294  Modem  Paint  Vehicles.  {Am\l^r\gigrm' 
sorts  of  ultra-modern  vehicles,  to  all  sorts  of  surfaces,  are  being 
observed  with  much  interest  by  their  designers. 
We  are  now  prepared  to  give  some  sort  of  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion, "Why  linseed  oil?"  First:  because  it  is  accessible,  easily 
obtainable  and  entirely  familiar.  Painters  know  more  about  it  than 
they  know  about  any  other  oil.  We  are  most  of  us  mentally  lazy 
and  content  to  let  well  enough  alone.  There  may  be  something 
just  as  good  as  even  better,  but  why  worry  after  the  ideal  when  the 
real  adequately  serves? 
Gentlemen,  the  war  has  jammed  us  out  of  that  state  of  mind. 
Progress  is  not  made  by  people  contented  to  let  well  enough  alone, 
That  mental  habit  is  responsible  for  the  present-day  condition  in 
China.  The  man  who  is  not  continually  seeking  for  something 
better  is  of  no  more  use  to  civilization  than  a  dog  chasing  his  own 
tail.  If  we  cannot  lead,  we  should  be  willing  to  follow  the  leaders 
or  at  least  give  them  a  respectful  hearing. 
Today  occasional  shipments  of  perilla  oil  are  being  offered  at  a 
price  just  a  little  higher  than  linseed,  usually — and  from  what  is  even 
now  known  about  perilla  oil,  many  men  would  just  as  willingly  have 
perilla  as  linseed  oil  paint. 
A  progressive  man  in  this  industry  cannot  for  a  moment  sub- 
scribe to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  the  business  of  the  manufacturer 
to  give  the  painter  what  he  wants,  with  all  the  complication  that 
goes  with  that  advice.  On  the  contrary,  the  manufacturer  has  gen- 
erally led  in  the  progress  of  the  industry  and  has  forced  his  dis- 
coveries into  practice.  For  example,  when  colors  in  oil  were  first 
offered  in  this  country  by  John  W.  Masury,  he  found  it  almost  im- 
possible to  persuade  the  painters  of  his  day  to  use  them. 
With  regard  to  some  of  the  promising  fields  for  soya  oil,  we  may 
quote  circular  No.  50  of  the  Educational  Bureau  of  the  Paint  Manu- 
facturers' Association  entitled  "  Soya  Oil  in  Paints,"  and  written  by 
H.  A.  Gardner,  director  of  the  scientific  section,  whom  you  all  know. 
He  says  :  "  For  many  years  the  makers  of  high-grade  prepared  paints 
have  used  pure  linseed  oil  as  a  liquid  for  such  paints,  adding  the 
usual  small  amount  of  drier  and  thinner  required  to  form  a  practic- 
able paint  suitable  for  immediate  use.  Whenever  rosin  oil,  gloss 
oils,  or  neutral  petroleum  base  oils  have  been  used  as  such,  partially 
or  wholly,  to  replace  linseed  oil  in  such  paints,  disastrous  results 
may  follow.  There  is,  however,  a  class  of  pure  vegetable  oils  pro- 
duced from  seed  in  the  same  manner  as  linseed  oil,  which  have  a 
