124 FINAL ACT OF SECOND PAN AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS. 



niter, gold, silver, tin, vanadium, sulphur, lead, etc.; their qualities, 

 characters, and adaptations; the quantities in each area, so far as they may 

 at present be estimated; the state of development in and the accessibility 

 of each area and the present capacity of production of each kind of mineral 

 resources that may be contributed to international trade. 



It will be opportune that each participating country shall present for 

 the information of its sister republics and of the world an exposition , through 

 reports and maps, of the mineral resources and products which it has to 

 offer the world in trade, and to invite attention to its important undeveloped 

 mineral deposits, the exploitation of which would increase the prosperity 

 of the country, while contributing to Pan American commerce. It is 

 designed that the section of economic geology and mineral resources shall 

 have for its principal aim the presentation of reports, with maps, covering 

 the important mineral resources, both developed and undeveloped, of 

 each Republic. It is hoped that these reports, when combined, will con- 

 stitute in effect a census of the important mineral resources that have 

 been discovered in each country. 



The topics in the subsection of applied chemistry were largely of 

 international importance, and related to fertilizers, petroleum refining, 

 explosives, dyestuffs, and tanning, leather, and other industries, including 

 those of manufacture of acids, bases and salts, usually styled chemicals. 



As stated in the Preliminary Program : 



Applied Chemistry has for its purpose the isolation and purification of 

 chemical substances found in nature or else the rearrangement of such sub- 

 stances through their interactions so as to produce new chemical substances 

 of benefit to man. In dealing with this subject broadly it is essential to 

 know the sources of supply of raw material and the extent of each, the 

 kind and extent of the energy to be used in effecting these chemical 

 changes, and how largely these resources are availed of in the several 

 countries sending delegates to this Congress. 



Notwithstanding the importance of all the subjects included in the 

 program of this Section and assigned to the several subsections for 

 appropriate treatment, some topics, by reason of their prominence at 

 the present time, and of the especial appeal that they make to different 

 countries or regions thereof, were more elaborately discussed than 

 others, and it is believed to be of more than passing interest to mention 

 some of these as tending to show the topics which appealed to the dele- 

 gates present and participating in the proceedings of the section. The 

 nitrate industry of Chile and its relation to the chemical industries of 

 the Americas was considered. The genesis of the Chilean nitrate 

 deposits was also the basis of an important discussion. The possibility 

 of utilizing the nitrate deposits of the United States and the fixation of 

 atmospheric nitrogen were also set forth. 



The uniformity of the methods of chemical analyses and standard 

 methods for analyzing coal and coke were also considered in open session. 



