784 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 385. 



tive reactions of all the important sub- 

 stances should be studied in the first in- 

 stance, when the substances themselves are 

 studied— not be kept on ice for a 'system- 

 atic' course. In the laboratory instruction 

 in elementary chemistry time can be found 

 for the methods of recognizing the acids 

 and the metals the student works with, 

 while he is working with them. We must 

 counteract our mania for subdivisions and 

 classifications, and teach chemistry as a 

 unit. To be sure, the regular 'scheme' for 

 the metals and acids is a useful thing occa- 

 sionally, and students ought to be familiar 

 with it; but it can be taught in one week 

 to any student having a fair supply of 

 analytical reactions among his mental bag- 

 gage. I would teach these reactions by the 

 side of a course in chemical preparations, 

 rather than in a course by themselves. 



QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS AS AN INFERIOR 

 DISCIPLINE. 



The intrinsic value of qualitative anal- 

 ysis is thus seen to be small. Its pedagogic 

 merit is not much greater. As a matter of 

 fact, teachers know only too well that it 

 requires herculean exertions on their part 

 to prevent students from rushing through 

 the course mechanically. The majority of 

 text-books are the merest skeletons of out- 

 lines, omitting a vast bulk of details 'be- 

 cause they interfere with a clear grasp of 

 the subject.' One is strongly reminded of 

 the way Latin is — or used to be — taught: 

 the object being to reproduce its literature 

 and culture, the literature and culture are 

 left out to have more time for the syntax. 

 So with qualitative analysis: the object 

 being to train analysts, the analytical facts 

 are left out to have more time for the 

 system. Nor are we alone in our troubles ; 

 permit me to quote from the recent vice- 

 presidential address of Professor W. H. 

 Perkin to the British Association :* 



* British Association Reports, 1900. Cf. Sci- 

 ence, Vol. XII., p. 641, 1900. 



"It has always seemed to me that the 

 long course in qualitative analysis which is 

 usually considered necessary, and which 

 generally precedes the quantitative work, 

 is not the most satisfactory training for a 

 student. There can be no doubt that to 

 many students qualitative analysis is little 

 more than a mechanical exercise ; the tables 

 of separation are learnt by heart, and every 

 substance is treated in precisely the same 

 manner ; such a course is surely not calcu- 

 lated to develop any original faculty which 

 the student may possess. * * * I question 

 whether any really competent teacher will 

 be found to recommend this system as one 

 of educational value or calculated to bring 

 out and train the faculty of original 

 thought in students. ' ' 



With this quotation I am content to rest 

 my case. 



WHAT SHALL WE SUBSTITUTE POE IT? 



One important question remains. The 

 art of testing unknown substances must 

 always be an integral portion of the 

 chemist's outfit; if the present course, de- 

 signed for that very end, fails to teach it, 

 what alternative have we to offer 1 The plan 

 I venture to suggest may be found worth a 

 trial. 



I propose, first of all, to annul the 

 divorce of chemical analysis and chemical 

 preparation. Many colleges now introduce 

 quantitative experiments into their begin- 

 ner's course, such as (I quote in part from 

 a circular issued by a conference of teach- 

 ers at Chicago in 1896) : definite propor- 

 tions by volumetric methods, multiple pro- 

 portions from the oxygen evolved from 

 potassium chlorate and perchlorate, equiva- 

 lent weight of zinc, weight of a liter of air, 

 water of crystallization in copper sulphate 

 (both stages), neutralization of normal 

 acids and bases, etc. If along with these 

 quantitative experiments the student is 

 also taught the descriptive features and 



