12 CHEMICAL DISCOVERY AND INVENTION 



assistant is not expected at first to do more than make himselt 

 thoroughly competent in routine work, at the same time the 

 degree of diligence and ability shown determines the rate at 

 which he may look for advancement in pay and position. There 

 is usually a clause in the agreement which forbids the employe 

 to leave this employment and enter the service of another firm 

 in the same business within a certain distance. Men who enter 

 the chemical works under these conditions, however, are not 

 prone to wander, and the prospects for a man of real ability are 

 satisfactory or even brilliant. Unfortunately no system of this 

 kind has become general or even frequent in this country. Too 

 often the manufacturer looks for practical results impatiently, 

 and does not realise the fact that a chemist may have a full 

 knowledge of his subject from one point of view but has to 

 apply that knowledge to problems with which he has no previous 

 acquaintance, also that discoveries cannot be made to order. 

 It is only necessary to know a little of the history of chemistry 

 and its applications to be aware that experiments carried on for 

 many years by clever men do not always lead to a successful 

 result. 



Another method by which manufacturers who do not choose 

 to establish on their own premises a scientific laboratory and 

 staff may obtain assistance in the endeavour to improve processes, 

 to overcome difficulties or irregularities in existing processes, or 

 to test new ones, may be found in the proposal to institute indus- 

 trial fellowships. This idea was inaugurated a few years ago by 

 the late Professor Kennedy Duncan in connection with the 

 universities of Kansas and Pittsburg. 



The plan is as follows : any manufacturer desiring skilled 

 assistance may apply to the university for a chemist qualified to 

 prosecute research. The chosen person, nominated by the 

 Chancellor and the Director of Industrial Research, is provided 

 with a separate laboratory and with necessary materials in the 

 chemistry department of the university, together with facilities 

 for large scale experiments provided by the manufacturer. The 

 latter also provides the remuneration payable to the Fellow for 

 one or more years. The Fellow works under the general super- 

 vision of the Director of Industrial Research, and through him 

 periodical reports on the progress of the work are forwarded to 

 the employer. Any discoveries made by the Fellow during the 

 tenure of his Fellowship become the property of the employer, 



