T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y
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and it may safeIy be assumed that among them there ate many that would be found to have valuable medicinal properties. It was, for example, recently observed by the writer that a plant which is very abundant in the southern states contains a large proportion of an alkaloid, the composition and properties of which are still undetermined, and many others of a similar or equally interesting charadter could certainly be found. Numerous plants, especially in the western flora, contain aromatic substaqces, but the composition and possible utilization of these substances, either in medicine or the arts, still remains to be ascertained. Such subjects, whether they be considered to pertain to pharmaceutical or biological chemistry or any other branch of chemical science, require for their elucidation the highest chemical training and skill, and an especially broad knowledge of the character and behavior of all classes of organic compounds. A considerable staff of experienced investigators could, therefore, be most usefully employed in such lines of work, since results would be achieved which would often be of lasting benefit to mankind. The details of organization and policjr to be pursued by the national institute which it is proposed to establish having already been entrusted to a capable committee, the writer, in concluding these brief remarks, can only express the hope that their labors may be attended with the most abundant success. PHYTOCHEMICAL LABORATORY BUREAUO F CHsMISTRY WASHINGTON, D. C. March 10, 1919
FREDERICK B. POWER
CHEMICAL RESEARCH IN THE VARIOUS COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD I n normal times the amount of chemical research in the various countries can be gauged with considerable accuracy by the number of abstracts published in Chemical Abstracts of papers produced by citizens of the different nations. I n the abnormal times brought about by the great world war such figures reflect the situation with less accuracy because of the chemical research on war subjects not published and because, as it happens, it has been possible to cover the current German and Austrian chemical literature with only a fair degree of completeness. This literature has been covered pretty well, however, so that the figures, though a few per cent low as regards Germany and Austria, tell a story that is really not far from the truth and one that is of a good deal o€ significance COUNTRIES United States. Great Britain.. France. Germany. Austria. Italy.. Russia. Ilolland Norway.. Sweden. Switzerland. Belgium. Japan.. Spain.. Denmark. Argentina. .........
-Number of Abstracts1913 1917 1918 4136 3940 4602 2741 1560 1531(b) 2481 794 841 1258 6539 2065 539 112 95 286 905 305 67 474 264 328 276 326 22 15 19 110 36 64 129 114 226 2 185 254 71b) 166 17 34 26 17 41 20 49 Not Not counted counted 52 89 42
...... ..... ............ ........... ........... ............. ............ ............ .......... ........... ........ ........... ............
............ ..........
...- - ...........
Other Countries..
---Per cent of Total1913 1917 1918 21.1 43.9 45.4 14.9 16.8 14.7 7.6 9.2 13.3 19.7 13.8 34.9 1.1 2.9 1 .o 2.9 4.9 3.1 2.5 2.5 0.7 2.6 3.6 1.8 0.08 0.24 0.18 0.58 0.40 0.62 1.42 1.21 1.08 0.99 0.02 0.06 1.58 0.38 2.78 0.18 0.19 0.24 0.19 0.19 0.21 0.54
0.27
0.84
0.46
TOTAL 18,681 10,483 9,108 a) The Japanese chemical literature was not covered completely prevfous to 1918 (b) Of these’ 147 appeared in Canadian publications.
The figures for 1918 in the accompanying table are new. Those for 1913,the last year not affected by the war, and for 1917, have already been published and discussed,’ but are furnished again for ready comparison. It will be noted that the number of chemical papers published in the United States in 1
Tars JOURNAL, 10 (1918), 236.
Vol.
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1918 is smaller by a bit less than five hundred than in 1917, but that the per cent of the total is up a little. It is interesting to specdate on the margin by which the United States will maintaih its lead. E. J. CRANE OHIO STATE UNXVERSITV COLUMBUS, ORIO February 4. 1919
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BACK TO THE COLLEGES AND UNNERSITIES Editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: Your editorial in the February‘issue of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry entitled “Back t o the Colleges and Universities” agrees so completely with my own views that I appreciate the oppbrtiinity to lend emphasis to the good advice you are giving to our young men. Even before the war there was a very serious shortage of highly trained chemists in the United States and now, since the industries and the rapid expansion of research institutes and laboratories have absorbed such men much faster than they have been supplied, the shortage is a source of very grave concern to such as look ahead in considering the welfare of our country in the industries, in educational fields, and in other branches of research. Our young men should understand that there is for the moment an ample supply, indeed an excess, of the half-finished product, the college graduate, with which the country has in large measure contented itself in the past and that what our country needs most emphatically, if it is to stand any chance of competition with European industry and science, is an ample supply of the finished product, the university Ph.D., or the equivalent of the graduate technical school. Broad training and mastery of the resources in research, in organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry, is represented by the graduate degree and this it is that lends its vital value to the degree. What patient would care to lend himself knowingly to treatment by a physician who had completed only half of the highly developed training which is now required for the M.D. degree in order to make the physician of to-day familiar with all the resources of modern medicine? In the same way our research laboratories and industries have realized to their own great advantage the value of the completely trained chemist. For that reason my own advice to able young men returning from service has been to return to their studies to complete their training-for their own good and for the good of the country. Men showing no decided promise in chemistry are advised to drop the science and turn to some field better qualified to bring out the best that is in them. This advice tallies, I believe, exactly with your own views. UNIVERSITY O F CHICAQO CHICAGO, ILLINOIS February 17, 1919
JULIUS
ST~EGLITZ
TEACHING FELLOWSHIPS IN CHEMISTRY AT THROOP COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY Upon the recommendation of its Director of Chemical Research, Throop College of Technology has established six Teaching Fellowships in Chemistry carrying an annual stipend of $750 each, in addition to free tuition. The primary object of these fellowships is to give to a group of well-qualified men a training in chemical research which will prepare them for the many important positions in scientific and industrial research laboratories and in the development departments of American chemical industries. The Fellows will devote not more than twelve hours a week to instruction work of a character that will afford them useful experience. The remainder of their time will be available for research and advanced study leading to the higher degrees.
