August, :I923
INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEiWISTRY
863
AMERICAN CONTEMPORARIES Alfred Springer Although I have known Springer since 1884, he has succeeded in c o n c e a h g some of his good deeds from me until recently when I have had reason t o look them up. W e met yearly a t the midsummer meetings of the A. A. A. S. H e and Wiley and Munroe were leaders of the work and fun. Much of the fun developed in Section Q and was not mentioned in the program. There was a new quantum of stories every year. T h e membership was not limited t o the chemists, a n d among attendants from other sections I can remember Alvin Clark and Brashear and onearmed Major Powell. Springer and Wiley were full of mischief all through the meetings. I can recall many pranks they played. Most of these were known only t o the &lite,who enjoyed them the more. They were pure fun and left no sting. We were few in number and well acqiiainted. We hailed one another with delight and said good-bye with regret. Evening sessions were few and so there was plenty of time for fun, for we spent a week ALFRED together. Each one had his pet enthusiasm. Springer had a n aluminium violin, equal or superior t o any Stradivarius, with which he proceeded t o complete our musical discrimination. At another session he lectured t o us learnedly on the theory of the balance, and trotted oiit his own, which was modestly named the ‘Torsion” balance, and was and is a truly remarkable instrument. On another occasion he told us about fermentation without nitrogen, which anticipated the discoveries of Hellriegel and Wilfarth I gathered the impression then, which I have never lost, t h a t his scieniific attainments were of the first order. This was also the opinion of a kind lady who listened t o his inaugural address as vice president of Section C. She came forward,
.
shook his hand, and said: “Dr. Springer, I did so enjoy your address, it was so simple.” H e enjoyed telling this story. John Uri Lloyd tells me t h a t Springer was the man who was most responsible for t h e birth and subsequent activity of t h e Cincinnati Chemical Societv. a forerunner of t h e AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY.The first meeting was held at his house, the second over the drug store of a Mr. Rheum. F. W. Clarke, then at the University of Cincinnati, and later T. H. Norton were also active. Dr. Springer became a resident of Norwood, five miles from Cincinnati, of which i t now forms a part, and has been a n active public-spirited citizen, conniving at the establishment of water works, gas works, sewers, and other public utilities. Wiley says t h a t “Alfred knows more about the essences, ethers, esters, aldehydes, and acids, which are used by the rectifiers t o make crooked whisky, than anybody else in the country except myself. His firm has always been manufacturers of complete outfits of artificial2 for the rectifier. I imagine he is now in cahoot with the bootleggers.” Alexander Fries & Brother SPRINGER were his uncles, and he has now become sole proprietor of these large - works. - Dr. Springes is of German descent and his daughter married a German naval officer several years before the war began. This placed him in a cruel position, in which he sustained himselE to the satisfaction of his friends. Wiley says, further : “I have been with him in all kinds of companies and celebrations; I have heard him speak on hundreds of different subjects, and I never heard him say a mean or disrespectful thing about anybody, not even his intimate friends.” Neither have I. He is a credit t o his profession and to his race. I feel certain t h a t in this brief sketch many things have been omitted which should be told. They are omitted because they are known only t o himself. EDWARD HART
Honorary Degrees Conferred at Cambridge A t t h e meeting of t h e Union Internationale and of the Society of Chemical Industry a t Cambridge on Wednesday, June 20, the vice chancellor, preceded by t h e Mr. Bedells and followed by the university marshal, headed a procession clad in scarlet and othei gay colors t o t h e Senate House. Degrees of Doctor of Science (honoris c a u p ) were conferred upon seven eminent professors of chemistry with due solemnity. There is a calm dignity about such proceedings which appears t o be a survival from a period when trains and telephones did not exist and time was ampler t h a n now. The public orator, Dr. Glover, made a short specch in Latin and introduced t o t h e vice chancellor t h e new doctors with seemly observations in Latin, of which the following is a rather crude paraphrase or summary: First, I present t o you Albin Haller. Whatever is done in science in France they discuss in his Academie des Sciences ; in t h a t society are gathered all those who pursue such studies; over this assembly each year some renowned man presides. As he is worthy of such a distinction we to-day honor him and ourselves. Wilder Dwight Bancroft follows, our colleague in study and of our own kin, who, a second Ulysses, skilled in many things, adorns a new Ithaca with modern science. Next
comes Ernest Julius Cohen from Holland, whose intellect, like t h a t of Ovid, compels him t o tell of t h e changed forms of new compounds. Another Frenchman follows, a professor in the Collsge de France at Paris, Charles Moureu, one who by no means despises the most minute of substances but keenly investigates their ways. To-day, while far-off Etna thunders with dreadful destruction we greet with special fervor a n Italian, Rafael Nasini, whom the Etruscan city, Pisa, well known t o Virgil, has sent t o us. H e has chosen for study the volcanic vapors which are poured from the bowels of the earth towards t h e heavens and Albunea exhaling its dense gas. Now a Swiss approaches, the senior professor of the University of Geneva, Amatus Pictet, who has searched out the very foundations of matter, investigating the facts of the most rarefied vacuum. Kext comes a professor from t h e Academy of Ghent, whose work there are many here present capable of explaining more fluently than I can; i t is agreed by all who are engaged in t h a t branch of knowledge t h a t none excels Frederic Swartz. Blessed is t h a t man who knows the causes of things. The fates do not give everything t o all men; I was born in Arcadia, a n unworthy student of the ancient Muses, happy t o officiate in my little temple, You, who have done such great deeds, forgive me if, ignorant of the various languages you speak, I bid you all welcome in Latin.-[Chem. Ind., 42, 645 (1923)l
