CHEMISTRY IN THE UNITED STATES 87 



winning of honors. To the honor men positions and prefer- 

 ment are open; but honors are awarded m the wrong way. 

 In Germany, on the other hand, the pathway to success hes 

 through research, honors are given to the men who have in- 

 creased knowledge, and the effect of this pohcy is felt by 

 every manufacturer upon German soil. Take, for example, 

 the great chemical works at Eberfield, in which about one 

 hundred scientific chemists are employed, in addition to a 

 great force of laborei^s. Every one of these chemists received 

 a training in research, every one is expected to make dis- 

 coveries, and the results of their investigations are immedi- 

 ately applied in the manufacture of new preparations and the 

 improvement of processes. The German employer does not 

 ask the chemist to do for him what he can do already, but 

 rather to supply the greater forces by which he can rise above 

 his competitors and command the custom of the world. To 

 that policy we have not j^et fully risen in America; our tech- 

 nical schools have thought too much of routine drill and dis- 

 cipline, and until we have profited by the example of Ger- 

 many more thoroughly than we have done, we cannot hope 

 to rival her in chemical industries. Our practical men value 

 science for what it can do directly in their interest, and rarely 

 look deeper into the possibilities of abstract investigation. 

 In reality, pure science and apphed science are one at the 

 root; the first renders the second possible, and the latter 

 furnishes incentives for the first. Where science is most 

 encouraged for its own sake, there its applications are most 

 speedily realized. This is a lesson which America has yet to 

 learn, at least to the point of full and complete apprecia- 

 tion. 



What, now, have we done, and what should we do? We 

 have made a great beginning; we have built up good labora- 

 tories, backed by richly endowed institutions of learning; 

 millions of dollars have gone into the teaching of chemistry, 

 and the stream of research flows on with ever increasing 

 volume. American investigations and investigators are well 

 known throughout the civilized world ; their credible standing 

 is fully recognized ; our analysts are among the best, and yet — 

 and yet— something is wanting. A great mass of good work 



