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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1389 



used in the most precise work of the analytical 

 chemist, and the standardization of thermom- 

 eters and of surveyors' tapes used in precise 

 geodetic measurements. This early work laid 

 the foundation for the establishment of the 

 National Bureau of Standards in 1901, in 

 the creation of which he took a conspicuous 

 part. At the organization of that Bureau, he 

 was chosen as chief of the Division of "Weights 

 and Measures, a position which he has since 

 filled with distinguished honor. In a life, 

 crowded with important administrative re- 

 sponsibilities, he had, nevertheless, found op- 

 portunity to carry on scientific researches 

 which have won for him recognition as one 

 of the leading American metrologists. He 

 built up in the Bureau of Standards a strong 

 division of weights and measures, from which 

 have come many valuable scientific and tech- 

 nical contributions. Owing to the limitation 

 of space, I can only refer to a few of these 

 here, but many will recall the investigations 

 and papers relating to the densities of aqueous 

 alcoholic solutions, the standardization of 

 chemical glassware, the thermal expansivities 

 of metals, alloys, and dental amalgams, the 

 testing of clinical thermometers, the compari- 

 son of the national prototype meter with the 

 international meter, the testing of watches, 

 model laws for state weights and measures 

 services, specifications for railroad track scales, 

 the standardization of screw threads, gauges, 

 etc. In many of these papers he shared the 

 honors of authorship and all of them bear the 

 impress of his inspiring and forceful leader- 

 ship. 



In 1905 Fischer organized the Annual Con- 

 ference of Weights and Measures of the 

 United States and he has since been the secre- 

 tary of that organization which includes na- 

 tional, state, and municipal officials and others 

 interested in the promotion of wise and uni- 

 form legislation and regulations relating to 

 weights and measures. His advice and opin- 

 ions have been sought by officials dealing with 

 these matters in every state in the Union and 

 probably no man in this country has had so 

 profound and far reaching an influence in all 

 matters appertaining to weights and measures 



in the past decade. He has for many years 

 been annually designated by the president to 

 serve on the commission entrusted with the 

 responsibility of testing the " fineness " of the 

 coinage, and he has, on numerous occasions, 

 been invited to testify before Congressional 

 Committees on Coinage, Weights and Meas- 

 ures. 



Shortly after the entrance of this country 

 into the World War, Fischer was chosen and 

 commissioned a major in the Ordnance De- 

 partment of the U. S. Army and was placed 

 in responsible charge of the important section 

 of gauge design. Here again his remarkable 

 abilities as an administrator and organizer, 

 combined with his tireless energy, enabled him 

 to make a highly efficient organization out of 

 a hastily assembled personnel, that was neces- 

 sarily built up on the basis of quick but dis- 

 criminating judgment. The value to the 

 nation of his broad scientific grasp of his sub- 

 ject, of his engineering and technical train- 

 ing, of his unerring judgment, and of his un- 

 tiring devotion to duty in this position can 

 hardly be overestimated. 



Fischer was a graduate of the George Wash- 

 ington University, a member of the American 

 Physical Society, of the Physical Society of 

 France, of the American Society of Mechan- 

 ical Engineers, of the Washington Academy 

 of Sciences ; member and past-president of the 

 Philosophical Society of Washington, and fel- 

 low of the American Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science. For many years he has 

 been an active member of the Cosmos Club 

 and of the Columbia Country Club. 



He was a lover of clean and manly sports 

 and achieved distinction as an athlete. In 

 his early manhood he was a noted oarsman, 

 winning many honors for the Potomac and 

 Analostan Boat Clubs in local and national 

 regattas. Eather late in life he took up tennis 

 ,and soon won recognition as one of the leading 

 tennis players of Washington, representing 

 the Bachelors', the Dumbarton, and the Co- 

 lumbia Country Clubs in many local, intercity, 

 and interstate tournaments. 



Fischer, like his distinguished colleague 

 Rosa, who died only a few weeks before, be- 



