132 THE RAY, DALE, AND ALLEN COMMEMORATION FUND.
Allen's tomb (which is of the kind usually spoken of as an
"altar tomb") was in much worse condition. Not only had
its foundations settled considerably, but the joints of its stones
had been forced apart by the roots of plants, while the inscription
upon the top was much defaced by age. It was found that it
would be necessary, therefore, to take the tomb down completely,
to cleanse all the stones, to replace a few, and to re-erect the
whole, while the lettering of the inscription required to be
partially re-cut.
As to the intended memorial to Dale : we decided, in con-
ference with the vicar of Braintree, that it could take no more
appropriate form than that of an inscribed bronze wall-tablet,
having inset into it a portrait-medallion, reproduced from the
original portrait in oils preserved at Apothecaries' Hall. From
this same painting has been reproduced the accompanying por-
trait (Plate xiv.)5 The work of cutting the tablet, we entrusted
ultimately to Messrs. Gawthorp & Sons, of Long Acre, and we
were fortunate enough to induce Mr. W. B. Fagan, R.S.B.S., of
Chelsea, to undertake the portrait-medallion.
Meanwhile, we had issued, to members of the Club and others
likely to be interested, appeals for subscriptions ; and, as soon as
it became fairly certain that the sum necessary would be forth-
coming, we put in hand the work above described. It was
carried out ultimately by those named above, and to our entire
satisfaction. Mr. Fagan's portrait-medallion was particularly
good.
The total cost exceeded by a good deal what we had expected
at the outset. Including certain incidental expenses, it amounted
in all to £72 17s., a sum which was, in the end, covered exactly
by subscriptions from scientific societies and individuals,
together numbering eighty-six. A list is appended hereto.
Among the contributions given by scientific societies (apart
from that of the Club itself) were liberal sums sent by the President
and Council of the Royal Society, the Members of Council of the
5 The portrait, which is hy an unknown painter, measures 30 inches hy 24 inches. It was
painted in 1731, when Dale was aged seventy-two, and was presented to the Society of Apothe-
caries in 1816 by a descendant of Dale, as shown by the following inscription on the back:—
"Samuel Dale. M.L., 1731. Died 1738[-9], aged 72. Presented to the Society by the Widow
and Family of Thomas Dale, M.D., who was his great nephew, 1816," It has, I believe, never
before been reproduced photographically, though it has been engraved at least twice—first, by
Vertue, in 1737, as a frontispiece to the edition of Dale's Pharmacologia published in that
year, and, secondly, by Rivers, in 1812, apparently to form one of some series of portraits.
Neither engraving is a quite satisfactory reproduction of the original. Both omit the hat ;
while the later (which appears to have been copied from the earlier and not from the original).
lacks also the books and the oval, besides being in other ways unpleasing.