OCTOBEE 5, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



329 



of pure or applied chemistry new discover- 

 ies, new metliods of attack, new, clarifying 

 points of view. Let me remind you that 

 applied chemistry includes not only indus- 

 trial chemistry, but also fundamental and 

 most promising fields of effort in other 

 major sciences. Botany through the in- 

 spiration of Liebig was probably the first 

 of our sister sciences to apply chemistry to 

 the solution of many of its problems. 

 Physiology followed and now we see even 

 zoology awakening under the stimulus of 

 chemistry from its long morphological 

 trance to a live science of animal life. In 

 fulfilment of the promise contained in the 

 life of our great fellow-chemist Pasteur, 

 chemistry is now at last guiding not only 

 the physiologists, but also the bacteriolo- 

 gists, pathologists and laboratory clinicians 

 toward the raising of medicine from the un- 

 certain realm of art to the safer one of 

 science. All life is indeed but a transfor- 

 mation of matter in its loftiest phase and 

 the world is at last realizing that the 

 fundamental science of the transforma- 

 tion of matter holds the key which should 

 unlock the secrets of all aspects of life, of 

 birth, health, disease and death, and prob- 

 ably even of such subtler manifestations as 

 heredity and character. 



I have outlined some of these far reach- 

 ing applications of chemistry in order to 

 emphasize the fact that if we are to meet 

 all of these demands on chemistry, if the 

 outlook not for chemistry alone, but for all 

 of these lines of human progress which are 

 dependent on our science is to be one of 

 sure promise in the United States, it be- 

 hooves our people to see that the depart- 

 ments of chemistry in our universities and 

 colleges be kept not only prolific as to the 

 output of men — the vast expansion in lab- 

 oratories and attendance bears witness to 

 quantity being insured if the war does not 

 affect us too severely — but that they also 

 be maintained on such a high level of scien- 



tific quality that the product will consist 

 of the very best type of men ! We have re- 

 ceived from the period from which we are 

 now passing a magnificent heritage of world 

 standing and ideals in our university life. 

 The last twenty-five years witnessed an era 

 of expansion of our resources for research 

 and instruction, of the raising of standards 

 of scholarship and productivity of such 

 moment that many years before the war 

 began the migration of our students, espe- 

 cially also of our chemistry students, to 

 Europe for the pursuit of graduate work 

 and the securing of the highest type of pro- 

 fessional training had practically ceased. 

 It has no longer been a question of Berlin 

 or Munich, of Goettingen or Heidelberg; 

 for the prospective chemistry student it has 

 been a choice of Harvard or John Hopkins, 

 of Chicago or Columbia, of Illinois or Cali- 

 fornia, the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 

 nology or Cornell — I could extend the list 

 much longer, but fear it would tire you. 

 And it has been so because our young men 

 have felt that they could secure just as 

 thorough an education here as there, just 

 as inspiring guidance from men whose re- 

 search had made them masters in their own 

 fields. Our Remsens and Michaels, our 

 Richardses and Nefs, our Noyeses and Gom- 

 bergs, Lewises and Morses- — to mention only 

 a few of our leaders of this period — 

 founded that independence in university 

 education in chemistry which our country 

 has the right to demand that we maintain. 



Now, thoughtful men in our society, 

 looking ahead, see that this great uplift in 

 our scientific life is facing dangers which 

 unless they are met frankly and effectively, 

 will bring on a period of depression which 

 will be a grave menace to all the varied 

 fundamental interests in the life of the na- 

 tion that depend on chemistrj^ 



The first and greatest of these menacing 

 developments has its root in the recent un- 

 precedented demand of our industries on 



