February 22, 1918] 



SCIENCE 



18 



to be flattered thereby. I am of the opinion 

 that the use of precision instruments in the 

 repetition of classical experiments would be 

 for the advanced undergraduate much better 

 than a good deal of the '' research " which he 

 carries on with a man at his elbow to show 

 him how, and perhaps not worse for the 

 teacher. The study and mastery of the origi- 

 nal articles of a series of the classical experi- 

 ments, and the supervision of the experimental 

 work, would be highly valuable for any teacher 

 of physics. 



In these days of rising costs the teacher of 

 physics, like all the rest, should have at heart 

 the problem of waste in his administration. 

 As I once heard Professor B. K. Emerson say 

 to a student, in the course of a mild rebuke for 

 mishandling a crystal specimen, a collection is 

 meant to be used up, but not to be destroyed; 

 and so with apparatus. I think that the best 

 means to meet this problem is to hold every 

 student personally responsible for the appa- 

 ratus which is intrusted to him, by keeping a 

 personal account with him. The plan of as- 

 sessing all students at a flat rate for laboratory 

 expenses, no matter who does damage, used to 

 seem to me little better than highway robbery 

 on the part of the laboratory, and I have no 

 doubt that students feel the same now. The 

 individual account is some trouble, to be sure, 

 but it makes each man feel responsible and act 

 carefully, as I can testify from experience. 



WiLLARD J. Fisher 

 WoRCESTEB, Mass. 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 



THE RAMSAY MEMORIAL FUND 



After the death of Sir William Ramsay in 

 July, 1916, a memorial meeting was held iu 

 London to commemorate his thirty-five years 

 of service in physical and chemical sciences, 

 education and public welfare. As was noted 

 in Science at the time, the gathering of dis- 

 tinguished men, under the chairmanship of 

 Lord Eayleigh, decided 



1. To raise a substantial fund as a memorial to 



Sir William; and 



2. To use such fund for the establishment of 



(a) Ramsay Research Fellowships, ten- 



able wherever necessary facilities 

 might be available, and a 



(b) Ramsay Memorial Laboratory of 



Engineering Chemistry at the Uni- 

 versity of London, where Sir Wil- 

 liam served twenty-six of his most 

 fruitful years of activity. 



A committee of prominent men in the phys- 

 ical and chemical sciences in Great Britain, 

 including the leaders of the Coalition govern- 

 ment and Ambassadors then accredited to the 

 Court of St. James, was later organized. 

 Through this general organization, committees 

 were organized in Australia, Canada, Chile, 

 Denmark, Holland, India, Italy, Japan, New 

 Zealand, Spain, Switzerland and the United 

 States. Correspondence with men of science 

 indicate the formation of National Committees 

 also iu China, France and Sweden, and per- 

 haps Russia. 



The sum set out to be raised was £100,000. 

 To date something over £300 have been con- 

 tributed by residents of the United States. 



The merits of the objects of this fund are 

 obvious. The i-ecognition of a man who made 

 so many valuable contributions to our knowl- 

 edge and who won so many friends through 

 his wonderful friendly sympathy and erudition 

 appeals especially to American men and 

 women. 



The committee expects some generous con- 

 tributions and will welcome the receipt of other 

 large gifts, but it hopes especially to have a 

 great number of small subscribers. The re- 

 ceipt of checks, postal orders, or cash, for one 

 dollar or over, sent to the Ramsay Memorial 

 Fund Association, 50 East 41st St., New York 

 City, will be pron)ptly acknowledged. 



UNITED ST.VTES COMMITTEE FOR THE RAMSAY 

 MEMORIAL FUND 



Walter Hines Page, Marston T. Bogert, 



Vice-president Chas. F. Chandler, 



Charles Baskerville, Francis W. Clarke, 



Chairman Wm. D. Coolidge, 



Wm. J. Matheson, John H. Finley, 



Treasurer Edward C. Franklin, 



Leo H. Baekeland, Frank Hemingway, 



Wilder D. Bancroft, Chas. H. Herty, 



