240 CHEMISTRY 



committees, they sometimes direct the growth of science, not by the 

 exercise of compulsion, but by classifying work that has been done 

 and showing where work is needed. An extension of this process 

 might easily be devised, in such manner that a definite field of study 

 should be divided among a number of scholars, each doing his own 

 share and earning whatever independent credit he deserved. In 

 astronomy we already have an example to follow, for observatories 

 have divided a part of their work in exactly this manner, each insti- 

 tution mapping a zone of stars assigned to it by mutual agreement. 

 Cooperative research upon a well-considered plan ought to be possible 

 among chemists. Some overlapping, some duplication, cannot be 

 avoided, but the waste can at least be diminished. 



There is one other step which needs to be taken, and one which I 

 have repeatedly urged on other occasions. There should be laborato- 

 ries organized, equipped, and manned for systematic chemical research 

 upon those problems which are too large for individuals to handle. 

 The exhaustive determination of constants, for example, must pre- 

 cede the development of laws, and few chemists laboring singly care 

 to attempt work of so tedious a nature. Each one often feels the need 

 of data which do not exist, wants that he is unable personally to 

 supply, and such a laboratory as I have in mind could render invalu- 

 able service. Astronomy has its observatories, biology is provided 

 with experimental stations, physics is represented by institutions like 

 the Reichsanstalt, while chemistry is almost unaided. Chemistry, the 

 creator of wealth, receives few endowments, and those which have 

 fallen to its share have been in aid, not of research, but of teaching. 

 Great things have been and will yet be achieved in the universities, 

 but their laboratories can cover no more than a small portion of the 

 field. A laboratory for research would not compete with them; it 

 would, on the other hand, reinforce their efforts. When, a hundred 

 years hence, the progress and development of chemistry during the 

 twentieth century is summed up, investigations carried on under 

 endowments will fill a conspicuous portion of the stage. I have faith 

 in the future; I believe it will be better than the past; and to my 

 mind the great advances in science which w r e celebrate are only a 

 beginning. 



