226 



NATURE 



[July 9, 1908 



health and strength that, in the long run, follows in- 

 sufficient sleep. In spite of the prolonged inquiry, the 

 Committee's proposal, although it is ostensibly an 

 appreciation of daylight, appears to many persons, and 

 those not all indolent or conservative, to be nothing 

 more or less than a proposal for a leap in the' dark. 



irO.U£.V /LVD THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE 

 CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 



'T^HE women, like the Peris at Heaven's Gate, 

 J- have knocked at the door of the Chemical 

 Society and have asked to be let in. Their request, 

 as will be seen from the correspondence w-hich we 

 print below, has been referred to the whole bodv of 

 the fellows, and there are those among them who are 

 much perturbed in consequence. The more e.xcited 

 ones, we understand, are all for banging, barring and 

 bolting, unmindful of the portents that a banging, 

 barring and bolting policy is nowadays a bit dis- 

 credited. Others, and we trust, for the fair fame and 

 credit of the society as a scientific organisation, that 

 they are the majority, are of opinion that the time has 

 come when its fellowship should be rendered acces- 

 sible to women. At least, so say the 312 fellows (in- 

 cluding 10 past presidents, 12 vice-presidents, and 2g 

 members of council, past and present), among whom 

 are ^3 Fellows of the Royal Society, and the heads of 

 the chemical departments of nearly all the most im- 

 portant universities and colleges in the kingdom, who 

 have now moved the council, by the most influentiallv 

 signed memorial that body has ever received, to con- 

 sent to the referendum. 



It is difficult to know on what grounds the admis- 

 sion of duly qualified women to the societv should be 

 refused. Those who desire admission have been ade- 

 quately trained in science, and most of them are 

 graduates. They are, as pointed out by Sir Henrv 

 Roscoe in a letter to the Times of Julv 3, de facto 

 chemists, engaged either as lecturers or demonstrators 

 of chemistry in various schools or colleges throughout 

 the country ; some of them act as research assistants 

 to professors of chemistry, or cooperate with them in 

 the work of original inquiry ;one or two are emploved 

 as works-chemists. The objects of the Chemical 

 Society are defined to be the promotion of chemistrv, 

 and of those branches of science immediatelv con- 

 nected with it, by the reading, discussion, and subse- 

 quent publication of original communications. It 

 cannot be denied that women have contributed their 

 fair share of original communications. Indeed, in pro- 

 portion to their numbers they have shown themselves 

 to be among the most active and successful of investi- 

 gators. The society consents to publish their work, 

 which redounds to its credit. Why, then, should the 

 drones who never have done, and never will do, a 

 stroke of original work in their lives be preferred to 

 them simply because they wear a distinctive dress and 

 are privileged to grow a moustache? 



The women-chemists will doubtless smile at the 

 futility of the adverse arguments which appear above 

 the names of the two honorary secretaries of the 

 society. They will have their own opinion concerning 

 the arduous nature of chemical work, about which 

 they know quite as much as those who profess so 

 tender a solicitude for them. As to their chances of 

 success in life, they have shown that they are quite 

 able to hold their own, in spite of the alleged " over- 

 crowded state of the profession." Overcrowded state 

 of the profession, forsooth ! With a delicious but 

 wholly unconscious iiah-eld, the banging, barring and 

 bolting people have herein revealed the true inward- 

 ness of their opposition. It is the areument of the 

 weak-kneed — of persons whose Zimftgeist has warped 



NO. 2019, VOL. 78] 



their judgment and disturbed their mental balance. We 

 trust the main body of the society will treat the argu- 

 ment with the contempt it merits. It is astonishing 

 how unscientific some so-called scientific persons can 

 be. Apparently they fail to perceive that this request 

 on the part of qualified women to be permitted to 

 share the benefits and material advantages which arise 

 from the cooperation of scientific workers in a com- 

 mon calling is the natural and logical result of afford- 

 ing women facilities for the cultivation of science in 

 practically every university in the countrv. The study 

 of science, even professionally, is no longer the ex- 

 clusive prerogative of men. It was inevitable that 

 among the many hundreds of women who are now 

 passing through these universities, or through col- 

 leges in close association with them, there should 

 be some who are attracted to science as a calling, or 

 who should find in its pursuit a congenial occupation. 

 Ihey are surely entitled to make their own choice of 

 their life's work. Why, then, should obstacles be 

 thrown in their way? They ask for no favour — only 

 for fair play and fair treatment, and it is the bang- 

 ing, barring and bolting people who, from unworthy 

 motives, would denv them both. 



A perusal of the correspondence which we publish 

 below, and especially of the significant letter of 

 the past presidents of the society accompanying the 

 memorial addressed to the council which the\' have 

 caused to be distributed to the fellows of the society, 

 indicates pretty clearly to what lengths certain in- 

 dividuals are prepared to go in resisting the claims of 

 the women. The memorial, it will be seen, expressed 

 the personal opinion of the 312 signatories that the 

 time had come when the fellowship should be rendered 

 accessible to women, but that weighty fact is not men- 

 tioned in the letter which appears above the names of 

 the secretaries. This was neither fair to those who 

 signed the memorial nor to the women whose cause 

 they had taken up. It is possible that this suppressio 

 veri was unintentional, nor is it likely, we imagine, 

 that there is any arri'ere pcnsie in the redundant words 

 to which the past presidents direct attention and which 

 serve only to confuse the issue. But those who drafted 

 the letter and the accompanying ballot-paper must at 

 least be held responsible for the bungling, maladroit 

 manner in which the matter was presented to 

 the fellows. It is a question for the societv whether 

 its true interests would not be better served by the 

 transference of its secretarial business to more com- 

 petent and more judicious hands. 



Lclti'r from llic Secretaries of the Cliemical Society to 

 the Fellows. 



Burlington House, 



Piccadilly, \\'. 



June, 190S. 

 Dear Sir, 



The Council of the Chemical Society have received a 

 petition praying for an inquiry as to the views of the 

 Society as a whole on the question of admitting women 

 to the Fellowship. 



Accordingly, the Council invite very careful considera- 

 tion of the following brief statement of the chief arguments 

 which have been used both for and against the admission 

 of women. 



It is proper to point out that the Council were advised 

 on a former occasion by Counsel that there is some doubt 

 whether, under the existing Charter, women are admissible 

 as Fellows ; it is also well to remember that if admitted to 

 this status, women would be eligible, like other Fellows, 

 for a seat on the Council and to hold office. 



Those who support the view that steps ought to be takf-n 

 in order to provide for the admission of women to the 

 Fellowship point out — 



_ (i) That the petition has been signed by 312 Fellows 

 (including 10 Past Presidents, 12 Vice-Presidents, and 29 



