520 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XX'XIII. No. i 



ous natural cements, puzzolan, and plaster. 

 "Would it not be strange if among 

 the materials used some would not be 

 found to yield a cement of unusual 

 strength? And if the setting process con- 

 tinued through the ages and conditions 

 were such that weathering did not seri- 

 ously attack it, the final product yielded 

 would certainly be extremely hard. But 

 in any case it is certain that the weaker 

 cements have not come down to us but 

 have been disintegrated long ago. The 

 cement which is being made in enormous 

 quantity to-day under scientific control 

 will probably outlast any similar material 

 which the world has seen. 



But we may go a step farther in our 

 inquiry after relegating the "lost arts" to 

 the same mythological museum which 

 holds the lost Atlantis. Not only is it 

 unlikely that there are any "lost" chem- 

 ical arts, but it is highly probable that 

 ancient peoples were ignorant of many 

 arts attributed to them, and which are well 

 known at the present day. Such a mis- 

 understanding could probably best be dis- 

 pelled by a carefully compiled history of 

 arts and manufactures, particularly an- 

 cient arts and manufactures. The pro- 

 duction of such a book is a consummation 

 devoutly to be wished. 



I have an idea that it is not a difficult 

 matter to gain a mental picture of condi- 

 tions in ancient workshops. I believe that 

 the mental attitude of artisans has not 

 changed much during the lapse of hun- 

 dreds or even thousands of years. Go into 

 any small shop at the present day where a 

 specialized art or craft is practised and I 

 fancy that you will find the workers there 

 in all essential respects, so far as their 

 craft is concerned, like the craftsmen of 

 distant ages. You will find there the same 

 lack of organized knowledge, the same sort 

 of unnecessarily detailed and elaborated 



empirical knowledge, the same narrow con- 

 servatism and adherence to formulse and 

 rule-of-thumb methods. If you talk to the 

 men you may learn how they learned their 

 craft; of the most skilful members of the 

 craft they have known; if you gain their 

 confidence they may tell you of their past 

 experiments (most of them foredoomed 

 to failure) and of future experiments 

 planned, when time permits or when they 

 obtain material possessed of certain hy- 

 pothetical properties. And you will be 

 impressed by the way results are sometimes 

 accomplished in spite of the use of the 

 clumsiest mental and physical methods of 

 experiment imaginable. A typical crafts- 

 man will experiment with aU the materials 

 he can lay hands on without the slightest 

 scientific consideration of the case, in an 

 effort to produce a certain result. These 

 things are interesting and we must hope 

 they will never be altogether lost. But our 

 ideal for the present and the future must 

 be a large and adequately organized indus- 

 try, resting firmly on engineering skill and 

 chemical investigation, operating with a 

 full understanding of all its processes and 

 with assurances of consistent and logical 

 future development and expansion. 



W. D. Richardson 



TSE ELIZABETH THOMPSON SCIENCE 

 FUND 



The thirty-sixth meeting of the board of 

 trustees was held in Boston, Mass., on Feb- 

 ruary 10, 1911. 



The following officers were elected: 



Fresident — Edward C. Pickering. 



Treasurer — Charles S. Eackemann. 



Secretary — Charles S. Minot. 



Reports were received from the following 

 holders of grants, and were accepted as re- 

 ports of progress : Grant 98, J. Weinzirl ; 109, 

 A. Nicolas; 111, R. Hiirthle; 119, J. P. Mc- 

 Murrieh; 121, A. Debierne; 123, E. C. Jeffrey; 

 131, r. W. Thyng; 133, J. F. Shepard; 13Y, C. 



