SCIENCE 



ynwntjjt 



Friday, July 14, 1916 



CONTENTS 

 Ideals of Chemical Investigation: Professor 

 Theodore "W. Richards 37 



The One Hundredth Anniversary of the U. S. 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey: Dr. T. C. Men- 



DENHALL 45 



Grants for Scientific Besearch: Professor 

 Charles B. Cross 50 



The Second National Exposition of Chemical 

 Industries 51 



Scientific Notes and News 53 



University and Educational Neivs 56 



Discussion and Correspondence : — 



Results of a Study of Dolomitisation : Ed- 

 ward Steidtmann. Celloidin Paraffin 

 Method : S. I. Kornhauser. The Asphyxia- 

 tion of Cancer: Dr. L. D. Bristol 56 



Quotations : — 



Business Men who want the Metric Sys- 

 tem 59 



Scientific Books: — 



Smith on Who is Insane? : Dr. C. P>. Farrar. 

 Phillips on Beekeeping : C. Gordon Hewitt. 59 



A Valuable Unpublished Work on Pomology: 

 P. L. Bicker 62 



Special Articles: — 



The Inversion of Menthone by Sodium, Po- 

 tassium and Lithium Ethylates: "W. A. 

 Gruse and S. P. Acree. Measuring Biolog- 

 ical Actions by the Freezing-point Method 

 directly in the Soil: George J. Bouyoucos. 

 The Synonymy of Oxyuris vermicularis : 

 Albert Hassall 64 



The Iowa Academy of Science: Professor 

 James H. Lees 67 



The Kentucky Academy of Science: A. M. 

 Peter 71 



J1SS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended tor 

 review should be sent to Professor J. MoKeen Cattail , Qarrison- 

 on-Hadion. W. Y. 



IDEALS OF CHEMICAL INVESTIGA- 

 TION! 



Less than three centuries ago an out- 

 spoken student of nature sometimes faced 

 the grim alternatives of excommunication, 

 imprisonment, or death. To-day he no 

 longer needs to conceal his thoughts in 

 cryptic speech or mystic symbolism. Al- 

 though the shadow of incomprehensibility 

 may still darken the language of science, 

 mystery is no longer necessary to protect 

 the scientific investigator from persecution. 

 The generally recognized value of the truth 

 with his domain gives him the right to exist. 



The courage needful for the task of ad- 

 dressing this august assembly on a topic 

 concerning chemistry is, therefore, of a dif- 

 ferent order from the courage required for 

 such a task in the days of Galileo. The 

 problem to-day is not how to obscure the 

 thought, but rather how to elucidate its 

 inevitable complications. 



Modern chemistry has had a manifold 

 origin and tends toward a many-sided des- 

 tiny. Into the fabric of this science men 

 have woven the thought of ancient Greek 

 philosophers, the magic of Arabian alchem- 

 ists, the practical discoveries of artisans and 

 ingenious chemical experimenters, the doc- 

 trine of physicists, the stern and uncom- 

 promising logic of mathematicians, and the 

 vision of metaphysical dreamers seeking to 

 grasp truths far beyond the reach of mortal 

 sense. The complex fabric enfolds the 

 earth — indeed, the universe — with its far- 

 reaching threads. 



i Oration delivered before the Harvard Chapter 

 of the Phi Beta Kappa in Sanders Theater, Cam- 

 bridge, Mass., on June 19, 1916. 



