June 10, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



787 



recently constructed a physical chemical 

 laboratory, which not only ec[uals, but ap- 

 parently far surpasses, the structure in 

 Gottingen. 



As Ostwald points out in the first pages 

 of the pamphlet, ' Das physikalisch-chem- 

 ische Institut der Universitat Leipzig, und 

 die Feier seiner Eroifnung,' Leipsic has 

 taken the lead for a considerable time in 

 physical chemistiy. It is true that Kopp 

 worked in Heidelberg as early as 1864, but 

 the work of Kopp belongs distinctly to the 

 older school. The questions raised by him 

 were such as these : "What is the relation 

 between the composition of compounds and 

 their phj'sical properties, and what is the 

 relation between the constitution of com- 

 pounds and their physical properties? Such 

 work, of course, was and is still of great 

 value, but the questions it had to deal with 

 were quite different from those asked by the 

 physical chemist of to-day, who employs 

 also entirely different methods in answer- 

 ing his questions. 



Ostwald calls attention to the fact that 

 Kopp was an investigator in his line, rather 

 than a teacher ; also to the very poor equip- 

 ment with which he was provided, the cal- 

 orimeter with which Kopp's measurements 

 of specific heat were made, being con- 

 structed out of a brass match-box. Kopp 

 was invited to Leipsic, but declined the 

 call. 



In 1871 Gustav Wiedemann was appointed 

 to the first chair for teaching physical chem- 

 istry in Leipsic. On the retirement of 

 Hankel, in 1887, he gave this up, and de- 

 voted his entire attention to physics. This 

 left the chair which had been occupied by 

 Wiedemann vacant, and to this Ostwald 

 was called from Eiga. He was given the 

 laboratory formerly built for the agricul- 

 tural chemist Knop, and here all of his 

 work up to the present has been done. 

 The entire laboratory was not given up to 

 physical chemistry, but a part of it was de- 



voted to general elementary chemistry, q ual 

 itative and quantitative analysis, and phar- 

 macology. This provision was a wise one, 

 since Ostwald's first semester opened with 

 two students, and the number was reduced 

 to one at the close of the second. The num- 

 ber of students increased until at present it 

 has reached about thirty. In the old lab- 

 oratory onljr three small, poorly lighted 

 and modestly equipped rooms were devoted 

 to students in physical chemistry. The 

 difficulties which were being constantly met 

 with are well remembered by everyone 

 who worked with Ostwald during the first 

 ten years of his professorship in Leipsic. 

 The water supply was poor ; the method of 

 heating was bad ; and, as he himself says, 

 the rooms were too narrow to permit the 

 use of telescope and scale in physical meas- 

 urements. 



When we take into account the condi- 

 tions under which Ostwald has done his 

 work, and then consider the quantity and 

 quality of the work which has come from 

 his laboratory, we are again reminded, in a 

 forcible manner, of the fact that scientific 

 investigation depends far less upon the 

 equipment than upon the man. 



But the ' Leipsic school ' of physical 

 chemistry finally completely outgrew its 

 quarters, and a new and elegant laboratory 

 has now been provided. This consists, in 

 reality, of two laboratories, a physical and 

 a chemical. The first story is devoted to 

 the physical, and physical chemical work 

 proper. 



One or two points in connection with the 

 equipment of this part deserve special com- 

 ment. The large research laboratory is 

 provided with one huge thermostat, 370 x 

 80 X 45 cm. This is provided with ther- 

 mo-regulators and stirrers, and can be main- 

 tained, at a constant temperature, to a hun- 

 dredth of a degree. This can be used 

 simultaneously, by six or eight students, 

 and is particularly convenient in studying 



