686 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 696 



sary to provide students with electric cur- 

 rent from storage batteries. These delicate 

 sources of energy require systematic and 

 intelligent supervision. The instructor in 

 charge of a particular laboratory makes 

 requisition upon the chief of the division 

 of physical chemistry for current of defi- 

 nite voltage and an outside limit of amper- 

 age. The cells are connected with plugs 

 carrying fuses with the limit of amperage 

 wanted. A careful record of the condition 

 of the cells, when put in service and when 

 disconnected, is made. Communication 

 among the offices, private laboratories (for 

 a staff of thirty), stock rooms, preparation 

 rooms, etc., is facilitated by an intercom- 

 municating telephone system, whereby 

 eight different conversations may be car- 

 ried on simultaneously and without inter- 

 ference. 



SEMI-ANNUAL CLEANING UP 



The semi-annual cleaning of movable 

 ironware like files, tripods, etc., may best 

 be accomplished by dumping the pieces 

 into an electrolytic tank containing water 

 to which salt has been added. After the 

 passage of the current for a few minutes, 

 the cleaned metal is washed with tapwater 

 and placed in a drying oven. Those 

 articles requiring painting are then dipped 

 in a tank of acid-proof paint and allowed 

 to drain on an incline which leads the 

 excess of paint back to the tank. 



CONTROL OP PLATINUM 



We have found it advisable to mark all 

 our platinum ware by a special stamp and 

 register it with each dealer in platinum 

 with the request that any of that metal 

 bearing the "Sign" presented for sale 

 without an accompanying letter of the 

 director, be held pending communication 

 with the department. We have met with 

 gratifying cooperation on the part of the 

 dealers. 



FIRE PRECAUTIONS 



It goes without saying that precaution- 

 ary measures must be taken against the in- 

 evitable fires often recurring in labora- 

 tories. In each laboratory, depending upon 

 the size of the room, we decided to place 

 tube powder fire extinguishers. The larger 

 rooms have a tube at each end. In the 

 corridors on each floor and in the organic 

 laboratory is an improved Babcock ma- 

 chine. That failing, recourse is had to the 

 fire hose conveniently placed. Each 

 laboratory is connected directly by enun- 

 ciator bells with the office of the assistant 

 to the director, who is chief of the division 

 of supplies and ex-officio chief of our 

 voluntary fire brigade. 



In the event that an accident has resulted 

 in setting fire to an individual, recourse is 

 had to the shower which extends over the 

 exit door of each laboratory for students, 

 and the fire-proof blanket hung nearby. 

 Emergency medical closets are in the cor- 

 ridors of each floor. An accurate detailed 

 statement of each accident, however small, 

 is filed with the director by the respon- 

 sible instructor within twenty-four hours. 

 These records are kept open for court or 

 medical inspection. 



By the system outlined the head pro- 

 fessor secures some time for service on 

 many important committees involving gen- 

 eral problems concerning the welfare of the 

 institution. The division of labor has not 

 resulted in any complaints about having 

 placed too heavy a burden upon any one 

 of my associates. Each member of the 

 staff not only earns his salary legitimately, 

 but secures some hours for investigation. 

 The city gets a constant rich return for the 

 investment, for the service is not only good, 

 but fuller, when the work of the individual 

 is stimulated by a happy ambition. 



Charles Baskerville 



College of the City of New Yobk 



