CHEMISTRY IN THE UNITED STATES. 
201 
taken serious alarm at the growing competition. Branches 
of manufacturing which were once almost wholly English 
are now mainly German; discoveries which were made in 
England have been developed in Germany; and now the 
British economists are seeking for the reason. 
To the chemist the reason is plain, and is to be found by 
a study of two systems of education. The English universi¬ 
ties and schools have clung to obsolete methods, and have 
attached great importance to examinations and the winning 
of honors. To the honor men positions and preferment are 
open; but the honors are awarded in the wrong way. In 
Germany, on the other hand, the pathway to success lies 
through research, honors are given to the men who have in¬ 
creased knowledge, and the effect of this policy is felt by 
every manufacturer upon German soil. Take, for example, 
the great chemical works at Elberfeld, in which about one 
hundred scientific chemists are employed, in addition to a 
great force of laborers. Every one of these chemists re¬ 
ceived a training in research, every one is expected to make 
discoveries, and the results of their investigations are imme¬ 
diately applied in the manufacture of new preparations and 
the improvement of processes. The German employer does 
not ask the chemist to do for him what he can do already, 
but rather to supply the greater forces by which he can rise 
above his competitors and command the custom of the world. 
To that policy we have not yet fully risen in America; our 
technical schools have thought too much of routine drill and 
discipline, and until we profit by the example of Germany 
more thoroughly than we have done, we cannot hope to rival 
her in chemical industries. Our practical men value science 
for what it can do directly in their interest, and rarely look 
deeper into the possibilities of abstract investigation. In 
reality, pure science and applied science are one at the root; 
the first renders the second possible, and the latter furnishes 
incentives for the first. Where science is most encouraged 
for its own sake, there its applications are most speedily real¬ 
ized. This is a lesson which America has yet to learn, at 
least to the point of full and complete appreciation. 
