A P . , 1914
T H E J O U R N A L O F I r I T D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G CHE.VISTRI’
inforce a diet poor in flesh food,” yet he says further “we arc inclined to believe t h a t the maximum amount of cottonseed meal which should enter into t h e diet is two t o three ounces per d a y ; t h a t the conditions under which such a diet may prove injurious must be established. . . . . . . . . . , . and t h a t only experience and experiments can tell us the part which cottonseed flour should play in nutrition and under what conditions i t may prove unwholesome:“ The writer has eaten for some time in his own home cakes and bread of various kinds containing a portion of cottonseed flour without experiencing any ill effects from its use.
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It should be said, however, t h a t while therc arc no reported cases of injury from the use of the meal as a food for man, it is possible and indeed quite probable t h a t this is due to its so far limited use for this purpose. The assumption of its unwholesomeness for man naturally grows out of the well known injurious effects which it produces when fed t o stock. Investigations are now under way t o ascertain the true nature of cottonseed meal toxicity. If this can be done, cottonseed meal or flour may be given to the world as a new and exceedingly inexpensive food with a n almost unlimited source. C H E M I S T R Y LABOR.4TORY. GEORGIA EXPERIMENT STATIOX
WILLIAM H. NICHOLS MEDAL AWARD The Nichols Medal was conferred upon Professor AI. Gomberg, of the University of Michigan, in recognition of his distinguished researches on triphenylmethyl and its analogues. The medal meeting was held in Rumford Hall, The Chemists’ Club Auditorium, on Friday evening, March 6, 1914, with n r . ,411en Rogers, Vice-president of the Section, in the chair. The presentation address was made by Dr. Bernhard C. Hesse. Professor Gomberg, in acknowledgment of the medal, presented a n address on “ T h e Existence of Free Radicals,” in which he gave the first complete review of his eighteen years’ investigations and drew his conclusions based upon the results of his work. A large number of papers representing the stages of these investigations’have been published in the Journal of the Society, and a complete review of the work t o date is now in course of preparation. Professor Gomberg has prepared a n abstract of his address which is published below, together with the presentation address by Dr. H e s s e . - - . [ E ~ ~ ~ o ~ j _ _ ~
PRESENTATION ADDRESS By BERNHARD C. HEW$
T h e purpose of this meeting of the New York Section of the American Chemical Society, is to present the William H . Sichols Medal t o the author of what has been determined by the Jury of the U’illiap H. hTichols Medal, to be the best original paper contained in the publications of the American Chemical Society during the year 1 9 1 3 . The purpose of the William H . h’ichols medal is the stimulation of research in chemistry. Research has latterly become a topic with which to conjure. I t is regarded by many as a panacea for the disabilities of chemistry, applied and pure. Yet there is no magic in research; no marvels arc performed by it. Y o u get out of research precisely what you put into it. You no more get something for nothing in research than in any other effort. There is, however, a divergence of opinion is to what does constitute research. As I view it, research is the orderly, systematic development of and addition t o science; science is nothing more nor less than the orderly, systematic and coordinated record of human experience. Purely accidental or random addition t o our knowledge without causal connection with what precedes and with what follows, however valuable or beneficial the addition may itself be, is not research. Yet, tesearch is not wholly independent of accident nor of chance; the systematic, orderly and planned exploitation of t h a t which chance or accident may have thrown into the path of him who is engaged in research, together with the carrying out of the original plan brings research t o its highest state of efficiency and t o its ample justification. Chance, without system, leads to chaos. System, even without chance, leads t o an orderly and coordinated statement of what we know and of what we know not to be. A-egative information, if true, has the same value as positive information. 1
Chairman h7ew York Section of the Smerican Chemical Society.
H e who engages in research must have not only a working knowledge of what has gone before, but also :L norking know1 edge of all the tools a t his disposal; he must have a creative imagination, so that he may set himself the problem and for? cast with greater or less certainty that which may hr espccted; hc must be prepared t o deal with and to recognize the i i i i e x pected or unforeseen; he must have within himsclf ii sterlinfi quality of rigid self-analysis and a stern judgment of that which is of his own creation. Without a creatil-e imagination, balanced by a knowledge of the uncertainties of hypothesis and of theory and without balance by a knowledge and an appreciation of the imperfections of all human effort, he who engages in research is led into the highways and by-ways of confusion. Research information which is incorrect or confusing and work that leads to it are worse than useless, and he who knowingly produces such results is false not only to hiinself but to the hest and highest traditions and aims of research. Thosc who engage in research must have a thorough and an ahiding desire for truth a t all costs and must ha satisfied with nothing as trur which has not been demonstrated to he true by evc’rg test that can he reasonably applied. The more fundamental the nature of that which is believed to be new, the greater the necessity and responsibility for rigid scrutiny and inquiry as to its accuracy. Power of observation without the ability or without the quality of character to scrutinize and test the results of observation as to accuracy and certainty, is useless in research. Successful research requires a happy blending of many of the qualities of those who have explored and made our earth habitable, namely, daring, tempered with caution, and imagination, balanced by judgment. Those acquainted with the published wm!i of Professor Gomberg, our guest of honor this evening, recognize that his work fulfills and typifies the highest ideals of research. Starting out to obtain a n answer t o a definite problem in a carefully planned and definite way he came across something new, unexpected and unusual. His patient, laborious and ingenious examination of this led to the work which has consumed much of his time and effort for the past eighteen years and has given t o chemistry a new class of substances---triphen4-lmethyl a n d its derivatives. Professor Gomberg, it is my privilege as Chairmzti of t h e X e w York Section of the American Chemical Society now to place in your hands this, the tenth gold impression of the IVilliam H. Sichols Medal RS a token of the appreciation and esteem in which we hold your work as a chemist and the encouraging example you h a r e thereby given for all who engage in research.
THE EXISTENCE OF FREE RADICALS By It,GOMBERG
From the time when Kekule and Franchimont first prepared triphenylmethane, numerous attempts were made t o prepare the analogous compound tetraphenylmethane, but seemingly without succesj. The assumption \vas made that this substance
