Page:A History of the University of Chicago by Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed.djvu/275

 THE EARLIER BUILDINGS 239 Gentlemen of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago, I now tender to you the Ryerson Physical Laboratory, to be the property of the University of Chicago and to be used for the purposes which its name indicates. It is my intention to place upon its walls a tablet suitably recording the fact that it was erected in memory of my father, Martin Ryerson, a man who, in the struggle to overcome the material difficulties of life, found intellectual growth, and developed a tender thoughtfulness for the welfare of his fellow- men. I hope this Laboratory will make a record worthy of his honorable and useful career I have only to add that I value highly the opportunity which I have had to aid hi the advancement of the great science of Physics, and at the same tune erect a useful and lasting monument to one whose memory I cherish. In accepting the Laboratory on behalf of the University, President Harper said: Mr. Ryerson and Friends of the University: On behalf of the Trustees of the University I accept the magnificent gift which you now formally transfer to us. On behalf of the Trustees, the Depart- ment of Physics, the University in all of its Departments, I thank you for a gift which will advance the cause of science and thereby uplift the human race. Representing the authorities of the University, I publicly promise you that the building provided by your generosity shall be devoted to the uses which you have designated, and to these uses only. I further pledge you that, in view of this magnificent act on your part, the University will in every way cherish the Department of Physics, and most earnestly seek to develop it for the purposes of research and instruction The Laboratory was completed January i, 1894. In the design and con- struction of this building no element of utility has been omitted, and every effort has been made to include all the desirable features of a first-class physical laboratory. The walls and floors are strong and heavy; the laboratories on the first floor are provided with piers of masonry in addition to the heavy slate wall-shelves which are found throughout the building. Every laboratory is provided with gas for light or fuel, electricity for light and power, water, compressed air, and vacuum pipes. The laboratories are also equipped with a system of heating apparatus which may be used as a direct or indirect system, and is controlled automatically by the most approved form of temperature regulators. Ducts and channels have been provided between the walls and in the floors, so that pipes or wires may be laid from one part of the building to another without difficulty There may be larger laboratories. There may be one or two that have cost more money; but there is not one which contains as little waste room or as much working space, or that is provided with as many useful conveniences