IDEAS OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY 5 



from me to detract from the merits of a Liebig, a Hofmann, a 

 Horsford, a Deville; the discoveries by which they have 

 enriched mankind are among the brightest ornaments of our 

 science. But the brilliancy of their achievements has so 

 dazzled the eyes of the world as to lead men into the danger 

 of forgetting that the true duty of a science is the investiga- 

 tion of natural phenomena, and that the employment of 

 known forces for the production of effects which, however 

 novel and beautiful, depend merely on ingenious combina- 

 tions, must soon bring chemistry to the level of an art. Too 

 many chemists hurry in their studies toward the El Dorado 

 of carbon synthesis, striving to obtain at the earliest mo- 

 ment tangible results in the shape of new substances, be they 

 dyes, drugs, or merely triumphs of synthetical art. In this 

 eager chase they rush heedlessly over the rich fields of 

 stoichiometry, of inorganic chemistry, of analysis, of electro- 

 chemistry, of the problems of chemical affinity. 



Like to the miners of '49 the specialist in organic chemistry 

 has but one thought. Arrived at his diggings, he delves as- 

 siduously, and if favored by fortune and skill is rewarded with 

 many a rich nugget. But if, resting awhile from his labors 

 he decides to retrace his steps and revisit former scenes, he 

 is astounded to find that lands passed by as cheerless and 

 barren have been occupied by settlers, who with patience 

 and care have cultivated and beautified them, and are now 

 reaping wealth more lasting and productive than his own gold. 



Let us, then, who have not staked our claims, travel more 

 leisurely, tarrying here and there, surveying our fair inherit- 

 ance and considering whether it be not our duty to turn aside 

 from the main road, 1 in order that we may render fruitful 

 that which would else be a noisome desert. 



1 In 1889 this "main road" was the study of synthetic organic chemistry. 

 [Editor.] 



