NOVEMBEB 13, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



665 



problems ; that, in fact, the most important 

 and most difSeult part of our undertaking 

 consists in cultivating sound habits of 

 thought and work, in developing breadth 

 of interest and good judgment, in molding 

 character, and in creating a high moral 

 purpose. 



Aethue a. Noyes 



SOME PRINCIPLES IN LABORATORY 

 CONSTRUCTION " 



By common consent, governing boards of 

 colleges recognize that after a main build- 

 ing has been erected, the next should be a 

 chemical laboratory. The artfulness of 

 teachers of chemistry, perhaps aided by 

 their fumes, has caused their colleagues 

 to exhibit little regret and display but 

 minor envy in the placing of the chemistry 

 department under a separate roof. Limit- 

 ed funds and meager equipment caused the 

 erection of the simplest structures at first. 

 The stupendous development of our com- 

 mercial prosperity and the more general 

 appreciation of the importance of our sci- 

 ence, not only in its applications, but as a 

 factor in stimulating the dormant germ of 

 culture in all men, have caused more gen- 

 erous provisions, with consequent elabora- 

 tion in construction and equipment of 

 chemical laboratories, entailing the most 

 serious responsibility on the part of the 

 professor in charge. 



At the outset, I wish to make it plain 

 that all the ideas put forward here have 

 not been incorporated in our new labora- 

 tory. Many have. The reasons why the 

 rest have not is of no interest to you. It 

 is generally recognized that architects, 

 however willing they may be, are of little 

 real value in drawing up plans and speci- 

 fications for laboratories beyond the ex- 

 terior and artistic effects, as they are very 



'Kead before the New York Section of the 

 American Chemical Society, March 6, 1908. 



special in their construction and use, of 

 which the designer is naturally more or 

 less ignorant. Our architect, Mr. George 

 B. Post, however, has shown the greatest 

 consideration and willingness to try to ac- 

 complish the ends aimed at. Much that I 

 have to say is based upon a close study of 

 laboratories in this country and in Europe. 

 Many ideas we have put into effect have 

 been secured here and there. A few are 

 original. 



The plan of a laboratory should be laid 

 down in accordance with the destiny of the 

 institution, as one may judge by its past 

 and by a careful comparative study of 

 the histories of other institutions, keeping 

 in mind not only the immediate demands, 

 but the probable developments within 

 half a century. 



LABORATORY PLAN AND ARCHITECTURAL 

 EFFECTS 



In the construction of chemical labora- 

 tories, different ideas have to prevail, de- 

 pending entirely upon the immediate ob- 

 ject aimed at by the laboratory. A private 

 laboratory may be constructed along any 

 particular lines desired. Undoubtedly a 

 laboratory for the instruction of students 

 in chemical engineering must be different 

 from that used in instructing students of 

 pharmacy or medicine. Most coUege 

 laboratories, however, should be con- 

 structed with the object of giving a gen- 

 eral training in chemistry, and not with 

 the idea of training chemists. That should 

 be incidental, which is not the case with 

 technological institutions, where men are 

 trained particularly in that line. Very 

 special rooms, with particularly special ap- 

 paratus, fixed and movable, must be pro- 

 vided, depending upon the requirements. 

 This paper is concerned with laboratories 

 for colleges in which general and not 

 specific professional training is the aim. 



While it is generally considered that a 



