July 9, 190SJ 



NA TURE 



227 



Members of Council, past and present), among whom arc 

 33 Fellows of the Royal Society and the Professors of 

 Chemistry or Heads of Chemical Departments of nearly all 

 the most important Universities and Colleges in the 

 country. 



(2) That a number of women are now devoting them- 

 selves to the science of Chemistry, the study of which it 

 is the chief object of the Chemical Society to promote. 

 It is shown that they are capable of independent work by 

 the facts stated in the petition ; moreover, in the Trans- 

 actions from January to .May this year there are four 

 papers by women authors independently of others in which 

 they appear as joint authors. 



(3) The Chemical Societies of Berlin and .America and 

 the Institute of Chemistry admit women to full privileges 

 of membership. The Chemical Society itself has placed the 

 name of Madame Curie among those of its Honorary 

 Members. 



(4) A small number of women chemists attend the meet- 

 ings of the Society regularly as visitors, and no incon- 

 venience has arisen from their presence. They ask that 

 they should be admitted in order that, in addition to 

 e.xercising the voting powers, they may use the Library 

 and receive the publications of the Society on the same 

 terms as Fellows ; at present they have to pay the higher 

 price of publication charged to the general public. 



(5) The Society numbers more than 2800 Fellows, while 

 the number of women desiring admission at the present 

 time is about 20 ; this number will probably increase as 

 time goes on, but judging by the experience of other 

 Societies, it is not likely greatly to exceed that number in 

 the present generation. Should the number rise to as 

 many as 50, their numerical strength would remain wholly 

 insignificant in regard to the conduct of the Society's 

 affairs ; consequently, any fear that female influence might 

 liereafter dominate the Council, or even that one woman 

 might be elected to the Council e.vcept only in recognition 

 of her scientific ability, is not worth consideration. As to 

 the undesirability of substituting one sex for another in 

 offices of employment, little argument can be based on 

 such a consideration so long as men continue to hold 

 many of the teaching posts in women's colleges. 



(6) There is reason to believe that in the event of a 

 decision in favour of applying for a supplemental Charter, 

 the cost, or a large part of it, would be borne by the 

 women chemists and their friends. 



On the other hand, those who are unwilling to admit 

 women to the Fellowship of the Chemical Society urge 

 that — 



(i) The expense, probably amounting to several hundred 

 pounds, which would be incurred by the Society if a sup- 

 plemental Charter is necessary, is not justified by the small 

 number of new Fellows likely to seek admission. 



(2) It may be gravely doubted whether the deliberate 

 encouragement of women to enter the chemical profession 

 would not operate unfavourably on women themselves in 

 view of the arduous nature of chemical work. 



(3)^ Although it is true, as urged by supporters of the 

 petition, that the number of women seeking admission is 

 small, if is also claimed as a reason for admission that the 

 volume of chemical work contributed by women is in- 

 creasing rapidly. So long as the women who desire 

 admission remain in such disproportionate minority, there 

 will be an inevitable — although, of course, involiintary — 

 tendency to overestimate their contribution to chemical 

 knowledge and practice. An illustration of this principle 

 may fairly be drawn from the petition itself, where figures 

 are adduced to show that during the past thirtv-five vears 

 women have been associated with 103 Papers contributed 

 to the Transactions of the Society, but it is not stated, 

 though equally true, that while the' total number of Papers 

 printed during that period exceeds 3400, only twenty-three 

 are in the names of women alone. 



(4) Even assuming that these 23 contributions were in- 

 dependent of masculine inspiration, it mav be questioned 

 whether women have, as a group, shown marked aptitude 

 for chemical_ pursuits, particularly when it is recalled that 

 the authors in question have worked almost exclusively in 

 collegiate institutions. 



(5) Moreover, by being welcomed as guests to the 

 Society, women have been able to enjoy that chemical 



NO. 2019, VOL. 78] 



atmosphere and intercourse which Fellowship of the 

 Society involves. 



(0) .As regards the admission of Madame Curie to 

 Honorary Membership, it must be borne in mind that 

 Honorary and Foreign Members have no voting powers, 

 and are not eligible for office. 



(7) Brieflv stated, the position of those unfavourable to the 

 admission of women is that, whilst gladly offering to those 

 women who already have become chemists measures which 

 would give them the benefits derived from attendance at 

 the meetings, they deem it inexpedient publicly to encourage 

 women to adopt chemistry as a professional pursuit, since 

 such a course would tempt them into a career in which 

 they may ultimately not find employment in view of the 

 .'dready over-crowded state of the profession. 



Other minor considerations might be mentioned on both 

 sides, and rejoinders to all the above statements are 

 generally obvious. The Council therefore hope that every 

 Fellow will carefully consider the arguments on both sides, 

 and give them the weight which each, respectively, appears 

 in his judgment to deserve. 



Vou are requested, after making the necessary deletion, 

 to return the enclosed ballot paper to the Secretaries in the 

 accompanying envelope, which envelope must be endorsed 

 with your signature. Unsigned envelopes and signed ballot 

 papers ivill he invalid. 



The ballot will close on the first day of October next. 

 We are. Sir, 



Yours faithfully, 



M. d. FoRSTER, 



Arthur W. Crossley. 

 (Hon. Secretaries.) 



I etter from Past Presidents communicating the Memorial 

 to the Fellows. 



Oxford, 



ist July, 1908. 



De.hr Sir, 



In the letter, which has been sent by the Secretaries of 

 the Chemical Society to every Fellow, on the question of 

 admitting Women to the Fellowship, reference is made 

 to a petition received by the Council. We think it desirable 

 that the petition itself, which is not only a petition but a 

 declaration of opinion on the part of a large body of the 

 Fellows of the Society, should be made known generally, 

 together with the names of those by whom it was signed. 

 Accordingly we enclose herewith a copy of the petition as 

 presented to Members of the Council. 



Before the issue of the voting papers the attention of 

 the Secretaries was called to an ambiguity which is due 

 to the introduction of the words " the full rights and 

 privileges of." We suggest that those Fellows who are 

 in favour of the admittance of women to the Fellowship, 

 and not only to " the full rights and privileges of the 

 Fellowship," should strike out these words. It would 

 clearly be possible, however unreasonable, to create a class 

 who, though not actually Fellows, were admitted to all 

 the rights and privileges of the Fellowship. That such a 

 class should be created is not the question which the 

 Council were asked and consented to put. 

 We are. Sir, 



Yours faithfully, 

 (Signed) 



WlLLI.tM OdLING. 

 WlLLUM CrOOKES. 



A. Vernon H.arcourt. 

 Henry E. Roscoe. 



HfGO MtT-LER. 



W. J. Russell. 

 T. E. Thorpe. 

 J. Emerson Reynolds. 



WlLLUM A. TiLDEN. 



R. Meldol.i. 



Alex. Crum Brown. 



Memorial addressed to the President and Council of the 

 Chemical Society. 

 Gentle.men, 



We, the undersigned Fellows of the Chemical Society, 

 being of opinion that the time has come when the Fellow- 

 ship of the Society should be rendered accessible to women. 



