AMERICAN CONTEMPORARIES Charles Lathrop Parsons ELL, how about B little trip down the river to Portsmouth in o w one-lungor and some broiled live li,hsters a t Ham’s?” mid Charlie Parsons t o S,lm Bogert and me one summer afternoon at I h h a m , N. H., nearly thirty yews %go, when he was profevvor of chemisbry at the Yew €Ifampshire College tirere and n e ere his guests. “If you insist upon it,” we re,>lied,“lead us to the lobstersand wewill s h o w
Inknseiy Iuyi~Iti, liis friends and idways willing and eager to do everything in his power to show that friondship, whether through this abounding hospitality or in other ways, nothing h u m or grii~veshim more than indifference or coldness on the part of those from whom he has the right to expect sympathy and responsiveness. A man of independent thought, confident in his own judgment tenacious in his opinions and vigorous in you how mean a knife and fork two hungry their defense, he nevertheless maintains an Sew Yorkers e m wield.” So he and Mrs. open mind aud is ever willirrg to discwe any l’nrsons led the way to tlie creek where the question, to weigh oritically the arguments hmt, a small open Inunch, awaited us. AIadvanced, and to surrender good n a t d y though not a speed boat or much to lioiist rhen convinced that his position is no longer :tbout in the u-ay oi looks, she carried us tenable. People may and do differ with him, safely, albcit not very rapidly, down the creek but they always respect his judgment and :ind the I’iscatsquis Rivcr to I’ortsmouth, the sincerity of his position. Strong in hi8 $&re the lobsters I‘ ‘n’ everythin’ ” were (lisdislikes, as in his likes, he can be, when occnpsed of with gusto, for in those days Ilnm’s sion demands it, an act.ive and resourceful lohstcrs were famous throughout t h a t region. antagonist, End two of his pet aversions are The night being a beautiiul one, we did pomposity and snobbishness; but, if he is riot leave Portsmouth u n t i l qiiibe I n t e , a hard and fair fighter, he is also B good a n d , when we started, a stiff ebb tide loser and never harbors any grudge 84 a ims running against us. Sot, our litble put-put kept plugging result of such differences of opinion. Undoubtedly to those :dong vsliantly until we got about one-third of the wsy homo, who do not know him well, he may now and then give t h e ivhen after one or twii despairing consumptive coughs the impression of being too dogmatic. H e is endowed with a motor inconsiderntely died. Furtun&dy, we were not very far kaen sense of humor, and enjoys a good joke immensely, even iiom the north shore of the river at the time, 80 that we paddled wlien it happons to be on himself. I n his own home life he is very happy and an easy mark for his grandchildren. In her in and beached her in a little cove near B group of cottagm. While Charlie att.ncked ihr engine with his best tools and most sl,:~remoments he loves to putter around his automobile and t o persuasive arguments under the admiring but somewhat sleepy slip away with Mrs. Parasons far R little tour whenevex a chance occurs, To him, Wrashington is t h e finest place in t h e world t o eyes of our wives, I climbed up the bank to reconnoiter. Unfortunately it was near midnight, the houstw were all dark, and live, and a stranger hearing one of his ardent boosting orations every one npparently FM in bed and sound asleep. While on the subject might think that he was listening to a real estate deliberating a3 to the next miwe, I NIU cheered by hearing a few agent with property to sell in the vicinity of Cleveland Park. ieeblc coughs from the motor, and, by the time I got hack to the To the A M E X ~ C CHEMICAL .~ SOCIETY, its officers, and governing CHEMICAL SOCIETY ixvards, he has always shown the staunchest kind of fakty; and boat, the future Secretary of the A M E ~ I C M had her going again and we limped slomly home, where we arrived no matter how energetically he may debate a question in t h e in t,lie “wee sma’ hourd’ of the morning, after getting stuck in Council, when the question is once deoided, i t always receives his rhe mud once or twice IU NC st,rugpledalong in the Ion water nnd whole-hearted support, whether or not he originally favored it. ikirkncss up the ereok. Not infrequently h e may have appcared meticulous and unThis was my first chance to get better acquainted with the new reasonable upon some mabters of SOCIETY business, when actually lm NLLS only carrying out explicit instructions rocrived from the pnifeessor a t Durham md w n s the beginning uf a closc and w m n iriendahip which I hope will cont,inue to tho end. CO“”Ci1. One of the outstanding charrxteristics of Doctor Parsons and I well remcrntm w h i r the question first ciime up of his lmomliiv oharming wife is thcir generaus, unselfish, and oeverwo:aying ing Secretary of our AMEI~ICAN CNEMICAL SOCIETY, in succession hoapitrtlity. Every one who knons the Parsons even slightly, to Albert C. Hale, who felt that the burden TVBSgrowing too heavjknoris tliis. No matter where their home may lie, Durham for one of his yews to carry. Pmfesuor Parsons was then deeply ais it wax, or Washington as it is now, the door to that homo, rngrossed wit.h his scientific work and very lrappy in it. With :is to t‘heir hetirts, is always open to thcir friend?, arid no one his staff and students he was occupied with many int,eresting knocks on either witliout receiving i~ cordid and cheery wsesrches and \TILS particularly enthusiastic about the work in wclrome. I have seen them time and :qpin, when friends r:m earths which his colleague, the late Professor James, was developing so deftly and yet so modestly. It as a real sacrifice liojipcned to drop in unerpectcdly, put themselves to all kinds of trouble and inconvenience to see thnt these guests were rni~de t o give up all this RS well as his beautiful home in Durham, and happy, not considering for a moment thoir uwn comiort. When m i w e to Washington whcre the friends now without number u,ere t&n but a handful. I know from many intimate conferences dislinguished fcmrign chemisk visit our capitd, t.he hospitalilr I’a,rs,ns home is one o f the first t,o mtertaiir them, :and in my with him t h a t he came to his decision because he IVILSconvinced wanderings in F u u q ~ I IIILYC I d m:my of my foreign colleagues that 8s Secretary of tho “um~rnnvCEEMICAL SOCIETY he ~ o u l d n h o have visited Washington tell mc t,liat some of the hqqicst, hitve a better opportunity to advance the cause of chamistry in the recollections of their t,iips to our country mere the evcninw they United States than a 8 prufessor of chemistry at Now Hampshire spent RS UP SIP of the Parsons. College. In all honor tic it mid that. having put, his hand to the
