690 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXII. No. 829 



took action to this effect in the spring, and 

 that Sir William Ramsay, president of the 

 seventh congress, advises me that he is of 

 the same mind. 



As far as I know, the first suggestion 

 that the eighth congress should be held in 

 this country originated with the chairman 

 of this section. It was followed by a meet- 

 ing of fifteen or twenty gentlemen at a 

 dinner of which he was the host, when the 

 topic of discussion was the practicability 

 of holding a successful congress in this 

 country. A temporary organization was 

 formed and several meetings were held. 

 Letters were written to many colleges and 

 individuals all over the "United States, and 

 the replies were so uniformly encouraging 

 that the conclusion was reached to invite 

 the congress to meet here in 1912. In 

 order that the invitation should be as at- 

 tractive as possible, the congress of the 

 United States passed a bill instructing the 

 Secretary of State to take the necessary 

 steps to give official sanction to the invita- 

 tion. This was done, thereby making the 

 Eighth Congress of Applied Chemistry 

 notable in at least one respect, namely, it 

 is the only one which has received an offi- 

 cial invitation from any government. This 

 invitation was graciously extended by his 

 excellency the American ambassador at the 

 Court of St. James's and cordially sec- 

 onded by the chairman of the American 

 committee of the seventh congress. It was 

 unanimously accepted by that great as- 

 sembly of chemists from all quarters of the 

 globe with an enthusiasm which was very 

 gratifying. 



For honorary president of the eighth 

 congress was elected an honorary member 

 of 'the American Chemical Society. The 

 active president elected is a charter mem- 

 ber of that society who had been deputed 

 to represent it at the seventh congress. I 

 allude especially to these facts, as they 



have a distinct bearing on the responsi- 

 bility resting upon every one of the 5,100 

 members of this societj^ to make the affair 

 a signal success. 



The official invitation of the United 

 States would also seem to make it impera- 

 tive that our visiting friends should be 

 shown as much of the country itself and 

 its resources as can be properly done in the 

 limited time available. This official invita- 

 tion also makes every citizen of the coun- 

 try, whether chemist or not, more or less 

 responsible for the hospitable reception of 

 our visiting friends. I think that a pro- 

 gram arranged with a view to accomplish 

 this study of our resources, rather than a 

 fatiguing list of entertainments in one or 

 two cities, would meet with approval every- 

 where and bring a far greater number from 

 abroad; in other words, the most signal 

 way of showing our hospitality will be to 

 make our visitors acquainted, as far as 

 possible, with our resources and what we 

 have done with them. This will be educa- 

 tional all around, and may lead to some 

 surprises for ourselves. It will certainly 

 be of untold value to this country to have 

 our work reviewed by such a distinguished 

 gathering of men whose view points will be 

 so different from our own. I am sure that 

 in the end our modesty will have increased, 

 while we shall be able to attack with greater 

 intelligence problems which are constantly 

 becoming more complex. For instance, we 

 should certainly learn from those living 

 where conservation of natural resources has 

 of necessity received scientific consideration 

 for a century how to begin intelligently to 

 stop our own fearful wastes. Necessity is 

 a good though stern teacher. Let us learn 

 from those who have been to her school 

 while the opportunity to do so will be so 

 favorable. 



The seventh congress appointed as a 

 committee to form the eighth the thirteen 



