368 Congress of Applied Chcmistry [Dec. 



this country by the President of the United States at the solicita- 



Eighth International ^^o" ^^ "^^^^ ^^^^^ 4,ooo American chemists. 

 Congress of The very least that biological chemists can do is 



Applied Chemistry ^q jq{^ ^he Congress. The membership fee of 

 $5 is wholly nominal when compared with the benefits of such mem- 

 bership. The twenty-four sections of the Congress will together 

 present upwards of 1,000 papers, of which more than 300 were 

 promised by American chemists by December 31, 191 1 ; the printed 

 report of the Congress is expected to contain upwards of 5,000 

 pages, and will be sent free of charge to all members; to non-mem- 

 bers the price will be $20. Members who are unable to attend the 

 meetings will nevertheless have for reference and use the final 

 records thereof. 



Further Information and application blanks for membership can 

 be had from Bernhard C. Hesse, Secretary of the Congress, 25 Broad 

 Street, New York. The members of the Executive Committee of 

 the Section of Physiological Chemistry and Pharmacology are John 

 J. Abel, President; William J. Gies, Vice-President; John A. Man- 

 del, Secretary; Reid Hunt and Thomas B. Osborne. 



The public is generally Ignorant of the difference between anti- 

 septic^ and disinfectants (germicides) , and even many members of 

 the medical profession confuse these terms. Manufacturers of 

 Antiseptics and dis- spurious disinfectants have taken advantage of 

 infectants (germ- this confusion, wittingly or unwittingly; thereby 

 icides) menacing the safety, not only of the individual, 



but of entire communities. 



An antiseptic is an agent that, used under suitable conditions, 

 prevents the multiplication of bacteria without necessarily destroy- 

 ing them ; a disinfectant (germicide) is an agent that, employed 

 under suitable conditions, completely and quickly destroys bacterial 

 life. 



Disinfectant agents may in very dilute Solutions act as anti- 

 septics ; and antiseptic agents, if given a sufficiently long time to act, 

 might ultimately succeed in killing off bacteria, either by a process 

 of starvation or by direct chemical means. 



