118 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 108. 



versal solvent and the elixir of life. There 

 was no chemistry in the modern sense of 

 the term, but only a group of visionary 

 speculations which foredoomed their dev- 

 otees to failure. In these failures, how- 

 ever, truth revealed herself, discoveries 

 were made other than those which were 

 expected, and the foundations of a new 

 science were laid. It was more than fortj^ 

 years after the landing of the Pilgrims at 

 Plymouth when Boyle announced the true 

 definition of a chemical element, and the 

 discovery of oxygen was not made until 

 over a century later. The history of 

 modern chemistry and the history of the 

 United States begin at nearly the same 

 time. 



In America, as in the world at large, the 

 development of science followed along the 

 natural lines. A new country had no time 

 for abstractions, such as chemical studies 

 were in the early days, and only the more 

 obvious branches of investigation received 

 much notice. Botany and zoology flour- 

 ished to some extent, and even mineralogy 

 had able students ; for the resources of an 

 unexplored continent could not be ignored. 

 Astronomy, too, was somewhat cultivated, 

 but because of its usefulness in the meas- 

 urement of time and navigation, rather than 

 for its interest as an intellectual pursuit. 

 The practical side of science was necessarily 

 and properly foremost ; and this fact is no- 

 where more apparent than in the physical 

 researches of men like Franklin and Eum- 

 ford. The obvious and useful came first ; 

 philosophy, theory, might wait until men 

 had more leisure. So, while chemical dis- 

 coveries were rapidlj^ multiplied in Europe, 

 little advancement could be recognized 

 here. Even that little was utilitarian, and 

 chemistry in this country was first brought 

 into general notice through its relations to 

 medicine and pharmacy, and through the 

 agency of medical schools. 



Prior to the year 1769 chemistry had no 



independent existence in the work of 

 American colleges. It was taught, if in- 

 deed it was taught at all, only as a subor- 

 dinate branch of natural philosophy. But 

 in the year just named. Dr. Benjamin Rush 

 was appointed to a chair of chemistry in the 

 medical department of the University of 

 Pennsylvania — an event which marks the 

 first recognition of the science in the Uni- 

 ted States by any institution of learning. 

 Other medical schools soon followed the ex- 

 ample thus set, and chemistry took its 

 place as a regular subject for study. Rush, 

 however, was not specifically a chemist ; 

 he had, indeed, been a pupil of Black, in 

 Edinburgh ; but he carried out no chemical 

 investigations and added nothing to the 

 sum of chemical knowledge. His high 

 reputation was won in other fields; but as 

 the first professor of chemistrj' in America 

 he occupies a historical position. 



In 1795 the trustees of Nassau Hall, now 

 Princeton University, elected Dr. John 

 Maclean professor of chemistry. Other col- 

 leges soon followed the lead of Princeton, 

 and within a very few years chemical sci- 

 ence was well established as a distinct 

 branch of study in many American institu- 

 tions. The teaching, however, was wholly 

 by text-books and lectures, the laboratory 

 method was unknown, and the teacher 

 commonly divided his attention between 

 chemistry and other themes. There were 

 professors of chemistry and natural phi- 

 losophy, of chemistry and natural history, 

 but rarelj'^, if ever, professors of chemistry 

 alone. Moreover, little time was given to 

 the subject ; the classics and mathematics 

 overshadowed all other studies, and the 

 pupil learned hardly more than a few scat- 

 tered facts and the barest outline of chemi- 

 cal theory. When we note that to-day 

 Harvard University emploj's twenty-two 

 persons, professors, assistant professors, in- 

 structors and assistants in chemistry alone, 

 we begin to realize the great advance which 



