88 F. TV. CLARKE 



has been done, beyond question; but no epoch making gener- 

 aHzation, fundamental to chemistry, has originated in the 

 United States, nor has any brilliant discovery of the first 

 magnitude been made here. The researches of American 

 chemists have been of high quality, but not yet of the highest; 

 there is solidity, thoroughness, originality, but with all that 

 we cannot be satisfied. The field is not exhausted, there are 

 great laws and principles still to be discovered; the statical 

 conceptions of to-day are to be merged in wider dynamical 

 theories; for every student there are opportunities now wait- 

 ing. Shall we do our share of the great work of the future, 

 or shall it be left to others. Shall we follow as gleaners or 

 lead as pioneers? He who has faith in his own country can 

 answer these questions only in one way. 



At present American chemists labor under some disad- 

 vantages which have not been fully outgrown. Research 

 with most of them is at best encouraged, but not expected as 

 an important professional duty. The teacher must first 

 teach, and in too many cases the routine of instruction takes 

 all his strength and time. The resources available for educa- 

 tion have been scattered by sectarian rivalry; several schools 

 are planted where only one is necessary, and the teachers, 

 duplicating one another's work and furnished with slender 

 means, cannot specialize. Two chemists dividing the work 

 of one institution can do more than four who labor separately. 

 The field is too large for one man to cover alone, and yet most 

 of our men are expected to do it. This evil, however, is grow- 

 ing less and less, and in time it may cease to operate. With 

 the increase of the true postgraduate instruction, the work 

 of American chemists will improve, for in that part of the 

 educational domain, research is an essential feature. Give 

 our men the best opportunities, the best environment, and 

 they will do their share of the best work. 



In one direction, perhaps, the possibility of advancement 

 is greatest, and that is in the institution of laboratories for 

 research. At present the labor of investigation is unorganized, 

 unsystematic — a little here, a little there, but without co-ordi- 

 nation — and consequently our knowledge is after all a thing 

 of shreds and patches. 



