September 29, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



459 



covered the cause and cure for rabies and 

 anthrax, but greatest of all established the 

 germ theory of disease and laid the founda- 

 tion for serum therapy, an incalculable con- 

 tribution to humanity. In commemora- 

 tion of this notable work, his disciples will 

 drink pasteurized milk for generations to 

 come. Pasteur had his critics, too, even as 

 formidable ones as the great German chem- 

 ist Liebig who once wrote: 



As to the opinion which explains putrefaction of 

 animal substances by the presence of microscopic 

 germs, it may be compared to that of a child who 

 would explain the rapidity of the Rhine current by 

 attributing it to the violent movement of the nu- 

 merous mill wheels of Mayence. 



When the criticisms of thoroughgoing re- 

 search come from the outside, they are not 

 serious and vital, for time and subsequent 

 work will establish the facts, but when 

 criticisms come from the inside, from un- 

 trained officials in charge of the work, then 

 it is they become serious. 



What a mass of promising research work 

 has been ruthlessly beheaded by conscien- 

 tious superintendents, and directors in the 

 name of "practical" results! 



How can we distinguish between prac- 

 tical and theoretical research? What ap- 

 pears to the superintendent as being of no 

 value whatever may have the germ of enor- 

 mous practical returns in it, while the 

 "practical" work he decides upon has such 

 an immediate and superficial character that 

 no appreciable gain, either for science or for 

 the industry, will be made. This question 

 of "practical research" is vital to the wel- 

 fare of the American industries and should 

 be given thoughtful consideration. 



Neither science nor industry can make 

 material advance until the basic laws and 

 fundamental principles governing the same 

 are understood, and the prime object of 

 scientific research is to discover and verify 

 these basic laws, while the purpose of a 

 testing laboratory is to apply the laws al- 



ready known to definite projects and indus- 

 tries. 



What meager advance our electro-chem- 

 ical industries could have made if it had not 

 been for the discovery of the underlying 

 principles by Faraday, Van't Hon 3 and 

 Arrhenius. 



Modern explosives owe their terribleness 

 to the work of Sobrero, Pelouze, Eder, 

 Schischkoff and Nobel. The soap industry- 

 is largely indebted to the painstaking re- 

 searches of Chevreul ; and the dye industry 

 to Perkin, Hoffman, Fischer, Louth and 

 Beyer. 



Radium therapy was made possible by 

 the discoveries of Mme. Curie and the mul- 

 tifarious applications of the X-ray rest 

 upon the work of Crooks and Rontgen. 

 The theoretical researches of De Yries and 

 Pfeffer were of inestimable value to Bur- 

 bank's plant-breeding experiments. Like- 

 wise, the "impractical" discoveries of cer- 

 tain rare gases in the atmosphere by Lord 

 Rayleigh and Sir William Ramsay have now 

 been made use of in the manufacture of the 

 most powerful and economical incandescent 

 lamps. 



In this day and age no sane person would 

 dare to say that a certain piece of funda- 

 mental research will be of no practical 

 value for a hundred years to come. In a 

 few years it might mean the cornerstone 

 of an industry or a science. 



At this time and in this connection, it 

 might be well for us to ponder the words 

 of the great French chemist, Dumas, when, 

 in a speech delivered immediately after the 

 close of the Franco-Prussian war, he said: 



The future belongs to science; woe to the na- 

 tions who close their eyes to this fact. Let us call 

 to our aid on this neutral and pacific ground of 

 natural philosophy, where defeats cost neither 

 blood nor tears, those hearts which are moved by 

 their country's grandeur; it is by the exaltation 

 of science that Prance will recover her prestige. 



C. Alfred Jacobson 

 University of Nevada 



