384 Obituary—Sir William Ramsay. 
OBITUARY. 
SIR WILLIAM RAMSAY, 
K.C:B:, LE.D:)D:S8c:,, MD Peep. R85 ECs anare 
BORN OCTOBER 2, 1852. DIED JULY 23, 1916. 
Iv is with sincere regret that we record the death of one of England’s 
most distinguished scientific men, Sir William Ramsay, who passed 
away on Sunday, July 23, at his home, Hazlemere, High Wycombe, 
in his 64th year. He was a nephew of the late Sir Andrew Ramsay, 
I’.R.S., formerly Director of the Geological Survey (1814-91), and 
son of William Ramsay, C.E. He was born in Glasgow in 1852, 
and in its Academy and University he received his principal 
education. Thence he went to Tiibingen to study chemistry, 
returning to Glasgow University as Tutorial Assistant in Chemistry 
(1874-80). He was next Professor of Chemistry and afterwards 
Principal of Bristol University (1881-7), and finally Professor of 
Chemistry at University College, London, from 1887 to 1918. His 
principal researches embraced ‘‘The Molecular Surface Energy of 
Liquids”, and (in conjunction with Lord Rayleigh) ‘“‘ Argon, a new 
Constituent of the Atmosphere’”’; Helium, a constituent of certain 
minerals; also Neon, Krypton, and Xenon (three new atmospheric 
gases). For his chemical discoveries he received the Davy Medal 
from the Royal Society in 1895 and (conjointly with Lord Rayleigh) 
the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904. He is the author of three 
textbooks of chemistry and The Discovery of the Constituents of the 
Air, besides many separate papers and memoirs, 
At the outbreak of the War Sir William Ramsay at once devoted 
his great knowledge to the service of our country, and was able to 
render invaluable assistance to the Government until his health 
failed some few months since, the malady proving fatal, to the great 
sorrow of his family and his very numerous friends. 
MISCHILELANHOUVUS.- 
GxoLogicaL SurRVEY oF SwepreN.—Dr. Axel O. Gavelin has been 
appointed Director in succession to Dr. Johan Gunnar Andersson. 
Dr. Gavelin was born in 1875 at Wilhelmina in Lapland, joined the 
Survey in 1902, and was appointed State Geologist in 1909. He has 
been acting-head of the Survey during Dr. Andersson’s absence 
in China. 
Caziner PaLfonrotogigvE DE wLInstirur pres Mines ove 
L’ImpERATRICE CarHERINE II, Prrroerap, Russtr.—We have just 
received the announcement from Professor Nicholas Yakovleff, 
Professor of Paleontology in the Institute of Mines, Petrograd, 
Russia, that on May 5 last, at the Institute of Mines, the ‘‘ Russian 
Paleontological Society’? was founded by about fifty Russian 
geologists, paleontologists, zoologists, and botanists. It is the 
intention of the Society to publish an annual volume in which will 
appear smaller articles of general interest, and it has also in view the 
publication of paleontological monographs which will be printed 
separately. 
