150 A Page of Scientific Hittory. [April, 



carry out the noble work so well begun. The most con- 

 flicting proposals were made to restore the financial equili- 

 brium of the institution. 



It was at this dangerous period, when the very existence 

 of the college seemed imperilled, that Sir James stood forth 

 its most enlightened and its most devoted champion. 



It had been the ambition of the council to establish in 

 England a school of chemistry on the model of the chemical 

 laboratories connected with the German universities. They 

 were well aware that not one of those institutions is self- 

 supporting. All these institutions receive very considerable 

 support (varying, of course, with the importance of the 

 university) from the respective states to which they 

 belong.* 



The British Government of that period did not yet recog- 

 nise the claims of science, and it was therefore necessary to 

 look towards other sources from which to defray the 

 expenses of the college. For this purpose the system of 

 life subscriptions and annual subscriptions had been resorted 

 to. But since it was not likely that many would be found 

 willing to support on public grounds alone an institution 

 designed for the diffusion of chemical knowledge and for the 

 advancement of science in the country, it became necessary 

 to hold out some prospect: of personal and private advan- 

 tage to the subscribers. Various proposals were made for this 

 purpose. One of the privileges which from the very com- 

 mencement it had been thought possible to grant, was the 

 analysis of substances sent by subscribers. Some of the 

 members of the council were most anxious to establish in 

 the college an analytical department undertaking private 

 investigations on a very large scale. They hoped to secure 

 in this manner ample means for carrying on the scientific 

 school. Others, again, imagined that an institution midway 

 between the Royal Institution and the Polytechnic would 

 attract crowds of members, and that the income derived 

 from brilliant exhibitions, evening lectures both instructive 

 and amusing, and, lastly, from frequent conversaziones, 

 would be more than sufficient to defray the expenses of the 

 school. All this stupendous machinery was to be put in 

 motion by the Professor of the College with his two 

 assistants, who were, moreover, expected to instruct some 

 thirty or forty students in analysis, and to contribute to the 

 progress of science by their researches. Happily, there 

 were men on the council who clearly perceived the folly of 



* The annual grant of the Prussian Government to the chemical laboratories 

 of the University of Berlin amounts to 7100 thalers (£1065). 



