March 24, 1922] 



SCIENCE 



309 



The total expenditure of several hundred 

 thousand dollars was made possible simply by 

 the size of the membership. The success of the 

 society was due fii'st to the character of its work 

 and second to the fact that it has more technical 

 men, representing one profession, gathered to- 

 gether and working together for the develop- 

 ment of their profession than any other society 

 in the world. 



All members will appreciate the necessity of 

 a high quality of work but will not appreciate 

 without explanation the need of large numbers 

 working as a unit. This is, however, easily 

 shown. With numbers the society can increase 

 its output chiefly for the reason that every 

 additional member helps diminish the overhead 

 per individual. The journals must be pub- 

 lished, and it costs just as much for editorial 

 oflice and composition whether the publication 

 is distributed to one or twenty thousand indi- 

 viduals. It is only because the members of the 

 American Chemical Society take all three jour- 

 nals that it is possible to publish them at all, 

 for the cost of "putting on the press" is by far 

 the larger part of the cost of publication. Each 

 additional copy is printed at a comparatively 

 small additional cost. Accordingly, every 

 additional member adds just so much to the 

 surplus which the society has to spend. The 

 return which the American Chemical Society 

 gives to its members is the envy of other organ- 

 izations throughout the world and is constantly 

 referred to as a model of efficiency. 



This data is sent to you to impress you with 

 your individual responsibility if you wish the 

 work of the American Chemical Society to con- 

 tinue and its influence for the development and 

 continuation of chemical science and chemical 

 industry to increase. It is the duty of every 

 member to stand by and do his part not simply 

 by the continued pajrment of his annual por- 

 tion and by personal activity in the aifairs of 

 the society itself, but he should especially en- 

 deavor to impress the 10,000 individuals still 

 in America who should be, but who are not, 

 supporting its work. If this additional 10,000 

 would join with the 15,000 we now have, the 

 activities of the American Chemical Society 

 could be more than doubled. Few of the 10,000 

 realize the fact that they are carrying no part 



of the burden and are shirking their duty to 

 the profession. By not associating themselves 

 with the movement, they are not only enjoying 

 the results of the labors of others, but also, are 

 actually retarding the progress of the profes- 

 sion through which they are supposed to gain 

 their livelihood. There is not a chemist in 

 America that cannot afford to support the work 

 of the American Chemical Society. In fact, 

 there is not a chemist in America that would 

 not gain financially in dollars and cents if he, 

 as an individual, attended regularly the meet- 

 ings of his local section and the general meet- 

 ings of the society in order to rub shoulders 

 with his fellows ; to keep in touch with his pro- 

 fession and to rid himself of the effect of pro- 

 fessional solitude from which too many of our 

 American chemists suffer to-day. He would 

 gain much inspiration; he would learn himself 

 and transmit knowledge to others; he would 

 increase in aptitude and in spirit; and from 

 continued professional contact with other 

 chemists he would acquire a viewpoint toward 

 life which would be sure to return to him much 

 more than the amount expended. 



Until 1921, the curve of membership, the 

 curve of expenditure, and the curve of joroflta- 

 ble chemical output within the American Chem- 

 ical Society went steadily upward. In 1921 

 the severest depression in chemistry took place 

 that has ever befallen our country. The mem- 

 bership has, accordingly, somewhat declined, 

 although by far the majority of the members 

 have stood by, some at real personal sacrifice. 

 The decrease in membership, in spite of condi- 

 tions, has been only between 6 and 7 per cent. 

 This decline in nmnbers has, however, immedi- 

 ately made itself felt in the society's ability to 

 turn out productive work. As a result, the 

 directors at their recent meeting were forced, 

 much against their will and in face of an 

 increased demand for space, to reduce the 

 pages of each one of our three journals by 10 

 per cent., to decrease the activities of the News 

 Service by a still larger percentage, and to dis- 

 continue the publication of the formula index 

 of Chemical Abstracts. If the membership 

 falls off further with the continued industrial 

 depression, other activities of the society will 

 also have to be retrenched. It, therefore, be- 



