\ogast, 1933
13 I A
I.
A 1 I)
ii
>G
w~uivaIeritto U.Oi pound of C1 and 0.15 pound of S per acre iier inch oi rain. I,ITEaa'P17llE ClTED
( I ) Coliins.
W. I).. and Fester, M. D.. IND.
C'm>r., 15, 111%
I N E IS II I N
(;
c I I IS 51 I s 'r w Y
945
W Doie, R. B., U. S. Gecl. Surrey, Water Supply Paper 236 (1~09). (.1) .JarBon, D. D., Ibid., 144 (IBO5).
(5) Moore. W. A , . and Ilrowning, Glen, Cbcm. A'cvs, 122,51-2 (1921). (6) Riffonburg,H. 13.. U. S. Grol. Survey, Water Supplu Paper 560, 31-53 (1!m). i i i William, F. S.,ami Bcdhr-,
Ii. O., C6em Newa. 145, 4a-3
(1982).
(1923). ( 2 ) Collins, W. D.. Lohr. E. W., WiYiams, Xi. T.. Ilalle~, Kenworthy, 0. C.. Va. Stato Comrn. Conaorvatior velopmont. Lfir. Water Resources and Power. Bull.. 3 (1st
RECELVBD February 15. V S Geoioyieai Survey.
l9SS.
i'ublisiied
by p e r i n i ~ s i o nof lie Director.
AMERICAN CONTEMPORARIES b'ranz
I?. l3xner
11IXTY years ago rm :tIumnus, fvrsh from his dociornte at Penirrylvania, returnod t o Carleton College, Sorthfield, Minn., i ~ n dt h e 1,egn.n his career BR a teacher and friend TodsLy, Frprnz F. Exnw is the senior of students in chemi culty and is loved and rrvrred hy reniricmber of the Carlet erat,ions of students have through him
.)
in the value I h e r obtiiirrell for the atomic weight of tungsten. The average of his dete,nninutions as published a year later is given :m 184.05, ahieli agrees with the accepted value of 184.Bin use today. In li~t,eryen, B teacher, ICxner has successfdy instilled t,hesc same habit rrccumcy in many oi his students. Because of the promise shown in research, he received their first stimul;it,ing contact with the wit.; ernnted the IIii,rrison Resenrch Fellowship Fiindamenlals and intricecies of chemistry. It r-hieh he hrdd during theacadeniio year 19023. rnny truly be said that Doctor Isxner has un'The fall of tW3 found Dr. Zmer back a t his stintingly given of his time and effort tu the alma mater and t h e w he has remained &B d e v e l o p m e n t of il first&cli%ss dcpartment oi tencher, wise councilor, a.nd friend of students. chemistry a t Carletm. l m g d y as a rcsrilt lnays stressed the fundaof tiis effort.^ over this thirty-year period, .elationships in tho scicnce Carleton today !masts of one of the liest chem:md iwi-ti4 on II high order of achievement in his students. Ifis CIRIY~E arc cnlivened by istry buildings and dep'lrtments of any of the lilieral arts colleges of the country. bits of droll humor. Pranz Frederick Exner \vas horn in the As a young man Ennei w a much intereated d h g e of Wokendor1 in Sileain, at, that time in i n gpmnnstic work, such as ono finds in the t,he Austrian part of Anstriidrringhry. As a German I'urns?rrin, as a means of keeping physical fitnws. So strongly did he believe Iwy he came to this country and in 1888 entcrod the preparatory deportment, oi Carlotori t!mt some form of physical activity ,%-asneeded Colle~e, lie r:ompleted this work in three liy thr student Iiody that hc organized the first p a r s and entered the college propci in 1891, F n . k ~ zF. E K ~ e r i elssses in gyrriiiaStic work at Cnrleton. He himself was an excdent gymnast and, even graduat,ing with Ibis bnchelor's degree in 1895. I t was his intention nn entering college to prepare liimsrlf for whm physicd cducation developed to thc point of becoming ademedicine with the hope that he could become a mediral rnission:rry. p r t m e n l ~of tlir college, he oft,en assisted in training stutient,s for On leaving collage it Ijociime necessary for him t o teilrii for gym" events. In spite of the fact, t,liat he does not impress :t time in ordcr tlint he might Ist,er enter h i s chosen field. In one R ng physically strong. Emer'n diligent application of t!ir meantime he w m s becoming more and more interested in ihr ~ o o dplrysic,ill-trainiiig principles has kept him in excellent hcnlth. vtpidly developing science of clremistry rmd by 1900 he h:uI deA s is expected in a cnllege of the type oi Carlet,on, teaching ihicd to give iip B career in niotlicinc for one