58 CHEMICAL DISCOVERY AND INVENTION 



must know exactly the percentage of soda in the soda-ash or 

 other alkali he buys ; the chemical manufacturer who makes 

 ammonia or ammoniacal salts must know the percentage of 

 ammonia in the gas-liquor he obtains from the gasworks ; the 

 manufacturer of bleaching powder requires to know the percentage 

 of lime in the material he buys from the lime burner ; the dye 

 maker, who starts from benzene, toluene, etc., the hydrocarbons 

 present in coal-tar naphtha, requires to know exactly the per- 

 centage of each present in the naphtha obtained from the tar 

 distiller, according as the hydrocarbon is to be converted into 

 aniline, toluidine, etc., the immediate parents of the dye stuff. 



The research laboratory, where it is found in connection with 

 chemical works, differs in no important respect from laboratories 

 elsewhere. It contains the usual appliances for weighing, heating, 

 drying, and fittings for reagents, removing noxious fumes and 

 so forth. It must necessarily be provided with the special 

 instruments appropriate to the subjects to be investigated, and 

 should contain or be immediately connected with a good library 

 of works of reference, including some of the principal technical 

 and scientific journals. But in too many cases in the past there 

 has been either no provision for systemat/c research in the works, 

 or where some attempt has been made it has too often been 

 assumed in English works that any building not required for 

 other purposes is good enough to accommodate the chemist. 

 The respect with which this part of the business is treated in 

 Germany is indicated by the style of building, specially erected 

 in many works, in which industrial research is carried on. An 

 example is shown in the illustration which gives a view of the 

 scientific laboratory, erected in 1901, on the works of Schimmel 

 and Comp., at Miltitz, five miles from Leipzig. This firm manu- 

 factures essential oils and perfumes, both natural and artificial. 



" A special building contains the research and analytical 

 laboratories, seven large, light, and airy work-rooms, each for 

 two or three chemists ; further additional rooms for weighing 

 and combustion, cellars for storing chemicals and glass-ware. 

 This building also contains the collection of drugs and chemical 

 preparations, which includes many objects of ethnological 

 interest, and finally the library with more than 3000 volumes, 

 and some 1000 pamphlets, reprints, and dissertations. Here are 

 found the most important chemical journals, some right from 

 their first issue, and complete collection of the pharmacopoeias 



