THE GREAT LONDON CHEMISTS 



I. BOYLE AND CAVENDISH 



THE country which is in advance of the rest of the world 

 in Chemistry will also be foremost in wealth and in 

 general prosperity. For the study of Chemistry is so 

 closely bound up with our development in all kinds of 

 industry, with the arrestment of disease, and with our 

 success in war, that it is essential to a wealthy, healthy, 

 and peaceful nation. The electrician is dependent on 

 the chemist for the iron suitable for his dynamos; the 

 engineer, for the materials which he uses in his con- 

 struction ; and the scouring, bleaching, and dyeing of the 

 fabrics with which we are clothed, the manufacture of 

 the paper on which we write, and the ink with which we 

 soil the paper ; the provision of our food-supply, and 

 the removal of effete matter from our houses; the 

 preparation of our medicines; and the synthesis of the 

 high explosives with which warfare is now conducted ; 

 all these belong to the domain of the chemist, and 

 without them we should lapse into the. semi-barbarism 

 of our ancestors. 



Still, it must be borne in mind that we are far from 

 perfection. No process is so perfect that there is not 

 plenty of room for improvement. There is no finality 

 in science. And that which to-day is a scientific toy 

 may be to-morrow the essential part of an important 

 industry. This is one, though not in my view the most 

 important, inducement to study the science of Chemistry. 



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