SHORT PAPERS 711 



best in the English language that appeared in Johnson's Cyclopedia were 

 written by him. The first museum of applied chemistry in the United States where 

 the crude material may be studied in its course of development to a finished 

 product was established by him. Masterly, indeed, were the practical contribu- 

 tions to chemistry which marked the years during which he had charge of the 

 public health in New York City. They resulted in enormous benefits to the com- 

 munity, and in 1883 it was well said: "There is no other city in the world which 

 has so complete a sanitary organization as New York ;" for all of which credit is 

 due to Chandler. 1 In 1889 he was chosen president of the Society of Chemical 

 Industry, the first American upon whom that honor was conferred, and a year 

 later, on June 18, 1900, in the lecture theatre of the Royal Institution founded 

 by Count Rumford, to whom reference has already been made, he delivered his 

 presidential address on " Chemistry in America," in the course of which he ela- 

 borated most fully the achievements of those who have distinguished themselves 

 in that branch of science in the United States. 2 



It is worth while, I think, to mention very briefly three branches of our national 

 government that have had much to do with the development of chemical techno- 

 logy in this country. The first of these and also the oldest, for it celebrated its 

 centenary in 1891, is the patent office, 3 where inventors receive the protection of 

 the government for their discoveries. By thus recognizing worthy inventions a 

 valuable stimulus is given to invention which has not been without value to the 

 community. Of exceptional interest to chemists is the system of indexing chemical 

 literature now in use in the classification division of the patent office. 4 



I will also call your attention to the excellent work done in the Division of Min- 

 eral Resources in the U. S. Geological Survey, where under the efficient direction 

 of David Talbot Day (1859- ) valuable information and statistics are gathered 

 concerning native minerals and ores from which are obtained the products of so 

 many of the leading chemical processes. 5 



Finally the bureau of chemistry of the Department of Agriculture has been a 

 potent factor in the development of chemical industries. It was that bureau that 

 first called the attention of the public to the possibility of establishing the beet 

 sugar industry in the United States. As a result of the investigations carried on 

 by chemists in this branch of the government service the average yield of cane- 

 sugar to the ton in the state of Louisiana has been increased from 130 pounds to 

 170 pounds. In the examination of road materials important contributions to 

 technical chemistry have been made by this bureau. The valuable studies on the 

 dietetic value of foods and on their adulterations, conducted under the direction 

 of Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley (1847- ), have not only done much towards 

 creating a demand for the enactment of national legislation for pure food, but they 

 have also been praiseworthy contributions to the application of chemistry to 

 sanitation. This bureau also should receive recognition for its fostering influence 

 over the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, an organization which has 

 done so much to secure uniform methods of analysis of fertilizers and of foods. 



1 See the sketch of Charles Frederick Chandler by the present writer in the 

 Scientific American, vol. LXVII, July 16, 1887, p. 39, and President Chandler and 

 the New York City Health Department, 1866-1883, in the Sanitary Engineer, May 

 17, 1883. 



~ Journal of Society of Chemical Industry, vol. xix, p. 591, 1900. 



3 Patent Centennial Celebration, 1891: Proceedings and Addresses, 554 pp. 

 (Washington, 1892). 



4 See On a System of Indexing Chemical literature; Adopted by the Classifica- 

 tion Division of the United States Patent Office, by E. C. Hill, Journal of the Ameri- 

 can Chemical Society, vol. xxu, pp. 478-498, 1900; also Scientific American, vol. 

 LXXXVI, June 14, 1902, p. 411. 



5 Beginning with the year 1882, annual volumes of the Mineral Resources of 

 the United States have been published. 



