234 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVII. No. 1210 



Mr. Eichard M. Field, has been completed, and 

 the results will soon be ready for publication. 

 The outstanding features of that section are 

 certain peculiarities of the fauna which have 

 been heretofore undescribed, and the remark- 

 able series of limestones and dolomites, replete 

 with phenomena significant of their origin and 

 evolution. 



WAR SERVICE FOR CHEMISTS 



The secretary of the American Chemical So- 

 ciety, Dr. Charles L. Parsons, has prepared the 

 following statement : 



So many hundreds of letters are being received 

 from firms and individuals that it is necessary to 

 answer by this form letter, which covers most in- 

 quii'ies. 



Individuals can obtain deferred classification 

 only through the local boards or by appeal to the 

 district boards. 



Manufacturers engaged in the production of ma- 

 terials necessary for the war may apply by letter 

 to the Chemical Service Section, National Army, 

 Boom 1108, Interior Building, Washington, D. C, 

 for the return to them of necessary, trained chem- 

 ists now in the army and not already transferred 

 to chemical service. They may also apply through 

 the Chemical Service Section for deferred classifi- 

 cation of trained chemists necessary to the control 

 of their operations who are not yet called. Appli- 

 cations from the men themselves will not be con- 

 sidered. Only those chemists whose services are 

 necessary to war work will be considered. The 

 evidence submitted by the manufacturers must be 

 conclusive. 



Students taking a regular chemical course may 

 be enlisted in the Engineers' Eeserve Corps and 

 placed on the inactive list in order to complete 

 their college course. The dean or president of the 

 institution must certify, however, that their stand- 

 ing is such as to warrant the conclusion that they 

 will graduate with a record equal to the first third 

 of the graduates of the previous ten years. This 

 does not apply to students in biological and physio- 

 logical chemistry, as the Chief of Engineers has 

 ruled that such come under the Surgeon General's 

 Ofiice, rather than under the Engineering Depart- 

 ment. Students wishing to take advantage of this 

 opportunity to receive their degrees before enter- 

 ing the country's service should address the Chief 

 of Engineers, War Department, Washington, D. C, 

 asking for the necessary blanks to be filled out for 

 this purpose. 



Transfers to chemical service are made by the 

 War Department on request from some division of 

 the army for the particular chemist needed. After 

 the approval of the commanding ofiicer and the 

 Chemical Service Section, the mau is transferred. 

 Eemember that the Secretary has no power to 

 transfer you to chemical service. He simply brings 

 your name and qualifications before those who have. 



No one can predict how great this requirement 

 for chemists will be. At present, although nearly 

 1,000 chemists are serving in a chemical capacity, 

 some 300 men properly classified as chemists re- 

 main in the camps. Accordingly, if you enlist as a 

 chemist before you are called, you will deprive 

 another chemist, actually in the army, of his oppor- 

 tunity to render chemical service. The industries 

 which supply the army and navy with the sinews 

 of war need chemists and are being seriously handi- 

 capped by the depletion of their chemical per- 

 sonnel. Cards, giving age, training, experience, 

 etc. (obtained from questionnaires filed with the 

 Bureau of Mines), of all men with chemical train- 

 ing (known to be in the army) are kept in the 

 office of the society. These cards are constantly 

 consulted by those in command needing chemical 

 assistance. Men are chosen, not to give the indi- 

 vidual an opportunity to serve in a chemical ca- 

 pacity, but to find the man especially qualified for 

 the work in hand. Accordingly, you may or may 

 not be selected. Men with plant experience, re- 

 search, physical and organic chemists, some analy- 

 tical chemists, etc., have been in demand. On the 

 other hand, there has been almost no chance to 

 place pharmaceutical chemists, agricultural or food 

 chemists, as the army apparently has little need for 

 this form of chemical service, and the government 

 itself is not manufacturing in these lines. 



Chemical positions in the government service 

 other than those by enlistment in the army and 

 navy are obtainable only through the Oivil Service 

 Commission. They do not necessarily exempt the 

 incumbent from military service. 



Commissions seek the man. A number of chem- 

 ists have been commissioned, but in almost every 

 instance it has been by promotion from the ranks 

 for recognized ability, or the particular man has 

 been sought to fill a special place of responsibility 

 or trust for which he was known to be especially 

 fitted. The place was not made for the man, but 

 the man was found for the place, sometimes after 

 long search. A commission carries authority with 

 it and is not lightly awarded, whether in the engi- 

 neering, medical, or chemical branches of the 

 service. 



