466 



SCIENCE. 



[X. S. Vol. XIX. No. 481. 



In their annual convention in Washington, in 

 November, a most important place in the pro- 

 grara has been given to the whole subject, and 

 soon afterwards many of the stations will un- 

 doubtedly establish special laboratQries for 

 investigation and possible inspection work, 

 carrying out a suggestion made by the Office 

 of Experiment Stations in Washington, a 

 number of years ago (Bulletin No. 17). 



So much for the experiment station and the 

 probable part it will play in the solving of an 

 economic question wherein we are a half cen- 

 tury behind European nations. The natural 

 and very important question next arising is 

 relative to our future ' public analysts,' that 

 comparatively large body of specially trained 

 chemists, presumably young, considering the 

 meager salaries usually allowed for routine 

 laboratory work, who will be required in every 

 state, and often at a moment's notice, by the 

 experiment stations and by every state, county 

 or municipal board of health or officer charged 

 with the enforcement of locally protective 

 legislation. These men will not only have 

 to be already familiar with the modern 

 methods of food and drug investigation and 

 rapid legal inspection analysis, especially 

 microscopical methods, which are frequently 

 the only ones showing the nature and ap- 

 proximate proportion of the adulterant as the 

 courts always require; but they will find that, 

 upon the expert witness stand, a quite thor- 

 ough knowledge of the natural composition, 

 nutritive and economic value, utility, methods 

 of adulteration and character of usual adulter- 

 ants of foods is indispensable. The first con- 

 tested prosecution, a grocer, backed by a large 

 manufacturing concern and furnished with 

 the best of legal aid and an experienced chem- 

 ist looking for flaws and coaching said legal 

 aid, was the experience demonstrating to the 

 writer the above requirements ; and one hun- 

 dred and fifteen other mostly successful and 

 often contested cases since, only serve to em- 

 phasize the fact in his mind. 



In the British Isles the ' public analysts ' 

 constitute the best trained, most progressive 

 and finely organized class of practical chem- 

 ists to be found, their official association, the 

 Society of Public Analysts, being always con- 



sulted by the government on any subject in- 

 volving analytical chemistry, and their jour- 

 nal. The Analyst, being the leading and almost 

 the only publication devoted to analytical 

 chemistry in the English language. These 

 chemists are trained in special schools or 

 special university courses and, after passing 

 an examination, including the whole subject 

 of foods and drugs and their chemical sind 

 microscopical examination, are admitted to 

 membership in the Institute of Chemistry 

 and become eligible to appointment by coun- 

 ties or municipalities inspecting or intending 

 to inspect the local food, drug and water 

 supplies. Now let us turn to the status of 

 affairs in our own country. It is said, 

 and it will be generally admitted as true, 

 that if, in the season of legislative activity, 

 a half dozen of the as yet unawakened states 

 were to pass laws protecting and governing 

 the sale of foods and drugs, it would be im- 

 possible to find the necessary number of 

 specially trained analysts ready and competent 

 to undertake the work at hand. Of course, 

 plenty of chemists with the ordinary college 

 training in analytical chemistry or some other 

 special training would be found and appointed, 

 but so long a period of confidence acquiring 

 study and practise would be necessary before 

 any prosecutions were advisable, that the tem- 

 porarily enthused legislature and public would 

 forget about and lose all interest in the work 

 and decide that it had been found to be un- 

 necessary or impolitic — a condition of affairs 

 that the grocery and druggist organizations 

 would not be slow to take advantage of, as 

 has been shown more than once in the not 

 remote past. 



Yale University has recently outlined 

 courses in several of the afore-mentioned 

 necessary subjects, and has engaged Winton, 

 state chemist at the Connecticut Experiment 

 Station, to give the necessary instruction in 

 lectures and laboratory work. A few other 

 large universities are planning to, and doubt- 

 less will, introduce similar and perhaps more 

 complete courses in the near future. With 

 the exception of Yale and possibly Harvard, 

 however, they will not have the distinct ad- 

 vantage of having the students brought in 



