DOCTOR FREER AND THE BUREAU OP SCIENCE. xvil 



tions in chemistry and biology. And so on to the end of the 

 chapter. 



I early decided to make a determined effort to centralize the 

 laboratory work of the Insular Government under the control 

 of one man, to the end that unnecessary and wasteful dupli- 

 cation of staff and equipment might be avoided and that maxi- 

 mum efficiency might be attained at minimum cost. With these 

 ends in view, I drafted, and on July 1, 1901, secured the pas- 

 sage of "An Act providing for the establishment of Government 

 Laboratories for the Philippine Islands." The passage of this 

 Act laid a reasonably broad foundation, but did nothing more. 

 It was necessary to plan and construct a modern laboratory 

 building which should afford adequate facilities to meet the 

 then existing, and probably future, needs of the Government; to 

 list, buy, house, and properly catalogue a fairly complete scien- 

 tific library; to purchase and install costly and complicated 

 scientific apparatus; to provide seasonably a formidable array 

 of expendable reagents and supplies; and most important of 

 all, to secure the services of a large staff of well-trained scien- 

 tists, capable not only of performing necessary routine examina- 

 tions with unfailing accuracy, but also of grappling with some 

 of the many scientific problems whose early solution was then 

 imperatively needed. To the end that the best possible results 

 should be obtained, it was necessary that the work of the 

 members of the staff should be coordinated and directed by a 

 master mind. 



It was obvious that the man who could undertake such a task 

 with hope of success must combine an unusually broad knowl- 

 edge of the different branches of laboratory work with a wide 

 acquaintance among scientific investigators, familiarity with 

 cost and sources of supply of books, apparatus, and reagents, 

 sound business judgment, good administrative ability, and hard 

 common sense. 



I chose for this important and difficult position Dr. Paul 

 Caspar Freer, then professor of inorganic chemistry in the 

 University of Michigan, and never was man more fortunate in 

 his choice. 



112297 ii 