in chemistry. mines before invtwtigntion, rind Professor Ikner carly decided The clrnracter of work being done by lklgsr F. Smith mcl his to g i w his liest to t,raehing young students. Elowever, lie has co-workers at 1'rnnaylvmni;i appealed to young Exner; lie 1,here- OPVW lost iriterest in research :mi! there is ~thrayssome work fore Amtrieulated at I'cnnsylvanis and cndcred on his graduatt going on in his own laboratory. Ire i s continually working out w r k under the guidnnce of Professor Smit,h. %ith mudi en- new methods or new rcfinernentsuf old methods for his clnsaes in m arid energy he at,t;tcked the problem of defcrmining rinnlytical chemistry. Some of these results are of considerable tlrc rrtomic weight, of tungsten. By the Fpring of IN):% t h i s E- importance, Iiot Exner has always Ireen more i n l w w t d in obt.ninsearch had been completed and the i-erultsobtnined were intended ing results than in rustring (,hem into print. Jle much prefers to mrry on his own work in the absence of public recognit.ion, and to he iisod as t h e doctor's dissertation. One afternoon Smith ~ ~ i i to i e the young invcstigator and informed him of the- work this retiring nature has kept him from being better known by his then in progress under Goooh u t Yale on the use nf :irotating fellon chmrists. In addition to the investigations in analyt,ical cr&hude in the electrodeposition of mehls for nnnlyticirl work. rhemis?ry he lias done :i ronsider.%blramount of work on the It w:is suggest.ed that a rota,ting unode be tried a,nd Exner in]- catalytic dehydration of orgnoic compounds, using slightly oxlniediritely seized upon tho idea. Within three days he had de- dised copper a6 tho eatdyst. He has also been interested in veloped 2% method and obtained quantitative result? that indi- using ngriculturd products in chemical indodry. These fields of cttted the valiie of this method in a n d y t i d chemistry. T l w e work studied in his own i d m a t o r y with his own hands indicate results looked so promising that the next three months were rpmt his breadth of interest in the science. A m ~ yfrom the college, Exner has been B home hady and home in rounding out bhe preliminary investigation. Long hours of intense sctivity were needed, but, in the end it was this pime of lover. He was married to llannah Longstreet Alythe in 1897. research which was used by E h e r for his degrec. They !mve six children, four boys and two girls, and in them they Tho care and accuracy of his work at Pennsylvmia i s reflected have tnken great pride and comfort. Four of the children have
946
I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E 13 I N G C H E M I S T R Y
s h a d y finisliod Carloton and the two older boys have enterod on careers in science. Doctor Exner has always been a faithful member of the Congregational church in Northfield and has ever given staunch support to all forwnrd4ooking civic movomcnts. His life has been an example to the student body of the meaning of the higher ideals of mankind. The ANERICAN CNENICAL SOCIETY and its Minnesota Sectiou have always occupied an important phco in the scientific side of his life. He is a frequent visitor at the section meotings even though they are almost dw;tys a long ~ t from y Northfield. In carrying on the lmiiness of the section, his wise counsel and ndvice have been of great help, cspeeinlly during the earlier yeas.
Vol. 25, No. 8
Today if one were to visit t,he hhoratwy a t Carleton, he would usually find Doct,or Exnor in his customary irhite jacket, assisting the student in some difficult, part of nn experiment or giving neccssrtry advice on important details of the work. His close ppwonnl interest in the studont I ~ R Snevm failed and the smile which lights his face on seeing one of his former students is a thing to he cherished and remembered. One has a feeling after such a visit that he has been in tho preserico of a true friend whom it lins been a privilege to know and from whom he has received much that, has guided and molded his life.
