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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVIII. No. 717 



the Society for Testing Materials, the Na- 

 tional Fertilizer Association and individual 

 firms employing many chemists or oper- 

 ating several laboratories, have done or are 

 doing work along the line of unifying 

 methods. Those whom I have mentioned 

 are not the only ones who are doing this 

 important work, but if they alone were en- 

 gaged upon it it could fairly be assumed 

 that perfect unification might not result. 

 To be sure, they might not all be working 

 on the same things, but it is certain that 

 much more could be accomplished if the 

 work were being done by one central or- 

 ganization such as our Chemical Society. 



There are great advantages in work on 

 unification of methods. It trains the chem- 

 ist in the art peculiar to chemistry. The 

 work does not require men of great or 

 special talents ; on the other hand, it can be 

 done satisfactorily by good careful analysts 

 of ordinary skill and common sense. What 

 it does require before everything else is 

 organization and after this reasonably care- 

 ful analysts and organized effort. There is 

 no body better able to take up the work 

 in so far as it concerns industrial methods 

 than the Division of Industrial Chemists 

 and Chemical Engineers. 



I should say that work of this kind 

 should be considered under eight heads: 

 (1) definitions of all terms requiring defi- 

 nition which come up during the progress 

 of the work; (2) methods of sampling, 

 which, if correct results are to be delivered, 

 are fully as important as correct analyses; 

 (3) uniformity in reporting analyses; (4) 

 methods of analysis themselves— that is 

 methods recommended; (5) other methods 

 which deserve mention but which are not 

 recommended; (6) comments on the meth- 

 ods recommended, possibly detailing the 

 results of a committee's analytical work; 

 (7) publication in convenient and suitable 

 form so that the results may reach all who 



are interested; (8) provision for a perma- 

 nent committee to keep the work alive and 

 up to date. 



If some such plan as this is carried out, 

 every chemist in the country who is called 

 upon to do analytical work in a given line, 

 will know where to go for approved meth- 

 ods of analysis, and while this will not 

 assure the public, in the absence of capable 

 chemists, of accurate results, it will at least 

 solve a part of the problem. In regard to 

 a distinguishing mark which would guide 

 the public in the selection of competent 

 analysts, possibly a properly organized in- 

 stitute of chemistry would be able to set 

 such a stamp upon a man. But no insti- 

 tute can be considered as worthy of its 

 high calling unless it is organized from 

 among the acknowledged representative 

 leaders of the profession. Mediocre men 

 at the head of an institute of chemistry can 

 do little for the movement which we ail 

 must hope will in due season come to pass. 



In regard to publication, I suppose there 

 will be some who will say when the work 

 is in full blast— if it ever is — "Nothing in 

 the Journal but methods." But in the 

 first place not all the detailed work need 

 be printed, and if it appears necessary ta 

 print a good deal, I can only say that it is 

 important work— as important for the gen- 

 eral good of the chemical profession as any 

 research now being conducted. Further,, 

 it is not only desirable work, but, as things 

 stand now, it is necessary work, which we 

 can not evade if we would. We as analysts 

 will have to admit that through lack of 

 enterprise or for some other reason we have 

 in some cases, and I am afraid the cases are 

 numerous, allowed the matter of commer- 

 cial analysis to be forced upon our atten- 

 tion by manufacturers and business men^ 

 instead of foreseeing and meeting these 

 demands. Content with discoveries in pure 

 science and in the life within the labora- 



