1436
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ~~DUWLTION
SEPTBMBBR, 1929
man of the future if we are to make the most of the destiny within us. When these qualities will have become common attributes, war and its attendant waste and misery will have vanished. Inability to see a situation from another's viewpoint will be replaced by a new tolerance, a new understanding. Scientific education will make the man of the future fully aware of the fearful possibilities of the use of scientific discoveries for other than constructive purposes. The search for knowledge will weld all men into a common brotherhood without race or caste distinctions. "As lantern-bearers, it is the clear duty of the men of science to show the way." Over two hundred years ago Sir Isaac Newton said, "I seem to have been only a boy playing on the seashore and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shelf than ordinary, whilst the great Ocean of Truth lay all undiscovered before me." Vast progress has been made since Newton conceived of the existence of invariable natural laws, yet today the student realizes, with even deeper humility, that the "Ocean of Truth" remains obscured by the fog of our comparative ignorance. Occasionally we obtain a glimpse of small tracts of water, but we know that the truth yet to be discovered so far exceeds that which we now have, that comparisons are useless. We are, however, stimulated to greater efforts, insp~redby the possibilities which a chance discovely may have; we know that law is the supreme gospel of this universe and of all universes; we seek to understand those laws in order that we may realize the significance and the underlyipg harmony of the world in which we live, "to the end that all undertakings may be better ordered, all lives enriched, all spirits fortified."
Weight of Chemicals. Recent correspondence hetween a research laboratory and one of the American agents for Kahlbaum's reagent chemicals has brought out the interesting statement that those who purchase these imported chemicals are expected t o accept them in the condition in which they are shipped from abroad. This means that, irrespective of the weights stated on the package, the quantities actually delivered. must be considered satisfactory by the purchaser. On three items the following data were sccured: isobutyl alcohol, labeled and charged 500 grams, received 489 grams; normal propyl bromide, labeled and charged 5 tubes, 25 grams each, found to contain, respectively, 24.3, 21.6, 23.4, 24.9, and 23.2 grams. With many items, especially of volatile materials, such as alkyl halides, some losses may be expected, but when a shortage of an expensive material reaches 15 per cent it would seem to be a matter worthy of adjustment. It appears, however, that purchasers are expected t o accept packages, and not actual weights, although they are charged by weight. They should bear this in mind when purchasing Kahlbaum's neagents.-N~J Ed., I d Eng. Chen., 7, No. 11, 8 (June 10. 1929).
