688 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXV. No. 644 



must be remembered that application on a 

 laboratory scale of any manufacturing 

 process in a manner to afford satisfactory 

 results needs more time than can be found 

 for it in the course of four years, unless it 

 be taken as a subject of a thesis when suffi- 

 cient time may be devoted to a single sub- 

 ject. But general application should in- 

 clude a considerable number of processes. 

 Depending on the nature of the process, not 

 less than two weeks to two months must be 

 exclusively devoted to any important single 

 operation, and the benefit derived is limited 

 mainly to this process. Another serious 

 hindrance is the magnitude of an adequate 

 equipment. A separate plant of two or 

 more buildings is needed, for the dust and 

 dirt of one variety of process could not be 

 tolerated in the cleanly conditions neces- 

 sary in others. With sufficient equipment 

 a graduate course should afford ample time 

 for such work on a broad plan. Such a 

 course should evidently include a study of 

 details and conditions with reference to 

 possible improvements. It can not be 

 doubted that an adequate equipment in 

 teaching force and plants working in con- 

 junction with manufacturing establish- 

 ments, and with sufficient endowment for 

 the costly operation, should form the basis 

 for the expansion of a profitable graduate 

 course. A school of science fortunately 

 situated in the midst of a great variety of 

 manufacturing operations has the immense 

 advantage that the manufacturing plants 

 really constitute an important adjunct to 

 its equipment. After thoroughly review- 

 ing the details of a manufacturing process 

 in lectures and recitations, next to actually 

 conducting the operation, the student re- 

 ceives a part of his most valuable experi- 

 ence in inspecting such operation under in- 

 telligent guidance during his visits. It is 

 a mutual advantage to the institution and 

 to the manufacturer, for it is an invaluable 



aid to the courses of instruction in the 

 former, and it insures to the latter a more 

 practical knowledge of processes to the 

 student whom he may later employ. 



With the most elaborate experimental 

 preparation, however, the graduate ap- 

 proaches a different atmosphere when he 

 enters the factory where every effort has 

 a pecuniary value. Outside the factory it 

 is not possible to take into account the ele- 

 ment of costs, which is the controlling 

 principle in any business. It is easy to 

 ascertain the market values of crude ma- 

 terials and finished products, but the long 

 array of numerical details intervening 

 which constitute the business of manufac- 

 ture is a closed volume to every one outside 

 the counting room. The guiding thought 

 of the student is the acquisition of accurate 

 knowledge of principles and methods. The 

 chief aim of the manufacturer is to apply 

 those methods in such a manner that the 

 pecuniary results may be entered on the 

 right side of the balance sheet in the short- 

 est possible time. As an example of this 

 difference in motive it is often suggested 

 that students in quantitative analysis be 

 given practise in rapid application of 

 methods ; but the fact is forgotten that the 

 student is fully occupied in the attainment 

 of accuracy, and that rapidity is soon ac- 

 quired. It may take him a day or two to 

 master the necessary dexterity in applying 

 the method for the determination of phos- 

 phorus in a single sample of steel. When 

 he goes out into the factory laboratory he 

 may be required to hand in results on 

 thirty samples in a single day. This dis- 

 tinction seems to be best expressed by the 

 difference in environment; the student ac- 

 quires his knowledge in the quiet atmos- 

 phere of the educational institution; the 

 man of business applies his knowledge 

 under the stress of manufacturing condi- 

 tions. 



