September 8, 1893.] 



SCIENCE. 



131 



It is not suflScient that men are carefully trained in meth- 

 ods which impart skill and accuracy; it seems more desir- 

 able, for example, that men who enter the iron and steel 

 industry are thoroughly familiar with the standard meth- 

 ods of iron analysis than to rely upon skill and general 

 knowledge to acquire the special features in actual prac- 

 tice. The first lessons to be learned in the quantitative 

 laboratory are accuracy and confidence; the importance 

 of a close economy of time and effort must be appreci- 

 ated, and an intelligent student will soon perceive the 

 numerous ways for conducting analytical operations rap- 

 idly without haste. When a chemist assumes the duties 

 of a position every motion has a pecuniary value, and re- 

 sults are demanded in the smallest limit of time. This 

 requirement is sometimes urged in favor of undergrad- 

 uate training in rapid methods. While some j)ractice in 

 this direction would, without doubt, be serviceable; in 

 three terms, at most, which can be devoted to quantitative 

 analysis, the time is fully occupied in gaining a familiar- 

 ity with methods, and in passing from one analysis to an- 

 other the conditions are not favorable for commercial 

 rapidity. As in actual practice it is only possible to at- 

 tain to the highest degree of accuracy and celerity when 

 the attention of the analyst is limited to a moderate 

 number of determinations which are continually repeated. 

 Experience shows that well-trained students are not long 

 in acquiring commercial dexterity, even to rej)orting the 

 percentage of carbon within five minutes after a ladle of 

 steel is poured into the mould, or a complete analysis of 

 blast furnace slag within thirty minutes. If attempts 

 were made to give such practice to students, there would 

 still be much to learn in the different conditions in the 

 laboratory of the manufacturing plant. 



A branch of our subject, which has doubtless occasioned 

 some of us much perplexity in our endeavors to give it a 

 suitable place in an undergraduate course, is organic 

 chemistry. Our difficulty is jsartly due to the feeling on 

 the part of certain students when they have gained a 

 good acquaintance with quantitative analysis, with the 

 consciousness that they can secure some pecuniary re- 

 turn from their attainments, that they have learned all of 

 chemistry that can be of service to them. Usually such 

 students may be made sensible of their error, although, 

 unfortunately, the importance of a broader view is not al- 

 ways appreciated until a knowledge of this subject is 

 needed in professional occupation. That organic chem- 

 istry is a difficult subject students are not long in per- 

 ceiving. It is not sufficient in a course of lectures that 

 the principles and methods are understood, they must be 

 learned. The importance of a broad and thorough training 

 in theoretical and descriptive organic chemistry as a part 

 of a chemical education is beyond question. As a part of 

 the preparation for technological and applied chemistry, 

 organic chemistry can most conveniently be placed in the 

 third year; yet without some introduction I have found 

 this subject too difficult for third-year students. The 

 plan which I have adopted with satisfactory results in- 

 cludes recitations in the first term of the third year from 

 an elementary test-book, with the following lectures ex- 

 tending throughout the second term and the first term of 

 the fourth year. So far as possible laboratory work 

 should accompany the lectures, although from the pres- 

 sure of other work the greater portion of the experi- 

 mental work may be j)ushed forward into the fourth year. 

 In connection with the lectures, students should be re- 

 quired to extend their knowledge by reading, and recita- 

 tions are necessary to ensure faithful application. With 

 this arrangement the princiisal laboratory work of the 

 fourth year includes organic chemistry and chemical tech- 

 nology, assaying, gas analysis; and such other special sub- 

 jects as may seem expedient can be provided for here. A 



course of lectures in metallurgy are of advantage to stu- 

 dents in chemistry, and they may be attended during this 

 year; some additional instruction in theoretical chemistrj 

 can be given with profit. 



For the utilization of chemical skill the field of manu- 

 facturing or applied chemistry is full of promise, although 

 in this country it has largely to be developed. Suitable 

 preparation for industrial occujDation demands thorough 

 training in the directions already suggested, and beside, 

 a good knowledge of technical jDrocesses with the aid of 

 laboratory work, so far as it is feasible to experiment with 

 these processes on a laboratory scale. Concerning the 

 best methods for teaching this subject, no doubt courses 

 of lectures, supplemented by reading, are to be preferred, 

 especially if part of the lectures can be given by persons 

 engaged in professional pursuits. Several recent com- 

 pilations, in a convenient form for the use of students, are 

 a valuable aid. 



The range in laboratory work is of necessity somewhat 

 limited; it must consist principally in the preparation of 

 chemical products from crude materials, in the study of 

 mordants and dyes and in testing the efficiency of certain 

 features of industrial processes on a laboratory scale. 

 The preparation of theses or written accounts of various 

 processes should also form a prominent feature of a 

 course in technological chemistry. Institutions fortu- 

 nately situated near manufacturing establishments, afford 

 valuable opportunities to students, who are enabled to 

 study industrial methods in actual ojaeration. Such in- 

 struction, supplemented by laboratory pTuctice, consti- 

 tutes the best possible education in applied chemistry 

 that an institution can provide. 



Any discussion of the details of a chemical education 

 must be incomplete without some reference to related 

 subjects, either such as are closely allied to chemistry, or 

 those which are essential in the proper mental develop- 

 ment of every well-educated person. Evidently this 

 portion of our subject may be considered from more than 

 one point of view. In a course of four years in the school 

 of science, there should be thorough training in mathe- 

 matics, so far as calculus, and it can be no disadvantage 

 to make a certain portion of this subject required or 

 optional. Every chemist who aspires to a position be- 

 yond that of an analyst will be called ujjon to plan and 

 oversee the construction of appliances and buildings; in 

 fact, ingenuity and mechanical skill may occasionally be 

 as serviceable as chemical knowledge. There are, therefore, 

 good reasons for the acquirement, by every student, of a 

 good understanding of mechanical drawing and of ele- 

 mentary mechanics, and this may have led to the founda- 

 tion, in several institutions, of a course in chemical en- 

 gineering. No doubt this course is in demand by per- 

 sons who desire proficiency in the engineering features, 

 but students who expect to engage in applied chemistry 

 can hardly afford to omit any portion of the undergrad- 

 uate training in chemistry. Nothing need be said as to 

 the importance to all chemists of a thorough discipline in 

 descriptive physics with laboratory practice. A famil- 

 iarity with the principles of heat and electricity 

 and with the manipulation of electrical currents are 

 among the more important requisites. The rapid growth 

 of electro-metallurgy indicates large possibilities for the 

 application of electrical energy in this form, and it can 

 evidently best be undertaken by the chemist who jjos- 

 sesses a good knowledge of electricitj'. The literary 

 training in scientific courses is usuallj' limited to the 

 English branches and the modern languages; without a 

 certain acquaintance with the latter the chemist would 

 be seriously restricted in the sources of his information; 

 and, moreover, to scientific students, it would seem that 

 the French and German languages should be taught as 



