GENERAL PAPERS 121 
It will be seen from the above that the wonderful achieve- 
ments of Germany in this field rest directly on the laboratory 
founded by Liebig in Giessen. We can go much further than 
this now and it is entirely clear that the tremendous efficiency 
of Germany the last thirty months rests on the same basis. It 
would be difficult to find a better demonstration of the import- 
ant place that research work fills in our national life. Some per- 
sons may be disposed to say that all this is well enough for 
Germany, but it does not apply to American conditions. Two 
or three illustrations of similar results achieved here may 
not be out of place. I take these illustrations from our ex- 
perience at the University of Illinois, but parallel cases might 
be cited from) many large universities in the country. 
C. L. Wagner, who graduated from our course in chemical 
engineering in 1910, was employed shortly after by a Cement 
Company in the State of Washington. Something had gone 
wrong with their process and the company at that time had 
thousands of barrels of cement thrown back on their hands 
because it did not meet the requirements set for such material. 
Mr. Wagner, trained during his senior year in methods of re- 
search, was able to put his finger on the difficulty and soon he 
corrected it and the company has continued in successful man- 
ufacture of their material ever since. 
In 1907 a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, who 
had spent one year in research work at the Massachusetts In- 
stitute of Technology, came here as a research assistant. 
Three years later he secured his doctor’s degree with us, and 
was continued as an instructor and still later was raised to 
the rank of assistant professor in charge of the division of or- 
ganic chemistry. Last year one of the largest manufacturers 
of coal tar dyes in America looked the country over to find a 
man who could organize a research laboratory for their work. 
They selected Dr. Derick, not because of his experience in 
manufacturing, but because he had shown unusual ability in 
the study of research problems in pure organic chemistry, and 
especially in the application of physical chemistry to the study 
of such problems. 
Another man who came to the University as an associate 
ten years ago, was called last summer to organize a research 
laboratory for the study of applications of rare metals to in- 
