162 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. No. 527. 



augurated as not to be generally known. 



The bureau of standards was established 

 by act of congress in response to a de- 

 mand for such an institution on the part 

 of many scientists, engineers, manufac- 

 turers and representatives of the national 

 government. The high order of accu- 

 racy required in modern engineering prac- 

 tise and in scientific research made it more 

 than ever necessary that manufacturers 

 of scientific and engineering instruments 

 should possess correct standards of length, 

 mass and volume, as well as electrical, op- 

 tical and thermometric standards, and be 

 able to have them reverified from time to 

 time. It was also important that any one 

 engaged in scientific or engineering work 

 could have his instruments and standards 

 tested whenever necessary. The office of 

 weights and measures, at Washington, had 

 been equipped to do some of the work re- 

 quired in the verification of length, mass 

 and volume for many years, but it was 

 necessary to send electrical standards, 

 thermometers and pyrometers and many 

 other kinds of apparatus to Europe to be 

 tested when results of the highest accuracy 

 were desired. As this was both expensive 

 and time consuming the consequence was 

 that only infrequently were these more ac- 

 curate tests obtained. The United States 

 held a creditable position among the na- 

 tions of the earth in physical science, and 

 had some of the best physical laboratories 

 in the world ; it was leading the world in 

 the manufacture of electrical machinery 

 and some kinds of electrical instruments. 

 To be obliged to ask the German imperial 

 or other foreign laboratories to do our 

 testing for us, because we lacked a well- 

 equipped national laboratory for doing such 

 work, was clearly a situation that ought to 

 be corrected, and congress acted promptly 

 when the importance of the matter was 

 brought to its attention. Appropriations 

 were made for laboratory buildings and 



equipment and for a director and a small 

 scientific staff, and the bureau began its 

 work July 1, 1901. President McKinley 

 appointed as director Professor S. W. 

 Stratton, of Chicago University, to whom 

 more than to any one else is due the credit 

 for the establishment and the success of 

 the bureau. A careful study of the Physi- 

 kalisch Technische Reichsanstalt and of 

 other European laboratories was made in 

 connection with the designing of the labo- 

 ratory buildings and the selection of the 

 equipment, and many valuable suggestions 

 were derived therefrom. The laboratories 

 have, however, been constructed after Am- 

 erican rather than European models, al- 

 though in their equipment it has been 

 found necessary to draw very heavily upon 

 European instrument makers. 



The bureau began its work in temporary 

 quarters and has been developing methods, 

 building and acquiring apparatus and do- 

 ing testing for the government and the 

 public while the laboratory buildings have 

 been under construction. The larger of 

 the two buildings was only recently com- 

 pleted and the bureau is just now moving 

 into it, the first building having been occu- 

 pied nearly a year ago. We now find our- 

 selves, about three and a half years from 

 the organization of the bureau, in posses- 

 sion of buildings and equipment costing 

 about $600,000, with a personnel carefully 

 selected through the civil service and num- 

 bering altogether seventy-one, maintained 

 by annual appropriations amounting to 

 nearly $200,000, and, judged by the magni- 

 tude and importance of the output of test- 

 ing and investigation, ranking second only 

 to the great German Reichsanstalt among 

 the government laboratories of the world 

 doing this kind of work. 



After this brief epitome of the history 

 of the bureau let me state more particu- 

 larly something of its work and of its rela- 



