Makch 23, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



443 



service local, where the infringement of the 

 law may have taken place. 



The only element of discord in the Food 

 Congress was developed by a proposal to es- 

 tablish an entirely independent food bureau, 

 with an independent chemical laboratory, 

 for the administration of the law. The head 

 of this bureau, it was proposed, should be ap- 

 pointed by the President, for a term of four 

 years, thus making the administration of 

 the pure food law subject to frequent politi- 

 cal changes. This provision was debated at 

 great length for two days and at times with 

 a degree of acrimony which indicated that 

 some of the promoters of pure food legisla- 

 tion were more anxious to secure a new 

 ofBce than to establish a food law. At the 

 end of this disc(ission the original plan, en- 

 dorsed by previous Congresses, passed by a 

 large majoritj' and the bill thus approved 

 was adopted without a dissenting vote. 



On the third day of the Congress, by the 

 invitation of the Committee on Interstate 

 Commerce of the House of Eepresentatives, 

 a large number of the delegates attended 

 the meeting of the Committee, at which the 

 merits of the bill were presented in five min- 

 ute speeches, by the representatives of the 

 various industries attending the Congress. 



In the interests of the public health and 

 public honesty, it is to be hoped that 

 the measure which has been recommended 

 for the third time by this national Pure 

 Food Congress, and which has the appro- 

 bation of all the great trade interests of the 

 country, will be pushed to a speedy vote 

 and become a law before the present session 

 of Congress adjourns. 



THE ACCURACY OF THE EXPERIMENTAL 

 METHODS OF TSE CHEMIST.'^ 

 On occasions like the present, where in- 

 tellectual labor is the chief aim of those 



* Inaugural address of the Rector of the Teohnis- 

 cher Hochschule, Graz, Hungary. Translated by J. 

 L. H. 



who are assembled together, it is a frequent 

 practice for the speaker to offer to his 

 audience something of the fruit which he has 

 gathered from his own investigations. To 

 the thought which lies at the foundation of 

 this custom, are due those inaugural ad- 

 dresses which can laj"- just claim to be- 

 ing contributions to scientific knowledge. 

 Other speakers prefer to furnish to these 

 cultured circles a glimpse into the workings 

 and tendencies of the higher institutions of 

 learning. It were to me a great pleasure, 

 esteemed colleagues and fellow students, 

 could my efforts to-day draw me closer to 

 you ; at all events this address shall serve 

 as a greeting of welcome from the Eector, 

 now entering upon his ofi&ce, to all those 

 who are connected with this Hochschule, and 

 to all those who feel in it a kindly interest. 

 And it is in this last sense that I beg leave 

 to offer a few thoughts upon 



THE ACCURACY OF THE EXPEEIMENTAL 

 METHODS OF THE CHEMIST. 



It is the well recognized task of scientific 

 investigation to discover the truth, and in 

 those cases where this is not possible, to 

 approximate it as closely as possible. In 

 the natural sciences we may look upon this 

 goal as attained when it is possible, in the 

 broadest sense of the word to describe that 

 which is appreciable to the senses. For 

 this purpose it is generally insufiicient 

 merely to allow the object to act directly 

 upon the senses, without in any way modi- 

 fying its natural conditions ; we must avail 

 ourselves of external assistance which either 

 shall like a lens render our observations 

 more accurate, or shall make possible the 

 study of the object under changed outward 

 conditions. On the one hand we use me- 

 ter stick, balance, microscope ; on the other 

 Bunsen burner, electrolytic cell, Eontgen 

 apparatus, and the like. One need but 

 cast a glance into the workshop of our in- 

 vestigator to see what an arsenal of appa- 



