2 LETTER-FILES OF S. W. JOHNSON 



fection of the man vanishes, only the artist soul 

 remains ; and in the portraits of all who have painted 

 truly, it is the same clear, beautiful eye, the expression 

 of the gift of imagination. The man who labors with 

 faith and enthusiasm for truth in science must be 

 endowed with this gift of imagination, must look out 

 into nature with the artist's eye. His success in learn- 

 ing the secrets of nature is in proportion to his gift 

 and the use he makes of it. Hence comes a paradox. 

 The so-called materialistic man of science is spiritually 

 a painter, a poet, an evangelist consecrated to the cause 

 of truth. Therefore, he, too, is set a little apart from 

 the ordinary way and must, like the prophet, the 

 painter and the poet, take heed lest he travel so far 

 ahead that those not of his own craft may fail to under- 

 stand him and his message. 



Samuel William Johnson was one of that small 

 group among the chemists of America who, two gen- 

 erations ago, undertook to extend and develop labora- 

 tory instruction in chemistry and to apply this science 

 to the industries of the country. Among these men, 

 most of whom passed away before him, few left a 

 greater impress on American chemistry or American 

 chemists than did Professor Johnson. His whole life 

 was devoted to training workers in this field, to making 

 others realize what chemistry could do for them, and 

 to developing institutions and methods to extend the 

 knowledge of chemistry, and make it available to those 

 engaged in productive occupations. The results of his 

 efforts are far better appreciated today, when the 

 returns are so apparent, than they were during the 

 years of his greatest activity, when he was patiently 



