164 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 
put its house in order so that were the stern realities of war 
to present themselves, we would be prepared, in a measure 
at least, to meet them. With respect to military and naval 
matters, both machinery and personnel, our public prints 
have had much to say. Concerning financial and industrial 
preparedness they have had less to say, perhaps because the 
latter topics do not afford opportunities for spectacular 
head lines to the same extent as do the former. But taught 
by the example of warring Europe, President Wilson and 
his co-workers called into existence the Naval Advisory 
Board, made up of men who had already won their spurs 
by scientific and technical achievements; this Board soon 
recommended that there be established a national research 
laboratory on such a scale that experiments, tests, and re- 
searches might be carried out in all branches that had to 
do with questions of national defense. As expressed by 
them, they wanted to make their mistakes and rectify them 
before hostilities began. Another far-reaching recommen- 
dation was that their Board be enlarged by the addition of 
representatives in each State from our greater engineering 
and scientific societies. It is probable that in the near 
future announcement will be made through the public press 
as to the persons who have been selected as members of this 
enlarged Board, and an outline of their duties will be pub- 
lished. It will be seen, therefore, that scientist and tech- 
nologist have already begun to receive recognition from the 
military and naval branches of our government. 
Object to it as we may, it is nevertheless true that 
necessity is the mother of invention, and that the rigors of 
war and of peace have forced quick solutions of problems 
that otherwise might not have been solved. One hundred 
years ago France, isolated by her enemies, offered a re- 
ward for the best process for manufacturing soda, and 
LeBlanc evolved his well known method. A score of years 
ago one of the largest German chemical factories needed 
fuming sulphuric acid so badly, in order that it might pro- 
duce a synthetic dye stuff to take the place of one formerly 
obtained from a certain plant, that it devoted, it is said, 
