September 29, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



457 



tent to make their products like their 

 grandfathers used to make them, as long as 

 the industries pay a reasonable margin of 

 profit. 



The story is told of a large paint manu- 

 facturing company, where the superin- 

 tendent had made repeated but unavail- 

 ing recommendations to the board of 

 directors for the establishment of a re- 

 search laboratory in connection with the 

 business. They could see no immediate re- 

 turns accruing from such an expenditure, 

 but finally yielded to the wishes of the 

 superintendent and voted that a research 

 chemist be employed not to exceed $75.00 

 per month, and that he be instructed to 

 report to the head paint-mixer. 



This attitude on the part of manufac- 

 turers has undergone a marked change and 

 they are becoming more and more appre- 

 ciative of the value in dollars and cents of 

 scientific research. Whatever else may be 

 the results of the European war, one thing 

 is certain, and that is the inevitable stim- 

 ulus to research in the industries. The in- 

 fluence that this division of science is hav- 

 ing upon the progress of the war is exem- 

 plified on every hand. 



A profounder testimony would be diffi- 

 cult to find than where the integrity of the 

 Teutonic powers has been maintained for 

 two years against a world at arms by the 

 utilization of the results of one man's re- 

 searches on the fixation of atmospheric 

 nitrogen. Numerous other elements have, 

 of course, contributed, but if nitric acid 

 could not have been obtained in such enor- 

 mous quantities, the war would probably 

 have been at an end long before this. The 

 latest developments of the Haber process 

 will probably not be known outside of Ger- 

 many until after the war, and it seems to 

 me that this is one of the more important 

 fields for research in this country at the 

 present time. "Why spend millions of dol- 



lars upon plants designed to employ an 

 antiquated process, when it is known that 

 other countries are now using a more effi- 

 cient one? The temper of the American 

 people is such that millions can be had for 

 defense along known lines, but only a 

 meager sum for research. 



Almost every industry presents well-nigh 

 infinite possibilities for improvement. The 

 ne plus ultra of to-day will be scrapped to- 

 morrow. "What is required is an enter- 

 prising leader who dares to venture out 

 into the woods on either side of the beaten 

 path of factory routine. 



The force of this statement becomes ap- 

 parent the moment we awake from our 

 lethargic sleep and begin to look about us. 

 "We find that the leaders in the industries 

 are those who maintain research depart- 

 ments, for in that way they are able to keep 

 ahead of their competitors by either supply- 

 ing superior articles at equal cost or as good 

 articles at less cost. Germany's dominating 

 world industry in dye products has been 

 built upon chemical research, its scientific 

 instrument industry upon physical research. 

 The perfume, drug and wine industries of 

 France have been founded upon years of 

 painstaking research. 



Our own world industries of manufac- 

 tured articles, such as photographic goods, 

 oil and packing house products, machinery, 

 steel products, electrical appliances, etc., all 

 take root in research departments, and it is 

 no chance coincidence that the industries 

 supporting the most extensive research de- 

 partments are those in the highest stages 

 of development. 



Now it is financially impossible for the 

 vast majority of our industries to main- 

 tain research departments. They are as 

 incapable of aiding their industries in this 

 way as the individual farmers of the coun- 

 try would be in acquiring single handed 

 the latest developments in agriculture as 



