August 7, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



197 



United States was chemistry neglected in 

 this country ; this has recently been brought 

 to light in the most convincing manner by 

 Professor Edgar F. Smith of Philadelphia.' 

 The altruistic fervor of that little group 

 of earlier American chemists, who, in 1792, 

 founded the Chemical Society of Philadel- 

 phia (probably the very first chemical 

 society in the world) , and in 1811, the Co- 

 lumbia Chemical Society of Philadelphia, 

 is best illustrated by an extract of one of 

 the addresses read at their meeting in 1798 : 



The only true tasis on wMeli the independence 

 of our country can rest are agriculture and manu- 

 factures. To the promotion of these nothing 

 tends in a higher degree than chemistry. It is 

 this science which teaches man how to correct the 

 bad qualities of the land he cultivates by a proper 

 application of the various species of manure, and 

 it is by means of a knowledge of this science that 

 he is enabled to pursue the metals through the 

 various forms they put on in the earth, separate 

 them from substances which render them useless, 

 and at length manufacture them into the various 

 forms for use and ornament in which we see them. 

 If such are the effects of chemistry, how much 

 should the wish for its promotion be excited in the 

 breast of every American! It is to a general dif- 

 fusion of knowledge of this science, nest to the 

 virtue of our countrymen, that we are to look for 

 the firm establishment of our independence. And 

 may your endeavors, gentlemen, in this cause, en- 

 title you to the gratitude of your fellow-citizens. 



This early scientific spirit has been kept 

 alive throughout the following century by 

 such American chemists as Robert Hare, 

 B. N. Horsford, Wolcott Gibbs, Sterry 

 Hunt, Lawrence Smith, Carey Lea, Josiah 

 P. Cooke, John W. Draper, Willard Gibbs 

 and many others still living. 



Present conditions in America can be 

 measured by the fact that the American 

 Chemical Society alone has over seven 

 thousand members, and the Chemists ' Club 

 of New York has more than a thousand 

 members, without counting the more spe- 



3 "Chemistry in America," published by D. 

 Appleton & Co. New York and London, 1914. 



cialized chemical organizations, equally 

 active, like the American Institute of Chem- 

 ical Engineers, the American Electro- 

 chemical Society and many others. 



During the later years, chemical research 

 is going on with increasing vigor, more 

 especially in relation to chemical problems 

 presented by enterprises which at first sight 

 seem rather remote from the so-called 

 chemical industry. 



But the most striking symptom of newer 

 times is that some wealthy men of America 

 are rivaling each other in the endow- 

 ment of scientific research on a scale never 

 undertaken before, and that the scientific 

 departments of our government are en- 

 larging their scope of usefulness at a rapid 

 rate. 



But we are merely at the threshold of 

 that new era where we shall learn better to 

 use exact knowledge and efficiency to bring 

 greater happiness and broader opportun- 

 ities to all. 



However imposing may appear the insti- 

 tutions founded by the Nobels, the Solvays, 

 the Monds, the Carnegies, the Rockefellers 

 and others, each of them is only a puny 

 effort to what is bound to come when govern- 

 ments will do their full share. Fancy that 

 if, for instance, the Rockefeller Institute 

 is spending to good advantage about half 

 a million dollars per annum for medical 

 research, the chewing-gum bill of the United 

 States alone would easily support half a 

 dozen Rockefeller Institutes; and what a 

 mere insignificant little trickle all these 

 research funds amount to, if we have the 

 courage to compare them to that powerful 

 gushing stream of money which yearly 

 drains the war budget of all nations. 



In the meantime, the man of science is 

 patient and continues his work steadily, if 

 somewhat slowly, with the means hitherto 

 at his disposal. His patience is inspired 

 by the thought that he is not working for 



