WOMEN IN CHEMISTRY 229 



the recipient of more trophies of undying fame during the 

 last decade and a half than any other one person during 

 the same brief period of intellectual activity. And all these 

 tokens of recognition of genius were showered upon her not 

 because she was a woman, but in spite of this fact. Had 

 she been a man, she would have been honored with the 

 other distinctions which tradition and prejudice still per- 

 sist in denying to one of the proscribed sex, no matter how 

 great her merit or how signal her achievements. 



At a recent scientific congress, held in Brussels, it was 

 decided to prepare a standard of measurement of radium 

 emanations. It was the unanimous opinion of the congress 

 that Mme. Curie was better equipped than any other person 

 for establishing such a standard ; and she was accordingly 

 requested to undertake the delicate and difficult task a 

 commission which she executed to the satisfaction of all 

 concerned. 



This unit of measurement, it is gratifying to learn, will 

 be known as the curie a word which will enter the same 

 category as the volt, the ohm, the ampere, the farad, and a 

 few others which will perpetuate the names of the world's 

 greatest geniuses in the domain of experimental science. 



When, not long since, there was a vacancy among the im- 

 mortals of the French Academy, there was a generally ex- 

 pressed desire that it should be filled by one who was uni- 

 versally recognized as among the foremost of living scien- 

 tists. The name of Mme. Curie trembled on every lip ; and 

 the hope was entertained that the Academy would honor 

 itself by admitting the world-famed savante among its 

 members. Considering her achievements, she had no com- 

 petitor, and was, in the estimation of all outside of the 

 Academy, the one person in France who was most deserv- 

 ing of the coveted honor. 



But no. She was a woman ; and for that reason alone she 

 was excluded from an institution the sole object of whose 

 establishment was the reward of merit and the advance- 



