154 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVI. No. 1181 



present time for the treatment of market milk, a 

 method that was not actually put into practice 

 imtil ten or more years later because the industry 

 was not ready for it. It is certain that the credit 

 that should be given Dean EusseU for his work on 

 pasteurization of milk has not been bestowed be- 

 cause it came at too early a period in the develop- 

 ment of the industry. 



Various other fields of farming investigation 

 have engaged Dean RusseU's attention, including 

 the study of bacterial diseases of plants, especially 

 the black rot of cabbage. One of the lines of 

 effort in which study of bacteriology has yielded 

 results of great practical value was the relation of 

 bacteria to the ripening of cheddar cheese. The 

 discovery that cheese could be ripened at much 

 lower temperatures than was previously thought 

 possible was a by-product of scientific work, a 

 by-product that adds hundreds of thousands of 

 dollars to the income of the cheese industry in 

 Wisconsin yearly, and wiU do so as long as cheese 

 is made. 



The state of Wisconsin has invested much money 

 in work that has been accomplished by Dean Eus- 

 seU during these twenty-four years of service as a 

 bacteriologist and director of the work of the Col- 

 lege of Agriculture and Experiment Station. The 

 question of importance to-day is the soundness of 

 the investment and the returns it brings. Those 

 wlio are best acquainted vrith the matter would 

 cease to worry about the high cost of living and 

 of dying if they could feel that their investments 

 were one half as sound and would bring them one 

 thousandth part of the returns that the state of 

 Wisconsin receives from the money it has invested 

 in this man. 



THE PRIESTLEY MEMORIAL OF THE 

 AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 



By resolution of the council of the Amer- 

 ican Chemical Society adopted at its meeting 

 in Urbana in April, 1916, the president was 

 requested to appoint a committee to devise 

 and carry out a plan for a suitable memorial 

 to Joseph Priestley. After careful consider- 

 ation of various plans, the members of the 

 committee desire to present the following 

 recommendations to the Society: 



1. That a bust portrait of Joseph Preistley 

 be secured, to be a copy of the best available 

 portrait; that this be retained as the property 

 of the American Chemical Society, but be de- 



posited as a loan in the National Museum in 

 Washington. Also, 



2. That a gold medal be awarded at inter- 

 vals of probably more than one year for supe- 

 rior achievement in chemical research; the 

 award to carry with it the requirement that 

 the recipient shall deliver an address before 

 the general meeting of the society at the time 

 of the presentation or at such other time and 

 place as the coimcil of the society may direct. 



Carful inquiry has convinced the committee 

 that, in order to carry out these plans, a fund 

 of at least $2,000 should be secured. It is 

 requested that subscriptions be sent to the 

 chairman or to any member of the committee. 

 Contributions of sums from $1.00 upwards 

 are asked. 



Joseph Priestley •wa.a born at Pieldhead in 

 England in 1Y33. Although educated for the 

 ministry, he became noted as a teacher and 

 lecturer on natural science, and especially as 

 an investigator in chemistry, devoting his at- 

 tention largely to the study of gases. Perse- 

 cuted and shunned as a result of popular 

 prejudice for his theological views as a dis- 

 senter from the Established Church, he mi- 

 grated to America in 1794 and settled with his 

 family in Northumberland, Pennsylvania. 

 Here he established a laboratory and con- 

 tinued his work as an investigator in chem- 

 istry. 



While famous throughout Europe and in 

 America for his historical and philosophical 

 writings, for his important work on the His- 

 tory of Electricity, and many other contribu- 

 tions to scientific literature, he is more es- 

 pecially known to modern chemists for his 

 researches on the chemistry of gases, which 

 culminated in 1774 in the discovery of oxygen, 

 described in his treatise entitled " Experi- 

 ments and Observations on Different Kinds 

 of Airs." 



He continued in America to be a contributor 

 to scientific and theological literature imtil 

 his death in Northumberland in 1804. 



On July 31, 1874, many of the leading 

 chemists of America met near the grave of 

 Joseph Priestley at Northumberland to honor 



