ITALIAN LETTER Generally speaking those outside Italy have little opportunity to hear about the developing chemical activity of our country and perhaps those interested in chemical progress have not a very good opinion of our schools and methods. Really, Italy has for centuries produced men famous in the realm of physical science: Torricelli, Galiieo, Cannizzaro. For the moment no great chemical indnstry has been established in Italy but chemical activities extend in every direction and the future, only, can show which will become the one of greatest national importance. It is well known that our country has no mineral resources except in small quantities, nor any colonies from which to get them; so if we have good factories of pharmaceutical products they only specialize in Galenical preparations. I have mentioned the conditions of chemical indnstry in Italy a t present because generally the activity of any country in a special branch of work is seen through the products and we only have a small prodnction of alkaloids, dyes, synthetic preparations, etc. The chief reason for that is our poverty in the principal minerals, iron and coal, which always form the base of any industry. I have to say now that in the last two or three years all the activities of the country were encouraged and enlarged by the new government; so also in the chemical works we can see that they are making great strides especially in Northern Italy, where considerable improvements have been and are being made principally owing to the facility t o get huge quantities of electrical power for the Italian Alps. White coal! "Carbone bianco" as we call the water power, will be in a few years almost a complete substitute for real coal; and I think we have now the biggest electrical stations in Europe and will have more in the future. However, we produce wherqwe are able to do so and, for example, from the fruits of Sicily we make considerable qnantities of essential oils and citric acid. The mines of Tuscany furnish material for the preparation of all the salts of mercury, antimony, and some of copper. From the mountains of Puglia, which are very rich in bauxite, considerable quantities of aluminum are extracted by a new method (of which I will speak on another occasion) of Prof. Blanc, member of the Italian Parliament. The artificial silk indnstry, then, one of the latest phases of Italy's commercial activity has made such rapid progress during the last few years that Italy now holds second place in the world (after America). Up to a few months ago the bulk of the raw cellulose used in the prodnction of silk was imported, but the erection of a factory a t Naples now producing fifty per cent of the total
quantity used, is a step tendmg to the establishment of an industry independent of foreign support. The center of the silk industry is in Turin and employs a capital of a million lire (Italian). I have shown briefly the most important parts of chemical activity at the present moment. It may seem very little, but I think, given political stability, more will be done in the future for the development of promising industrial activities.
GAMMA SIGMA EPSILON (An Honorary Chemical Fraternity) During the last few decades there has gradually developed a distinct tendency among the college students of this country to devote a considerable part of their time to extra-curricular activities. I n order to make their untiring efforts more fruitful and enjoy the fellowship of each other, students of similar academic interests and tendencies have grouped themselves into organized literary, scientific, and professional societies. School authorities, considering the direct and indirect benefits derived by the institution and the individual student from such activities, have generally encowaged students in that direction. As a result, today there is a multitude of student organizations in every college, each work'mg toward a definite aim. Some of these are distinctly social, some others are academic, while still others combine both characteristics. These societies are not always confined to one particular college. They constitute, in many cases, branches of wider organizations. The national character of a society, or fraternity as it is frequently called, makes it more attractive to the average student. The Gamma Sigma Epsilon chemical fraternity is one of the honorary college societies of the country. A brief presentation of its history and aim might be of interest t o the readers of the JOURNAL OF CH~MICAL EDUCATION.
Gamma Sigma Epsilon was founded in 1920 in Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina, by a group of students, under the guidance of the Department of Chemistry. These students had long felt the need of fellowship and closer contact between the advanced chemical students of the college. Soon chapters were established in other institutions of higher learning, the Davidson chapter having the unique honor of being the mother-chapter of the organization. The government of the fraternity became vested in a Grand Council; biennial conventions have since been held regularly. The chapters are located a t Davidson College, Uni-
