July 22, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



105 



usually given are dropped, the teehnical 

 school will become a mere shop or drafting 

 room. 



Third and last: To encourage those 

 young men who are planning to enter 

 teehnical work to first obtain a broad and 

 liberal training to the end that they may 

 be better citizens and wield a greater in- 

 fluence in society, the community and the 

 state. 



Chas. S. Howe. 

 Case School of Applied Science. 



THE WORK OF TSE BUREAU OF GOVERN- 

 MENT LABORATORIES, OF TEE 

 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



In an article published in a former num- 

 ber of Science* a short resume of the plan 

 which had been devised to further scientific 

 work in the Philippine Islands was given, 

 together with an outline of what the bureau 

 of government laboratories expected to do 

 in the future. At that time the organiza- 

 tion had only begun, and the scientific work 

 which was being performed was limited. 

 Plans for a new building were under way, 

 and an attempt was being made to obtain 

 a large corps of scientific workers to carry 

 on the necessary research work for the gov- 

 ernment, but only a few men were actually 

 on the ground. Two years have now 

 elapsed, and it is possible to speak with 

 certainty of the results accomplished, and 

 with confidence of the scientific scope of the 

 future. 



The new laboratory structure, planned 

 carefully in the beginning, is now ap- 

 proaching completion, and the adaptation 

 of this building to the needs of the varied 

 scientific work to be carried on can be ap- 

 preciated. The branches of chemistry, 

 bacteriology, pathology, botany, entomol- 

 ogy, as well as the preparation of prophy- 

 lactic and curative serums, have been am- 

 ply provided for. Although it can already 

 be said that each room will be occupied, 



* Science, October 10, 1902. 



there will, nevertheless, be no crowding 

 for years to come, and only two or three 

 woi'kers on specific subjects will need to 

 occupy one room at a time. The building 

 has been somewhat delayed, not only owing 

 to uncertainty as to its location, but also 

 because of lack of some of the materials 

 necessary for its construction. The ma- 

 chinery which is being installed will be 

 ample for the purposes of laboratory tech- 

 nique. It will supply compressed air, 

 vacuum, steam and steam exhaust, as well 

 as electric power in all of the rooms and at 

 all of the desks where such aids are neces- 

 sary, and the pressure, mechanically pro- 

 vided, will give an ample water-supply for 

 all parts of the building. 



One difficulty encountered in laboratory 

 work in the Philippine Islands has been in 

 the gas-supply. Owing to the nature of 

 oriental coals, it has not been profitable to 

 construct miinicipal gas plants. The price 

 of the coal which can be obtained is high, 

 and the products are not such as to yield 

 large quantities of illuminating gas, and 

 obviously the importation of the proper 

 materials from Europe or the United States 

 is out of the question. Gasoline, which is 

 used so frequently for laboratory supply 

 in other countries, is both expensive and of 

 an inferior quality, and for this reason the 

 bureau has adopted the method of prepar- 

 ing its gas from cocoanut oil. Heavy cast- 

 iron retorts are heated to redness in fur- 

 naces, and cocoanut oil is then slowly 

 dropped in. The product is a very high 

 quality of illuminating gas with very little 

 tar and a proportionately small residue in 

 the retort. In the new building a battery 

 of three of these generators will be in- 

 stalled, and provision will be made for the 

 putting in of a fourth unit, the capacity of 

 the gas-holders being 2,500 cubic feet. 



The bureau, as at present organized, is 

 separated in three buildings, one for the 

 work in chemistry and botany, another for 



