659
Jurir:, 1927
Anniversaries HKEE notable silver anniversaries have already come to us in 1927. We congratulate the American Electroclieiiiical Society, tlte American Society for Testing Rlateriali, and our contemporary, Chemical and ;Mettcllurgical Engineering, on rounding out a quarter of a century of very useful service. The societies celebrate with special meetings, while Chemical and Mettcllurgical Engineering has already isbued its special anniversary number. T o some, including uur friends abroad, twenty-five years seem3 altogether too brief a time to deserve special notice but the records of the past quarter-century show that in a country so young as ours there has been much accomplished that is an inspiration for future growth and stimulation for continued development.
Lower Cost Arsenate N 3 interesting result of investigations made by the Chemical Warfare Service looking to tht: better control of the cotton boll weevil, the preliminary report of which we present in this issue, has been the development of a proce5s which promises calcium arsenate in acceptable physical form a t lower costs. The extent to which the cotton farmer can employ calcium arsenate is determined by the price of cotton and its relation to the price of this chemical compound. While both prices fluctuate between wide limits, it is obvious that a uniformly low-priced arsenate would encourage its more frequent and extensive use, thereby affording a more complete control of the boll weevil and consequent lower production costs for the cotton farmer. The perfection of the proce-s is another indication of the peacetime utility of the Service. The careful consideration of its work ill this field is recornmended to all interested in the insecticide and fungicide question.
Youth No Handicap HOUSASDS of young men and women w l l w o n lea\c our colleges and universities to find their places i n our economic structure. Some may feel bewildered when the!. consider what has been accomplished and have impressed upon them the seriousness of living and pursuing their work without the protection of student days. Few of us r e d i a how much good work has been done by young men. It is to emphasize this that we pass along a note taken from ?’he Oil Can: Martin Luther was twenty-nine when he wrote the manifesto t h a t led t o the Reformation. John Calvin was twenty-six when he urote “The Institutes of Theology.” Patrick Henry was twenty-seven when he made his speech against the Stamp Act. Thomas Jefferson was thirty-three when he drafted the Declaration of Independence. Alexander Hamilton was aide-de-camp of Washington a t twenty, and a t thirty-two first Secretary of the Treasury. Sapoleon was twenty-seven when he was appointed to the command of the Army of Italy, and thirty-five when he crowned himself Emperor of the French. Alexander had conquered the known world and was dead a t thirty. Charlemagne was master of France and Germany at thirty. James Fox was Lord of the Admiralty and a thorn in the side of George I11 a t twenty-one. William Pitt became Chancellor of the Exchequer a t twentythree, and Prime Minister a t twenty-four. Charles Dickens was twenty-four when he began “Pickwick Papers” and twenty-five when he wrote “Oliver Twist.” Poe was doing some of his best work at twenty-five. Balzac wrote seventy-nine novels between the ages of thirty and forty-three. James Bryce had written “The Holy Roman Empire” a t twenty-six.
Benjamin Franklin had written “Poor Richard’s Alinanac” a t the same age. David Hume a t twenty-six had shocked all Christendom with his highly heretical “Treatise on Human Nature.” Ruskin wrote “Modern Painters” at twenty-four. Stevenson had completed “Treasure Island” a t thirty-three. Keats, Shelley, and Byron were dead a t twenty-five, thirty, and thirty-six, respectively. Sheridan wrote “The School for Scandal” a t twenty-seven. Shakespeare had completed ten of his greatest plays a t thirtytwo, Newton formulated the law of gravitation a t twenty-four. McCormick and Westinghouse were twenty-three when they invented the reaper and airbrake. Michelangelo did his statue of David a t twenty-six.
The list does not pretend to be complete. You can add your own heroes and heroines. Also, if you care to take the time, you mill find an equally imposing list of men who did their best work after forty. The moral is, “There is no dead line on achievement, but it pays to start young.”
In the American Manner LR contemporary, Chemistry anrl Industry, the official publicat’ion of the Society of Chemical Industry, has paid us the compliment of commenting edit,orially upon the Institute of Chemistry of the AMERICAX CHEMICAL SOCIETY, which holds its initial session a t Stat’eCollege, Pa., beginning July 5 . How we wish our British cousins in considerable numbers might find it possible to join us a t State College! They would see a demonstration of horn American chemists utilize such occasions t o further projects similar to those n-hich engage their attention a t home. If, a t times, progress has seemed slow we believe one cause to be the comparatively limited and often strictly selective acquaintance of t’he average British chemist with his fellows. Kot so long ago it was our privilege and pleasure to journey to the Pacific and return with a group of eminent British scientists, including some thirty chemists. We secured a list and set, out t o learn more of the activities and affiliations of these visitors. We began our inquiry by approaching a few of those chemists whom we had previously met. Imagine our astonishment upon finding that these chemists from * overseas not only did not know each other but saw no particular reason why they should. These men had had the enterprise to journey from Great Britain; they had come on the same vessel; they had spent nearly two weeks together in Canada and were now sebting out on a round trip journey across the American continent; and still they were uiiacquainted. It was a new experience t o see two fellow scientists dining a t the same small table in the diner of the special train quite in silence because they had nerer been introduced. And there were similar occasions quite beyond the understanding of the few Americans on the trip, to whoin we believe some credit is due for the change in attitude of many individuals before the end of the journey. I n consequence they not only took home some new acquaintances but left many lifelong friends in America. X o w if me could have a few of our 13ritish friends a t State College, we would shorn them that a holiday and the science of chemistry can be admixed without detriment t o either. They mould find in the relaxation and informal discussions a t the Institute of Chemist’ry many opport’unities to ripen acquaintanceship into friendship and to further that type of wholesome cooperation and delightfully informal contacts which, in a very large degree, have been responsible for such progress as has been made, not only by the AMERICAN CHEUICAL SOCIETY,but by the American chemical industry and, indeed, by chemistry itself. If adoptcd as :L British policy, d o can tell but that Chemistry House and a united association of all British chemists might not automatically follow?
