July, 1924
I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
755
AMERICAN CONTEMPORARIES preparation there was any time left for investigation. Yet a t nearly every monthly meeting of the Mitchell Society the reN THE short period, somewhat over a decade, in which I have sults of some work in chemistry were reported by professor or had the privilege of the acquaintance of Dr. Francis Preston students. One of the early volumes of the Journal of the Elisha Venable, I have heard many stories and reminiscences, some Mitchell Scientific Society has a description of a modification of of which may serve as an introduction to “Old Ven” or “The Big the Bunsen burner designed by Dr. Venable, a modification still in general use, although it goes by another Smoke,” or whatever term of endearment name. After twenty years of service in may have been in vogue. His father, who the department of chemistry he was was professor of mathematics a t the Unielected president of the university, and for versity of Virginia, no doubt hoped that fourteen years he served in that capacity. he would take up a career in mathematics, During this administration, one new buildbut it was not so foreordained. For some ing was added to the campus group each considerable period the choice, mirabile year, often under adverse circumstances. dictu, lay between Greek and chemistry. To his constant insistence on sound The decision was reached after he had scholarship and high academic standards been admitted to assist Dr. J. W. Mallet may be attributed the high regard in in his famous research on the atomic which the university now stands. I n 1914 weight of aluminium. I t is noteworthy his health required that he relinquish the that the present accepted atomic weight of increasingly onerous duties of president, aluminium comes from this investigaand he returned to his beloved chemistry. tion. Dr. Mallet was careful in the selecIf you call on him of an evening, you tion of his assistants and frequently alwill probably find him studying the New lowed a period of probation to elapse before York Times, enjoying a current chemical admitting a candidate t o all the rights journal, playing solitaire, working over and privrleges of an assistantship. In a manuscript on zirconium or on radioacthe present case the probationary task tivity, or writing a textbook for high was the preparation of numerous gallons schools-all the while gathering solace of distilled water, the drops of which should F. P V E N A B ~ E from a pipe which he claims is “ripe” but never come from the condenser faster which others describe as “rotten.” Any than could be counted. After a week or one of these solemn pleasures is gladly laid aside and conv’ersation more of drop counting the candidate was found to have passed a preliminary examination. It is not surprising that Dr. Ven- will probably begin with isotopes or electrons, passing by easy sfages to fundamentalism or some other modern form of intolerable has required of his students utmost care and a scrupulous ance. While I have never been able to interest him in the daily search for the facts, with all the possible confirmatory tests. sayings of Jeff or the doings of Jiggs, and while he gently chides me After L: period of study in Germany under several of the for “lying” when I assure my class of beginners that certain large masters, Dr. Venable returned t o the United States to accept a call as professor of chemistry in the University of North Carolina, glass models of historic diamonds are the real thing, yet he does heartily enjoy many of the more modest forms of exaggeration. just a few years after its reopening following reconstruction days. Any habitual reader of the Saturday Evening Post must be I n spite of the inadequacy of equipment and of the overload of gifted with many senses of humor. But if you should now merely teaching, Dr. Venable, already known as “Old Ven,” on account of an awe-inspiring beard, with the cooperation of the late Dr. suggest a game of bridge (mah jong is not so popular), then zirconium and the periodic arrangement of the elements and Joseph A. Holmes, then professor of geology, and other kindred isotopes and the glaring faults of all textbooks on general chemisspirits, organized the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society. At the recently celebrated fortieth anniversary the history of the try are summarily forgotten. A historical sketch of Dr. Venable would have recounted his society was read by its first president, Dr. Venable. The foundanumerous honors-several honorary doctor’s degrees, secretary tion of this society may be truly said to mark the beginning of the and vice president of the American Association for the Advanceresearch spirit in the South. ment of Science, and president of the American Chemical The difficulties under which chemists of the earlier days worked may be illustrated by a delightful anecdote. In qualitative Society, and a long list of contributions to the literature, mainly analysis it was necessary then, as it unfortunately still is, to in inorganic chemistry. This sketch is a failure if the reader has have iron sulfide for the preparation of hydrogen sulfide. The not gained the conviction that here we have a sound scholar, professor and negro janitor would repair to the village smithy an inspiring teacher, a careful experimenter, a wise counselor, and with a Hessian crucible and a supply of nails and sulfur. While withal a delightful companion and true friend. blowing the bellows the janitor would watch with popping eyes JAMES M. BELL the fumes of sulfur and would catch the whiffs of sulfur dioxide. A teacher is always a teacher. On these occasions the janitor At the recent meeting of the hTational Fertilizer Association learned that he was heating the brimstone which is spoken of in a t Asheville, N. C., there was a movement to consolidate with the Southern Fertilizer Association. The executive committees holy writ. The story goes that the janitor, whose avocation was of the two associations favor this change, but no action can be preaching, held quite a revival in his congregation by describing until the meeting of the Southern Fertilizer Association, brimstone and its terrors, and by assuring his hearers that it was taken which will be held in the fall. Financial conditions and the something to be avoided both in this world and the next. need of closer organization are the reasons assigned for this It is a marvel that with this heavy load of teaching and class consolidation.
Francis Preston Venable
I
