72 



National Resources Planning Board 



to rnrrv out tho dosirod invcstifjation, and the institute 

 furiiislies sucli fncilitics as arc necessary for the conduct 

 of the work. The results obtained belong exclusively 

 to the donor, and patents are assigned to him. Wliere 

 secrecy is necessary, the institute tai^cs every precau- 

 tion to secure it, but often, after a reasonable time, the 

 knowledge obtained by the various researches is, with 

 the consent of tlie donor, made •rciioially availaijle 

 through publication. 



The soundness of the Industrial Fellowship Sj'stem 

 and the success it has had are clearly indicated by the 

 statistics of its growth. During the academic year 

 1911-12, the first year that the system was in operation 

 at the l^nivcrsity of Pilts])urgli, 2.S fellows were en- 

 gaged. From March 1939 to March 1, 1940, 91 fellow- 

 ships required the services of 107 fellows and lOfi 

 assistants.'-' 



A new building, dedicated in 1937, has made it pos- 

 sible for Mellon Institute to expand its activities, and 

 it is interesting to note that in the twenty-seventh 

 annual report of the director, Dr. Weidlcin states that 

 fundamental research in technology and pure science 

 is becoming a more important part of the institute's 

 worl<. 



Other Research Institutes 



In recent years other research institutes have been 

 founded at several universities and colleges, among 

 them the Institute of Paper Chemistry at Lawrence 

 College in 1929, the Purdue Research Foundation at 

 Purdue University in 1930; the Research Foundation 

 of the Armour Institute of Technology in 1936; and the 

 Ohio State University Research Foundation the same 

 year. The object of all these research foundations is 

 to cooperate with industry in the solution of pure and 

 applied research problems, to the end that the univer- 

 sity, the general public, and the industry itself shall be 

 substantially benefited. 



Commercial Laboratories 



Before the trained chemist, physicist, or metallurgist 

 found much opportunity for regular employment in 

 industry, lie fre(|uently served as a consultant on special 

 problems. Nfcmbers of the faculties at universities 

 and technical schools did most of the consulting work 

 in the nineteenth century, but some courageous indi- 

 viduals, sensing the growing inclination of industrialists 

 to consult specialists, established private laboratories 

 where advice could be purchased and materials could 

 be tested and analyzed. 



Two such laboratories were opened in 1836; one in 

 Boston by Dr. Charles T. Jackson, and one in Phila- 

 delphia by Dr. James C. Booth. 



i» Uanior. \V. A. Pure and applied science research at Mellon Institute, 1939-40. 

 Science, 91, 10711. (1940). 



Charles T. Jackson 



Jackson made geological surveys for the States of 

 Maine, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire and for 

 tlie Federal Ciovernment on public lands in the region 

 of Lake Superior. He experimented in Ids laboratory 

 with the narcotic effects of ether and showed Dr. 

 W. T. G. Morton, a Boston dentist, how to adiniiiLster 

 it before extracting a i)atient's tooth. He was the lirst 

 to make a chemical study of sorghum and to call 

 attention to the vast economic jiossibilities of cotton- 

 seed. His laboratory offered unusual o])])ort unities for 

 a varied experience in tiie prai-tical applications of 

 cheinistrv, and it was here that \\'il]iani Channing, 

 Richard Cro.ssley, and Benjaniin Siiliiiian, Jr., among 

 others, received some of their (raining. 



James C. Booth 



After studying with Wohler in Hesse-Cassel and with 

 Magnus in Berlin, James C. Booth returned to I'liila- 

 deljjhia and openetl a student laboratory where men 

 could receive personal instruction in applied chemistry. 

 In 1S60 he made an unsuccessful attempt to interest 

 iron manufacturers in a S3'stem of control analysis of 

 iron ores. 



. . . He was tlic first cliemist in tlie United States to use the 

 polariscope for testing sugar; lie investigated the production of 

 gelatin; made studies of tlie ores of iron, nickel, and other metals; 

 served as melter and refiner of the United States Mint at Phila- 

 delphia; and acted as consultant and analyst for many chemical 

 industries.'-' 



This laboratory, which in 1878 became the firm of 

 Booth, Garrett, and Blair, was the training school for 

 many chemists who later achieved distinction. 



Arthur D. Little, Inc. 



As a chemist to the Richmond Paper Company at 

 Rumford. R. L, whose mill was the first one in the 

 United States to manufacture wood pulp by the sulfite 

 process invented by B. C. Tilglmiarm, Dr. Arthur D. 

 Little began his career. In 1886, however. Little 

 formed a partnership with Roger B. Griffin, who had 

 specialized in chemistry under Professor Sabin at the 

 University of Vermont, and they opened a laboratory 

 for carrying on business ". . . as chemical engineei-s, 

 analytical and consulting chemists, and for doing expert 

 and general laboratory work. . . ." The firm was not 

 started under ideal conditions; it was located in Boston 

 on the sixth floor of a building in which a temperamental 

 elevator, more often than not, made it necessary for 

 clients to walk up. More threatening to their chance 

 for success, however, was the general attitude of sus- 

 picion toward chemists. In fact Sir William Crookes 

 had just published an editorial in Chemical News in 



■" Browne, C A. Tlie history ol chemical education In America between the years 

 1820-1S79. Journal of Chemical Educalivn, 9, 714 (April 1932). 



