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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1086 



dealt with by the American Institute of 

 Chemical Engineers, and have been em- 

 bodied in its recently adopted Code of 

 Ethics, which may furnish a good guide for 

 younger or less experienced chemists. And 

 this leads me to state that many more manu- 

 facturers or business men would be induced 

 to utilize the services of chemists if they 

 could feel confident that in so doing they 

 are not putting themselves at the immedi- 

 ate mercy of a stranger, by confiding to 

 ;hiin unreservedly facts or processes which 

 it has cost them many sacrifices of time 

 .■and money to accumulate, and the un- 

 divided knowledge of which constitutes 

 sometimes one of their most valuable assets. 

 On the other hand, a chemist can hardly be 

 of any service unless his client or employei 

 is just as frank with him as he would be 

 with his lawyer or physician. However, 

 this mooted point is easily overcome by 

 referring to the Code of Ethics to which 

 I have just alluded, or, better, by making a 

 preliminary agreement between the chem- 

 ist and his client or employer, safeguarding 

 the interests of both parties. But in such 

 a case, the compensation to the chemist 

 should be made commensurate to the occa- 

 sion. 



This same principle holds good in the 

 employment of chemists in manufacturing 

 plants, where the chemist is either engaged 

 in research or in a manufacturing capacity. 

 An employer should not expect an intelli- 

 gent chemist to render him important serv- 

 ices without proper compensation, and in 

 as far as the practical value of the work of 

 a chemist can seldom be determined in ad- 

 vance, it will pay the employer to offer spe- 

 cial inducements or rewards for initiative; 

 he can well afford to give his chemist some 

 share of the increased profits he has re- 

 ceived through his work; to do otherwise 

 would be narrow-minded, short-sighted and 

 detrimental to the direct interests of the 



employer. The work of a research chemist 

 can not be performed nor measured like 

 that of a bookkeeper or a laborer; the re- 

 sults of his work are uncertain ; delays and 

 obstacles beset him at every turn; some- 

 times luck plays an important role; but 

 good will, enthusiasm and persistent en- 

 deavor are indispensable factors, and these 

 may be encouraged or killed by the atti- 

 tude of the employer. An employer who is 

 unfair, or who can not arouse the respect 

 or the enthusiasm of his chemists, can not 

 get the best there is in them ; he must make 

 them feel that if their work turns out well 

 for him, they will get some fair share of 

 compensation. Therefore, a reasonable 

 salary ought to be supplemented by the 

 possibility of a bonus or some share in the 

 profits based on earnings brought about 

 directly by the work of the chemist. 



On the other hand, the chemist must not 

 overlook the financial sacrifices and business- 

 risks assumed by his employer. He should 

 specially bear in mind that knowledge or 

 experience gathered at great cost by his 

 employer, or through expensive factory 

 equipment, or other special facilities, have 

 in most cases enabled him to take up his 

 own part of the work at an advanced stage. 

 It would be rather unfair, unless otherwise 

 stated, that a chemist should be allowed, 

 during or after his period of employment, 

 to divulge or take advantage of all the con- 

 fidential knowledge or information gathered 

 around the works in which he is employed; 

 or patent for his exclusive benefit any in- 

 vention he may make on those particular 

 subjects for which he is engaged, as long as 

 the stimulating ideas themselves have been 

 gathered by the very means put at his dis- 

 posal by his employer. All these questions 

 should be provided for and embodied in an 

 equitable contract which wiU necessarily 

 vary with special circumstances. But here 

 again, niggardliness, or too great cunning- 



