Septembek 20, 1912] 



SCIENCE 



367 



thereby, educated, inspired. Have we not 

 also had the inestimable privilege of seeing, 

 hearing, perchance of conversing with, some 

 of the great lights of science whose names 

 are veritable household words and whose pres- 

 ence among us is of itseK an uplift? We 

 now feel that we have a grasp on the best that 

 the world can give us, that we henceforth 

 work together with the master minds of the 

 world towards a common goal, that we are an 

 integral part of the great throbbing universal 

 science-world of which we may have felt, 

 heretofore, that we were only an outlying 

 province or a disconnected branch. 



Having spoken for ourselves, may we add, 

 speaking for our guests, and doing them the 

 courtesy of taking their words at par value, 

 that they have been equally benefited. 

 America is a name to conjure with in other 

 parts of the world; it is the land of liberty 

 (perhaps of too much liberty), the abode of 

 the most energetic people on earth (perhaps 

 of the too strenuous), the scene of the most 

 colossal activity ever heard of in history (ac- 

 tivity perhaps bordering on hysteria), the 

 locus of engineering feats (sometimes with 

 too low a factor of safety) which challenge the 

 admiration of the rest of the world. Of this 

 wonderful country the foreigner has heard, 

 read and seen pictures until, if he has a spark 

 of imagination, his enthusiastic desire to 

 visit it is almost beyond belief. To many such 

 it is the fond dream of a life time. But the 

 wide Atlantic, or the broader Pacific, lies be- 

 tween and many think of the long sea voyage 

 (so restful and agreeable to most of us) with 

 rising fears. However, having made the de- 

 cision to come, accepted the sacrifices involved 

 and landed among us, having seen as much as 

 could be crowded into the time available, and 

 then returned to their homes, what is the re- 

 sultant for these members of the congress? 



From a most general point of view, with- 

 out any pride of land or accomplishment, let 

 us admit that our ever-welcome foreign visitor 

 carries back to Europe and other foreign 

 lands the germ of Americanism. American 

 travelers, writers, scientists, are doing a great 

 deal towards " Americanizing " the rest of the 



world, but our foreign visitors, who see us as 

 we are (not as we pretend ourselves to be), 

 with our human failings as well as our almost 

 superhuman achievements, carry back a juster 

 appreciation of the true American spirit — 

 and its frailties make it even more attractive. 

 The intense love of accomplishment, the gen- 

 erous sharing of credit with others, the 

 brushing aside of formalities and cutting of 

 red tape when things are to be done which 

 should be done, the good will and fellowship 

 towards colleagues and co-workers — these are 

 but a few of the attributes of the American 

 spirit which our foreign guests are quick to 

 perceive and appreciate, and not slow to as- 

 similate and to imitate. Shall we not believe 

 them when they speak of these things with ad- 

 miration, and tell us that these are the most 

 valuable souvenirs they take back with them 

 to their distant homes? And having arrived 

 there does not the leaven still work? I hesi- 

 tate to think that any of our fallings from 

 grace (in the way, for instance, of oppressive 

 monopolies and unfair competition) are thus 

 disseminated through the world — I doubt that 

 they are — ^but I have no manner of doubt that 

 our observing, appreciative and discrimina- 

 ting visitors from abroad will become active 

 propagandists of the distinctively American 

 virtues which they so disingenuously admit us 

 to possess. Careful observers of conditions in 

 Europe, particularly of those parts of Europe 

 most open to the impress of Americanism, see 

 there plainly this growth of the American 

 spirit, in politics, government, science and 

 particularly in the general attitude of people 

 towards each other and towards their daily 

 life. Our visitors will return to their homes 

 partly " Americanized," in the better, or let 

 us say in the best, sense of that word, and let 

 us not be so falsely modest as to deny these 

 facts. 



The next International Congress of Ap- 

 plied Chemistry will be held in Saint Peters- 

 burg, in 1915, at a time early enough in the 

 year not to interfere with attendance later at 

 our Panama Exposition in San Francisco. 

 In fact, let us here suggest to American chem- 

 ists that their program for the jubilee year 



