November 4, 1010] 



SCIENCE 



613 



a necessary and essential element in the 

 training of a man to best meet the demands 

 of our times and social conditions. It is 

 not sufficient, however, that our educational 

 institutions should provide merely for in- 

 struction in the sciences. I wish especially 

 to emphasize the importance of making 

 every provision for scientific research on 

 the part of both students and faculty. 

 Every educational institution, whether sup- 

 ported by public tax or by private endow- 

 ment, should stand for scientific investiga- 

 tion. It is of fundamental importance not 

 only to that continued growth of both in- 

 dustrial training and technical education 

 so necessary to fit men to direct us in the 

 development and economic use of national 

 resources, but such work is equally impor- 

 tant and necessary in the proper training 

 of men who shall direct us in the methods 

 of correct living, who shall tell us how to 

 prevent as well as how to cure disease, and 

 who shall become the guardians of public 

 sanitation and of public health. The sub- 

 stantial basis for continued progress in 

 these lines is the provision we make for 

 research in the physical and biological 

 sciences. 



The establishment of great laboratories 

 for the purposes of research has been one 

 of the chief contributions of the last cen- 

 tury. Previous to the nineteenth century, 

 the great inventions were brought about 

 not so much as a result of any special scien- 

 tific training as by mere accident or the 

 practical requirements of the age. During 

 the past fifty years the case has been quite 

 different. The great discoveries have been 

 made in scientific laboratories and as the 

 result of unusual insight acquired by spe- 

 cial investigation. As one of our writers 

 has recently put it, "Formerly, necessity 

 was the mother of invention, latterly, the 

 tables have been turned and scientific dis- 

 coveries have produced new practical needs 



and created spheres of labor, industry and 

 commerce. ' ' 



We are too apt to forget the contribution 

 that research in pure science has made to 

 the general progress of the industries and 

 of the scientific professions. We need to 

 be reminded now and then that the marvel- 

 ously successful applications of science 

 which have in recent years revolutionized 

 to such an extent our industrial and pro- 

 fessional life, have usually been preceded 

 by equally brilliant scientific research, al- 

 though this has been less in the lime 

 light of public admiration. For example, 

 some fifty years ago the scientific world 

 had its attention called for the first time to 

 the significance of the coal-tar products. 

 The initial discovery that directed the at- 

 tention of scientists to this fruitful field of 

 research was made by a young and then 

 unknown chemist of London. With the 

 use of such time as he could spare from his 

 routine duties as assistant to Professor 

 Hofman, and with an equipment by no 

 means equal to that of our modern labora- 

 tories, this brilliant young scientist made a 

 discovery which has since revolutionized 

 several of our leading industries and has 

 influenced nearly every branch of activity. 

 Through the wide range of the applications 

 of these coal-tar products, we have now 

 come to a fuller appreciation of the genius 

 of this young scientist — since known as the 

 distinguished Sir William Henry Perkin. 

 It was a marvelous series of investigations, 

 which have since enabled the commercial 

 world to produce nearly if not quite 2,000 

 distinct dyestuffs, giving the entire range 

 of color known to man. Not only are they 

 used in coloring fabrics of all kinds, but 

 leather, woods, paper, bones, ivory, feath- 

 ers, straw and grasses are so changed in 

 hue by means of these dyes as to meet 

 every demand of taste or fashion; and 

 while in beauty and brilliancy they produce 



