38 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLV. No. 1150 



relations between the universities and indus- 

 trialists will be wortb while only if some 

 mutual benefit can accrue therefrom. This 

 cooperation can therefore be most satisfac- 

 torily promoted by actively demonstrating the 

 advantages of the exchange or interchange of 

 subjects for research, which primarily pre- 

 supposes a reasonable freedom from the con- 

 cealment of knowledge which persistently ad- 

 heres to all industrial research. 



Industrial research laboratories can be of 

 mutual aid by supplying advice and materials. 

 These laboratories should also publish reports 

 of investigations just as freely as possible and 

 thus, by proving the utility of it, assist in the 

 general scheme of the universities — promote 

 the dissemination of knowledge. 



In general, the subcommittee endorses the 

 conclusions of the University and Industry 

 Committee of the New York Section of the 

 American Chemical Society.'' 



work what they could do in the way of re- 

 search work themselves. 



The average person who has to decide 

 whether his corporation will support research 

 work can, in the nature of things, know little 

 about it. He desires either to spend much 

 less than is necessary for effective work or he 

 is frightened by the size of the expenditure 

 which he thinks will be necessary. More 

 specific information would enable him to form 

 a truer idea as to what he was committing 

 himself and what he was likely to get. 



As far as possible, arrangements should be 

 made for research institutions to have infor- 

 mation as to their work available and to per- 

 suade them to give this information freely to 

 inquirers. It would be a considerable step in 

 cooperative effort if all the research institu- 

 tions that can be reached could be persuaded 

 to put information regarding themselves into 

 some form so that a comparison could be made. 



THE PROMOTION OF A BKTTER APPRECIATION 

 OF RESEARCH 



The promotion of a better appreciation of 

 research by the general public can only be ob- 

 tained by publicity.^ E"o complaint can be 

 made of a lack of this at the present time. 

 The large corporations supporting industrial 

 laboratories are themselves expending great 

 sums on giving publicity to their research 

 work. The subcommittee thinks, however, 

 that though the general public now appreciates 

 the value of scientific research, the thing re- 

 quired to increase the number of laboratories 

 is more information as to specific plans for 

 starting and running them. General articles 

 on the advantages of research work would be 

 very much helped in carrying conviction if 

 they were accompanied by definite proposals 

 telling manufacturers of different industries 

 and of different grades in the size of their 



7 See J. Ind. Eng. Chem., 8 (1916), 658. 



8 It is important to mention here that the Amer- 

 ican _ Chemical Society has under consideration the 

 publication of a journal of popular chemistry, a 

 periodical for which there is a real need because 

 of the desirability of the proper dissemination of 

 chemical information to the public. 



THE ESTABLISHMENT OF STABLE RELATIONS BE- 

 TWEEN RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS AND THE 

 RESEARCH DEPARTMENTS OF INDUS- 

 TRIAL PLANTS 



The suggestion has been frequently made 

 that the establishment of stable relations be- 

 tween the types of organizations mentioned 

 might be eilected if a small group of selected 

 representatives thereof could arrange to confer 

 at regular times. After consideration, the 

 subcommittee recommends the formation of 

 an association of research institutions, that is, 

 an association of all those bodies engaged in 

 scientific and scientific industrial research, 

 including such organizations as the research 

 laboratories of Harvard University, the Massa- 

 chusetts Institute of Technology, and other 

 educational institutions, the Carnegie Insti- 

 tution laboratories, the Mellon Institute of 

 Industrial Research, and the research labora- 

 tories of the corporations which are conduct- 

 ing a certain amount of research of scientific 

 importance. Undoubtedly, an association of 

 this nature would meet with satisfactory sup- 

 port and it would eventually prove an impor- 

 tant factor in improving the methods of re- 

 search organization. 



