Letter to George F. Fitzgerald from W. Ramsay
Title
Letter to George F. Fitzgerald from W. Ramsay
Creator
Date
Identifier
GFF 8/95
Subject
Description
A handwritten letter from W. Ramsay to George. F Fitzgerald on the 25th of June, 1897
In his letter, W. Ramsay thanks Fitzgerald and outlines his upcoming travel and ceremony schedule, including a visit to Mrs. Reynolds or Mrs. Fitzgerald and managing Oxford exam papers over the weekend. He seeks advice on protocol for gifting to a university dignitary and shares a scientific observation: that air's refractivity slightly exceeds the sum of its parts, while a hydrogen-helium mix falls short, suggesting variability in Dalton’s law—an intriguing deviation confirmed by refractivity measurements.
3pp.
Transcription:
My dear Fitzgerald,
Many thanks for your kind letter. I hardly know what to say. I cant't leave before Thursday night, so I shall arrive at Dr Haughtons's on Friday morning. Then comes the ceremony. There is, I believe, lunch after the operation. In the afternoon, I shall try to do my duty, & I am dependent on you to learn it. I should like to call on Mrs Reynolds, or if possible, Mrs Fitzgerald. Mr Lollan is, I imagine, ["ex quaestione"?] Then I shall have a bundle of Oxford papers arriving on Saturday morning.
I don't know if that will need two, or only one day's work. If two, then I need more use of my time on the way home on Saturday. If one, then I can stay over Saturday & read then on Sunday on my way home; or I could leave on Saturday night do then at home on Monday. I have to be in Oxford at 10:30 on Monday morning, as you see things are somewhat crowded. I fancy that to leave on Saturday night may be best . Please put me up to this tip: - Is it customary to give an embellishment to dignitary of the university less in rank then the Provost? and if so, how much?
I have something interesting to tell you. Air has a [Refractive?] greater by 0.3pc. that the sum of the refractivities of its constituents, taken in the proportion in which they occur; and a mixture of hydrogen helium has one less that the calculated one and 1 1/2 percent. That means that Dalton's law is variable - which may have been suspected, but which is proved by reactivity measurements. Isn't that curious?
Of course that is an assumption that volume of a mixture = the sum of the vols. of its constituents at the same temperature.
Yours sincerely,
W. Ramsay
In his letter, W. Ramsay thanks Fitzgerald and outlines his upcoming travel and ceremony schedule, including a visit to Mrs. Reynolds or Mrs. Fitzgerald and managing Oxford exam papers over the weekend. He seeks advice on protocol for gifting to a university dignitary and shares a scientific observation: that air's refractivity slightly exceeds the sum of its parts, while a hydrogen-helium mix falls short, suggesting variability in Dalton’s law—an intriguing deviation confirmed by refractivity measurements.
3pp.
Transcription:
My dear Fitzgerald,
Many thanks for your kind letter. I hardly know what to say. I cant't leave before Thursday night, so I shall arrive at Dr Haughtons's on Friday morning. Then comes the ceremony. There is, I believe, lunch after the operation. In the afternoon, I shall try to do my duty, & I am dependent on you to learn it. I should like to call on Mrs Reynolds, or if possible, Mrs Fitzgerald. Mr Lollan is, I imagine, ["ex quaestione"?] Then I shall have a bundle of Oxford papers arriving on Saturday morning.
I don't know if that will need two, or only one day's work. If two, then I need more use of my time on the way home on Saturday. If one, then I can stay over Saturday & read then on Sunday on my way home; or I could leave on Saturday night do then at home on Monday. I have to be in Oxford at 10:30 on Monday morning, as you see things are somewhat crowded. I fancy that to leave on Saturday night may be best . Please put me up to this tip: - Is it customary to give an embellishment to dignitary of the university less in rank then the Provost? and if so, how much?
I have something interesting to tell you. Air has a [Refractive?] greater by 0.3pc. that the sum of the refractivities of its constituents, taken in the proportion in which they occur; and a mixture of hydrogen helium has one less that the calculated one and 1 1/2 percent. That means that Dalton's law is variable - which may have been suspected, but which is proved by reactivity measurements. Isn't that curious?
Of course that is an assumption that volume of a mixture = the sum of the vols. of its constituents at the same temperature.
Yours sincerely,
W. Ramsay
Source
RDS Library & Archives GFF collection of letters
Rights
Copyright RDS Library & Archives. Publication, transmission or display is prohibited without formal written approval of the RDS Library & Archives.
Relation
RDS Science Archive
Format
Manuscript
Language
English
Type
Coverage
1870-1901
Collection
Citation
Ramsay, W, “Letter to George F. Fitzgerald from W. Ramsay,” RDS Digital Archive, accessed December 5, 2025, https://digitalarchive.rds.ie/items/show/2320.