Harrison Memorial, Chemical Society, Burlington House. 



