506 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX. No. 1274 



8. Tour fate may be in your own hands — 

 wash your hands before eating. 



9. Don't let the waste products of digestion 

 accumulate — drink a glass or two of water on 

 getting up. 



10 Don't use a napkin, towel, spoon, fork, 

 glass or cup which has been used by another 

 person and not washed. 



11. Avoid tight clothes, tight shoes, tight 

 gloves— seek to make nature your ally not 

 your prisoner. 



12. When the air is pure breathe all of it 

 you can — ^breathe deeply. 



George A. Soper 

 Sanitabt Corps, 

 U. S. A. 



THE FREAS SYSTEM 



Professor Thomas B. Freas, of the depart- 

 ment of chemistry of Columbia University, 

 has devised a scheme for the handling of ap- 

 paratus and supplies that is not only novel 

 and capable of indefinite expansion and adapt- 

 ability to any chemical laboratory, but takes 

 out of the hands of the instructional staff all 

 handling of students' apparatus and chemicals. 



The object of the Freas system is fourfold. 

 First, to save the student's time by giving 

 him all the chemicals and apparatus he needs 

 at his bench, second, to insure pure and clean 

 chemicals, third, to save of chemicals by 

 giving the student just the amouat needed, 

 and doing away with the wasteful and sloppy 

 side shelf reagents bottle, and fourth, to re- 

 lieve the instructor of those details, and thus 

 to enable him to devote his entire time to 

 teaching and research. 



Professor Freas has been too busy to pub- 

 lish an accoimt of his scheme, and his extreme 

 modesty prevents him undertaking the task, 

 had he the time. As an interested outsider 

 who has watched very closely how it works, at 

 Columbia, I am perhaps better qualified than 

 even he to speak of what seems to me the 

 best scheme in America to handle this difficult 

 problem. This scheme has been in operation 

 in all divisions of chemistry at Columbia for 

 the past seven years, and has given an ever 

 increasing satisfaction to all concerned. 



Many instructors spend most of their time 

 handling supplies, although they are hired to 

 teach, but they are not allowed to do so by the 

 short-sighted and expensive jwlicy of many 

 institutions, which compel them to do work 

 which a moderately paid employee could do 

 just as well. One full professor of industrial 

 chemistry of my acquaintance spends a greater 

 part of his time supplying his students with 

 chemicals, when an organized system could do 

 it immensely better, leaving him free to de- 

 vote his time to instruction. 



In a modem chemical laboratory, and espe- 

 cially so in a large one, the problems are so 

 numerous and so complex, that modern busi- 

 ness methods require a sharp line to be drawn 

 between the pedagogic and administrative 

 affairs from those of up-keep maintenance, 

 purchase, and handling of supplies. This 

 eventually demands that the head of the de- 

 partment divest himself of all duties pertain- 

 ing to the physical side of the laboratory, and 

 turn that work over to the carefully selected 

 and specially trained curator of supplies. If 

 the administrative head has chosen wisely, he 

 is not only relieved of an enormous burden, 

 thus freeing himself for the instructional side 

 of his profession, but the laboratory students 

 and instructional staff gain by having this 

 work done by an expert. 



The success of the Freas system depends 

 upon having some one man in the department, 

 who is interested, selected to be the curator of 

 supplies. He must have recognition, both in 

 rank and salary, to attract a man of character, 

 ability and training in laboratory needs. His 

 time should be free for general guidance of 

 others, by having several competent assistants, 

 one in the office, one to handle chemicals and 

 superintend the bottling, and one to handle 

 all apparatus. In a small chemical depart- 

 ment some of these divisions could be com- 

 bined. The man or preferably a woman, in 

 charge of the office, attends to all student ac- 

 counts, keeps the books, takes dictation, and 

 if the work is excessive has enough help to 

 properly handle the work. The salary is about 

 $75 to $100 a month, with two weeks' vacation, 

 and one week sick leave during the year. This 



