December 5, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



803 



men ignorant of processes of manufacture 

 and use, but salesmen are being educated 

 in many cases by technical men, often chem- 

 ists, on the merits of their goods and how 

 they may properly meet complaints. Then, 

 too, the chemist's influence in improving 

 the quality of products assists the sales- 

 man by giving him more saleable products. 

 I can not take more than passing and 

 regretful notice of the fact that there are 

 some few chemists whose occupation ap- 

 pears to be mostly that of showing how 

 goods may be debased without easy detec- 

 tion. The influence of the chemist in im- 

 proving the quality of goods shows itself in 

 the increased price which may be obtained 

 for such goods. Perhaps, also, we should 

 mention the general effect upon the com- 

 mercial atmosphere of a business that has 

 trained chemists in its employ, who give 

 confidence to the general public that its 

 products are made as well as can be with 

 the assistance of the best that science can 

 give. 



Coming now to actual manufacturing 

 operations, we will consider what the chem- 

 ist has done in controlling manufacturing 

 processes, correcting losses in manufacture, 

 assisting in the invention of new methods 

 and in the development of new uses for 

 regular products, waste products and by- 

 products. Work along this line is partic- 

 ularly attractive to the chemist, and, in 

 some cases, can only be conducted profita- 

 bly by the chemist. The extent to which 

 chemical knowledge is necessary or desira- 

 ble can, of course, be determined only by 

 considering each case by itself. There are, 

 in every ease, practical limitations, in 

 regard to which the chemist should be rea- 

 sonable. Simply because, in general, chem- 

 istry is helpful, it must not, therefore, be 

 assumed that in every case the chemist can 

 increase the profitableness of manufactur- 

 ing operations, because it must be remem- 



bered that the chemist is worthy of his 

 hire, and that hire may more than absorb 

 the value of what he may accomplish. In 

 the control of manufacturing processes, if 

 uniformity of product is desired, there is 

 probably no one better qualified than the 

 chemist to establish such control. This he 

 will accomplish by the systematic study of 

 all the materials entering into the process 

 and the product in all stages of manu- 

 facture, discovering the chemical reactions 

 of the process, where these reactions occur,, 

 and how they can be accelerated to advan- 

 tage or made more complete, if that is 

 desirable. Considering in the abstract the 

 manufacturing operation involving a eon- 

 sumption of raw materials, heat, power, and 

 labor, the fundamental units of cost are 

 the time consumed and the quantity of 

 product made. The chemist should possess 

 an analytical mind, and, in the study of a 

 manufacturing process, he will endeavor to 

 develop the effect of these fundamental 

 factors and seek to control the other cost 

 factors, keeping in mind the preservation 

 of the full value of the chemical reactions 

 taking place. Chemistry has been a great 

 help and profit to industry in the control of 

 manufacturing losses, and the business man 

 who fails to recognize its value can not be 

 considered as practical. For the avoidance 

 of such losses, the chemist is peculiarly 

 fitted. Some industries, it is true, can be 

 conducted profitably with large losses of 

 some of the constituents contained in the 

 raw materials, but, in the course of time, 

 these losses must be controlled, for the in- 

 dustry that applies the best control will 

 be the most profitable and the best able to 

 withstand competition. This can be done 

 only by systematic chemical examination of 

 the materials used and by systematic study 

 of the chemical reactions entering into the 

 processes. But the work that chemistry 

 does in preventing losses in manufacture is 



