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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol,. XLIII. No. 1114 



and reduce the number of operations he 

 can carry on simultaneously. Hoods be- 

 come dirty and unsightly, because no one 

 student can be held responsible for their 

 condition. They also furnish the students 

 with an excuse for leaving their desks, and 

 conversing about football, when they should 

 be at work. In case a hood is really re- 

 quired, which seldom happens, a folding 

 hood can be drawn from the supply-room 

 and erected over the desk ventilator. 



The traditional arrangement of chem- 

 icals on a side shelf is also open to many 

 objections. Anywhere from ten to a thou- 

 sand times as much of the chemical may be 

 taken as the operation really requires, so 

 that reckless habits are acquired and much 

 material is wasted. When the class is fol- 

 lowing a program, and working on the 

 same experiments, the same chemical is 

 needed by several students at the same mo- 

 ment, and delays occur. For the same rea- 

 son, certain bottles are quickly emptied. 

 When one of the bottles is empty, it is not 

 the business of any student to have it filled, 

 and so another convenient excuse for con- 

 versation is provided. The side shelf fur- 

 nishes opportunities for conversation far 

 more plentifully than it does chemicals. 

 With a little initial work by the instructor, 

 a list of the amounts of each chemical and 

 solution required for the term's work can 

 be prepared, and each student can be pro- 

 vided with a kit of chemicals which he 

 keeps in his desk. Professors Freas and 

 Beans tried this plan first on a class in 

 qualitative analysis, and the instructor 

 added between twenty and twenty-five per 

 cent, to the work of the course in order that 

 the time thus saved might be utilized. The 

 saving in the total quantity of chemicals 

 consumed pays the expense of making up 

 the kits, and the twenty to twenty-five per 

 cent, additional training is all clear profit. 

 Every student is entitled to the set of chem- 



icals appropriate to his course. If he 

 wishes to use more than the allowance, 

 which should be ample, he can obtain them 

 from the supply room and have them 

 charged in his bill for breakage. Thus 

 those who prefer to be extravagant pay per- 

 sonally for the privilege, and the appro- 

 priations at the disposal of the department 

 are conserved and permit the offering of 

 better facilities to all. 



For example, in one term of a course in 

 organic chemistry, one student used less 

 than $8 worth of chemicals, while the 

 largest amount used was over $28 for the 

 performance of the same work. It was evi- 

 dent from this that $12 worth of chemicals 

 was ample, and that all students using more 

 had been dissipating the resources of the 

 department, and should hereafter be re- 

 quired to pay for the excess. 



In a large laboratory, there are times of 

 the day when the number of students try- 

 ing to replace broken articles or to obtain 

 other supplies at the stock room becomes 

 great, and loss of time is the inevitable re- 

 sult. No institution of learning can afford 

 to multiply skilled attendants, when they 

 are needed only during a rush hour in the 

 afternoon. On the other hand, the use of 

 unskilled help leads to mistakes, involving 

 loss of money by the department and loss 

 of time by the student. The provision of 

 more than one supply-room is an expensive 

 remedy, and does not always prevent crowd- 

 ing. Instead of waiting twenty minutes or 

 more for his turn, the stiident can in one 

 minute write out his demand on the telau- 

 tograph, and then return to his desk and 

 go on with his work. A receiving clerk 

 stamps the card in a caleulagraph clock at 

 the time the order comes in, and again when 

 the boy returns after delivering the article 

 and presents the same card signed by the 

 student. The time required for filling the 

 order need never exceed seven minutes: if 