I,. H. l l ~ ~ ~ n s o x
Edward Ellery
T
lI1C chemist-hero of this tale is at present acting president such an orgmimation is uau:dly the m ~ i i\~.hokeeps the group of Union College, during the illness of Frank Wrkor coijperating and growing. EIleuy has been true to this tradition. Day. During his activity the number of local chapters has grown from Ellery v m horn in Albany in 1868 and grsdunbtd from Col- thirty-four to sixty-two, and thirty-two dubs have been added gate University in 1890. tfe came to Union Collego in 1O:M :LS to the ul.~nnisation--verit~blegrowing plots in which prepara assist,arit piofersor of chemistry and beoamc full piofswir in tioii for rcsewch is cultivated. Xllery would shrink from being 1905. In Iris first vems a t Union he the eredit,rd wit,h the entire erowth of the sooietv only teaclier of his subject, though the c:rtiilog duriiig the psst twelve yoars, but any one who listed nine courses in chemistry. There axe lim sat in its executive committee meetinm realnow six ohomistry toaeliers in his deyartment. izes how greatly his carnest efforts to keep in At Union, EIlery took over those old laboraclose touch with all American scieutists has intories and the lecture room f r o m w-hence fluenced the success of Sigma Xi. H i s careC o l u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y had taken, in 1864, fully kept wrd catdog of these men covers a t that dean of American chemistry, Charles F. present about twenty-six thousand members. Chandler. Union College had been one of He was instrumental in the establishment of the first to recognize the importance of chemthe society's research fund, and he is a memher istry in a rapidly growing country, and Proof the fellowship committee. Through his fessor Chandler, fresh from abroad, had started constant, active interest there are researches there, in 1857, an agricultural and chemical brought up for consideration which, through l a b o r a t o r y . For many years the red-tiled t h e m o d e s t y of the investigators handling floors and the steeply built soats of the lecture thnn, would not otherwise be presented to room of old South College remained hut tittle the committee. altered, but in 1916 Doctor Ellery supeririEllery adopted an unusual course in his Photo by Bochroch tended the building of his oresent moclcrn dermrtment. In mite of the attractions of the Butterfield Chemicu1'L~b"riLtoy. During his EDWAXU ELI'ISXY more advanced teaching, he delivered freshman work here he has introduced much of the spirit chemistry lectures himself. Again, his lecture and work of chemic4 research consistent with good college courms i h n R:LS foilowod by frequent and quite informal meetings with in the suhjeot, and he has been particularly mindful of the nceds the students. The result was that the head of the department of the premedical students who prepare in chemistry in thew had close contact with these boys when they were forming their laboratories. Mrhny of the physicians who now < h e l lwithin one first impressions of seience. The friendly relrttions fostered in ur two hundred miles of Scheneetady studied the elemcnts at the pleasent intimacy of these group meetings continued throughUnion, going from there to near-hy Albany Medical College, rT-hioh out. the college course, making it the easy and natural thing for is a part of fJnion University, for their subsequent training. the students t o turn to IUery for counsel and guidance. All Ellery has always heen a good public servant. Iie hiLs lieen this has given him an asset of value, not alone to Union zad its city chemist since 1903, and w&s a member of the Schenoctudy students, but to the public. For years there have been fewer Board of Education from 1923 to 1929. He has alvrays directed openings in good medical colleges for students than there were his efforts with high aims and is deeply religious in feeling. l i e men who wanted to be doctors. It has been of the greatest quite nat,urally becsme desn of Union's faculty in 1919 in eunie- importance, then, that texhers of the fundamentals, or the quenee of his intorest in young men and his serious mindedness, elements, should know their students so well that they could coupled with his easy approaohability. guide not only them but rtlm the officers of the medical sehools Tie has studied abroad a t different periods, hut it was in 1896, who had to pass upon candidates for admission. This Ellcry a t the University of Heidelberg, that he received his doctor of ha8 been nblc to do with competence. The effort has not been confined to the premedicitl group, however. 1Ie has always philosophy degree. His interest in research, oiamped, perhaps, in it.s nnt,urni stressed the need of coordination between pregraduation activit,rend in the college by the severe requirements of an eeonomicnlly tie8 and postcollege camem, and i t is his firm conviction that operated tesching Inborntory, led him to help scientific research college professors should know thoroughly not only their students, in general through the society of Sigma Xi. l i e became a hut the requirements of the universities, professional schools, member of the Union chapt.er in 1905, its secretary from 1906 and industries for which these students are preparing. Thus to 1908, and thereafter its president until 1912. In 1021 he wiis men who have felt Ellery's influonce may be found in such elected lratiunsl secrotary of Sigma Xi. This gnvo him tho np- widdy varying fields as General Electric, Bell Telephone, port,,mity to do niore for research. Tho national secretary of Brmuur Packing, Du Pont, International Nickel, etc., on the ~
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