p h , he i r m iiever tmw 1umt.d b x k but hris cmtimml to put inti, the SYEHIUAN CWBMICAI, SOCIETY everything t,hnt he of time, energy, :md ability; in season and out, early and late, in fair weather :md fool, tie has striven tirelessly and undiscoumqed for tlie uphuildirw and devehpment of our ne:wly .a quartor century of the h2Ll.doationnl socict,y unt,il, ai est i d most loyal kind < I rvice, he has tho sal.isfaetion of swing that orgrmination grow frnm a membership of about three thous n d tu nearly t w m t y thousand, and rise from comparative obscuri1.y i u the exalted position i t now occupies i ~ the s greatest ehtmieal society the u w l d has ever known. Having clnsely frillurvcd the progress of our Soc1m.u for the pmt, fort,?. yews, I soy unlieait,atingly and without fcar of surcessful eontmdictioa, that nhat thc A M E I U ~ ACIEEMICAL X Socimu is tsrday i t owe’s more to Charles Lathrop Pnrsras than to any other Amcricm chemist. Isn’t, thnt IL monument, of wlrich any miin may well feel proud? Who is lherrr : m m g us who hxs done more for the cause of .Amerierm chemistry than wbst, ho tins accomplished in t,he building of this grest organisat.ion? I appreciate that he is nvt the only one who has contributed to this result, h u t t h t many have pnrtidpat,ed. Presidents have come and gone, and ench hits contributed \\-hat lie could; but i t 1135 been the accumulnted experience of Secretary Parsons, his intimate knowledge of the many jmhlems of the SOCIETY and of the chemists of our country, his frank r~ndfciirless advice, which has been OUT chicf guide throughout these many years of developrnent. As B pmt president I knmv whereof I speak. There &rethose who secm to belirve that original rf not only the highest form of aervice which :my chemist c m render to his plniession, hut that everything else is so firr iuferiior as not to be worthy of mention in the s:me breath. The discovery of new knowledgo is undoubtedly of immense importance, but so ;&o is the dissemination uf t.he krrowledge m have already gdined, ior diseororios becomr valurthlr only as they become useful, either practictilly o r fnr t,hc nssistance of other workers. The Ax~wrcxv C ~ E M ~ CS A~ LC I Eia Ttoday ~ the most potmt ngcncy existing f o r I his disucmination of chemicul irriorrniltim and diacovcry. T h e investigat,or must keep fully posted and up t,o d:ite on the ,:itrid advsnces in his rhosen ficld, ani1 his resenreh results would
lose much of t,lrcir value without an upportunity to bring !.hem in published form to the attention of the chemical pwfeaaion and of ottieru likely to be interested. Think *-hat Chemical Abstracts and our other journals meitn to the progress of research, and how much ilrirt, research is ttided and stimulated by the inspiration and encouragement which comes from the contacts with one’s fellow inveatigiltors providod by the frequent meetings of the S ~ C ~ E T Y tions. That brilliant investigator, Sir William ted a5 having said t h a t he felt that his founding of the Ci~eni.i.ictdNews and its cditing for half B century had been fully as important B contribution to the progress and advancement of etremiatry t t his ~ reswreh work. This outstanding service has heen reeognieed clearly in other countries where Doctor Parsons has been the recipient of decor& lions, of honorary memberships in national chemical societies, and of similar tokens of appreciation and asteam. In his own country hc tins received the Nichols Medal of the AMEBICAN CHEM~CAL SOCIETY (1905), and the honorary degrees of D.90. from the Universit.y of Maine (19111,and of D. Clrem. from t,lie University of Pittsburgh (1914). Born in New MRrlboro, Mass., and educated partly in Masseliuset,ts and p d y a t Itmrkinsville, &., to which city the family maveil while he was still B youngster, his collegiate training was ohtitined at,Cornell University, from whioh he received his B. S. in 1888. Not,hing brings him more joy now than t o steal away for B few dttysof turkey hunting around hisold home town of Hawkinsd e , where his brother Will still lives. Those a h o have been so fortunate as to hnve been his gueats on these hunts will not soon forget them or their warm-hesrted host. When the wild turkeys down there hem that Charlie is on thc wsrpath again and is going to pay bhem i~ visit, they all “Imat, it” for the deep woods, for they know tu thrir somow that today he i s 118 much interested in roast turkey as he usod to he Iibuut whether a certain element should be called “beryllium” or “glucinum.” In fact these turkeys feel as ncr’wius, apprehensive, and ill at easa, when they know t h a t he is scouting around, as though t I>eloogto t,hc Ammrcm Cir~mrcn
MARSTON TAYLOR BOGBRT
‘THE G o w ~ u a ~ ~ n by 1’ieLt.r Breugld, tlie Elder
Ereughel, a famous Flomish painter arid u student of Koch, worked in Antnerp and I3ressels and died in t,he lalter ci1.y about 1390 at the age of 60. tlc drew a nrrmk~rof pen and ink skctchss, most of them of a fiomomns nrturc. Tbt: originel of the “Galdnmker” is in the Stastlicfws hlrrscurn in Berlin.
