XXXvi GIBBS. 



the senior author. The work commenced in v. Baeyer's labora- 

 tory was later carried on in the laboratory of Professor Dixon, 

 Owens College, Manchester, England, 



This research with Perkin is a valuable contribution to the 

 knowledge of the tetra, penta, and hexamethylene rings and 

 the derivatives of tetrone, pentone, and hexone. Efforts to syn- 

 thesize the heptamethylene ring determined that the methods 

 attempted were not feasible. 



About this time Doctor Freer was offered a commercial posi- 

 tion in the dye manufacturing industry and it became necessary 

 for him to choose between this and an academic career. He 

 chose the latter and, although knowing that the former meant 

 greater financial reward, I know he never regretted his decision. 



To my intimate knowledge there are two things which Doctor 

 Freer carried through life as a result of his association in 

 Munich. The first was his intense interest in the discussions of 

 the structure and behavior of the benzene ring. Less than ten 

 days before his death, we were at the Country Club in Baguio 

 discussing some phases of the work described in an article 

 which I had just presented to him for publication in the Phil- 

 ippine Journal of Science, when he enthusiastically said : "This 

 throws more light on the benzene ring. We must further elu- 

 cidate the structure of the benzene ring," The second was his 

 generosity with his ideas and assistance to the younger chemists. 

 Only we chemists of the Bureau of Science know how much of 

 Doctor Freer's keen mind, inspiration, and editorial ability there 

 is in the chemical articles originating in the Bureau, for his 

 name seldom appears. We know that a person of less lofty 

 ideals, less ability, and more self aggrandizement would have felt 

 himself privileged, at least, to take the credit of a joint author- 

 ship in a large proportion of the published chemical research. 



The next period of his research, extending from 1887 to 1902 

 during his residence in America, principally at Ann Arbor, 

 Michigan, was largely concerned with the sodium derivatives 

 of various ketones and aldehydes, their formation and behavior. 

 In 1890 Doctor Freer contributed an important piece of research 

 which did much to settle the mooted question of the constitution 



