536 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LI. No. 1326 



ture. He said "Government can not stand still. 

 It must advance. It naust provide for healthy 

 growth of every useful governmental activity." 

 In concluding the debate on this item which was 

 followed by a favorable vote, Chairman Good re- 

 marked: "We may smile at this proposition. We 

 may laugh it out of Congress, just as we did by 

 ridicule the proposition of Mr. Langley in regard 

 to the aeroplane. ' ' 



To those who are interested in scientific and 

 engineering investigations under government aus- 

 pices such expressions by leaders in Congress are 

 encouraging. It is also wcfrthy of note that neither 

 Mr. Good nor Mr. Byrns represent sections of the 

 country that would primarily and immediately be 

 affected by the proposed investigation; they seem 

 to represent the country as a whole. 



AWARD OF THE WILLARD GIBBS MEDAL 



The presentation of the Willard Gibbs 

 medal to Dr. Frederick G. Cottrell, director of 

 fhe United States Bureau of Mines, from the 

 Chicago Seotion of the American Chemical 

 Society, took place on May 21. This medal 

 was founded by William A. Converse, of Chi- 

 cago, and is conferred " In recognition and 

 encouragement of eminent research in tl^eo- 

 retical and a^iplied chemistry." 



At a meeting, which took place in the City 

 Club, La-wrence V. Redman, dhaiTman, ad- 

 dressed the section on The Willard Gibbs 

 medal. The presentation was made by Dr. 

 Willis E. Whitney, director of the Eesearch 

 Laboratories of the General Electric Company, 

 and the WiUard Gibbs address on " Interna- 

 tional scientific relations," was g-iven by Dr. 

 Cottrell. 



While a professor at the University of Cali- 

 fornia from 1902 to 1911, Dr. Cottrell devised 

 a process for removing fumes from the waste 

 gases of a sulphuric acid plant at a copper 

 smelter. There had been numerous complaints 

 tfaat the noxious vapors were imperilling the 

 health of the surrounding population, destroy- 

 ing animal life, and injuring vegetation. The 

 process devised by Dr. Cottrell consisted of 

 placing chains at the bottom of the flues. 

 These chains were charged with currents of 

 electricity, the effect of which was to cause 

 the particles to fall and thus prevent their es- 

 caping into the air. 



Dr. Cottrell patented the device but turned 

 over Ms rights to a non^dividendipaying or- 

 ganization, formed for that purpose and known 

 as " The Research Corporation." A charge for 

 the use of the process is made and the net 

 profits are devoted to the promotion of scien- 

 tific research. 



THE RETIREMENT OF PROFESSOR FAIRCHILD 

 OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER 



Professor Herman Le Eoy Fairchild, head 

 of the department of geology and ciu'ator of 

 the geological museum at the University of 

 Rochester, reached his seventieth birthday on 

 April 29 and will retire from active service 

 at the close of the present academic year. As 

 a tribute to his contribution to science and 

 his service to the university, undergraduates 

 and members of the faculty joined in paying 

 homage to him. Gifts from his classes and 

 from the faculty expressed the esteem in 

 which Professor Fairchild is held by the 

 undergraduates and his associates on the 

 teaching staff. His entry into the chapel in 

 Anderson Hall on April 29 was the signal 

 for an outburst of applause and cheering, 

 which was renewed on the presentation of the 

 faculty gift. 



President Eush Ehees and Professor John 

 E. Slater, head of the department of English, 

 were the speakers. Pointing to Professor 

 Fairchild's successftd career as an indication 

 that " a prophet is not without honor in his 

 own country, even if he is a weather prophet," 

 Professor Slater lauded his contribution in the 

 fieild of science and scholarship, and after read- 

 ing an original poem written for the occasion 

 presented the faculty gift. 



Professor Fairchild received the bachelor of 

 sciences degree from Cornell University in 

 1874, and the honorary doctorate of science 

 from the University of Pittsburgh in 1910. 

 He was professor of natural science in 

 Wyoming Seminary, at Kingston, Pa., from 

 1874 to 1876, and from there he went to New 

 Tork city as a lecturer on natural science 

 and on geology in Cooper Union. He was 

 recording secretary of the 'New York Academy 

 of Sciences from 1885 to 1888, going to the 

 University of Eochester in that year. He 



