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INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
opportunity, bills are killed to ease the legislative pressure and, in the end, a great deal that is pressing is left undone. The plan to retire those defeated for reelection a t an earlier date and to have their successors assume their duties more promptly was one of the constructive measures lost in the shuffle. Is there not a way to make Congress in fact what it often has been called--“the greatest deliberative body in the world?”
The Reward of Genius I N an address before the British Science Guild, Sir Ronald Ross made the plain statement that Britain is throwing her genius on the dustheap. To prove his statement he cited the treatment accorded the man “who saved countless lives in India by discovering methods of inoculation against cholera and plague,” and extends his indictment to America by recalling that Walter Reed, who wrote his name high in the records of science by his work in yellow fever, was rewarded by assignment to a position with an inadequate salary. There are various ways of rewarding genius. Many a man has been satisfied with the special recognition accorded by those governments which dispense titles and other extraordinary honors. Membership in certain learned societies is a mark of appreciation. Some men have been called to high positions as a reward for their work. Medals, cash prizes, and similar rewards have a very important place, but it seems to us that nothing could be more satisfactory to the average man of science than to have as his reward the establishment of conditions under which he could do that which he is best qualified to do, and which he enjoys doing. We believe that in many educational institutions the man who has made a brilliant record in research or who has proved himself to be a teacher of rare inspiration has too often been promoted to an executive position with a high-sounding title. It should be possible to develop men for these executive positions, men who can neither engage upon research nor a career of teaching with the same success as their fellows. Probably finance has been the chief obstacle in carrying out such a plan. If so, it offers another reason for constantly increasing the endowment for the support of the faculties in our educational institutions.
Vol. 15, No. 4
Monthly Dye Statistics E wish to congratulate the Department of Commerce on the publication of its new monthly bulletin in cooperation with the United States Tariff Commission. This is the first step that has been taken to furnish detailed information about chemical imports. The new bulletin gives statistics of dyes imported for consumption through the Port of New York, and shows the Schultz number, the name of the dye, the manufacturer, the quantity in pounds, the percentage by country of origin, and, where publishable, an invoice value. This information will reach our own manufacturers promptly, will be of immediate benefit to any who contemplate developing a new line of products, and will assist our dye-makers in meeting the demands of American consumers. It is a service which will be greatly appreciated and which can be made still more beneficial when it is extended to include all synthetic organic chemicals. We need to know as much as possible concerning fine organic chemicals, medicinals, synthetic flavoring compounds, photographic chemicals, synthetic aromatics, synthetic tanning materials, and all the host that owe their origin to the chemical laboratory and plant. The bulletin is an innovation in government statistical service, not only in the information conveyed, but in the unusual. promptness with which it is made available. We hope the Department of Commerce in cooperation with the Tariff Commission may speedily find a way to enlarge the scope of this bulletin to include a t least all lines of synthetic organic chemicals.
American Degrees for Sale N numerous occasions attention has been called to the efforts made in foreign countries to interest those unfamiliar with the status of American universities in the purchase of degrees. We again refer to this matter in the hope that we may protect some one who might otherwise be misled. We regret that on this occasion we must refer to the following advertisement carried by the Chemical News on advertising page 3 of the issue of January 26, 1923:
International Critical Tables
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY DEGREES(Statutory)-B.A., B.Sc., D.Sc., and B.Comm., obtained by Thesis written a t Home. Send self-addressed, stamped envelope to Lawrence (Ch.), 16, Dement Street, Leigh, Lancs.
OR some time the compilation of the International Critical Tables, sponsored by the National Research Council and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, has been under way. It is an undertaking with which chemists should be in close touch, especially now that an editorial staff is rapidly developing the work and beginning its cooperative activities. Announcement was recently made of some topics for research which were suggested as a result of preliminary work, and a tentative list of nearly three hundred topics is now available. In addition, there will be detailed computation tables and other material yet to be selected. Physical and chemical constants are a necessity in research and applied science. We have an opportunity through these International Critical Tables to obtain a comprehensive work international in scope, yet compiled primarily from the viewpoint of American needs. It is very important that chemists establish contact with the editors, make suggestions and contributions, and thus take some part in the completion of the task.
We are greatly surprised that a publication of the standing which the Chemical News has enjoyed should accept an advertisement of this character. It should go without saying that no reputable educational institution in America or elsewhere offers its degrees for sale. It is this fact, among others, which makes it difficult to stop the activities of organizations which endeavor to prosper by this disreputable brokerage business. It is necessary to prove that a fraud has been perpetrated. Those who realize that they have been duped hesitate to give evidence and, since it is well known that degrees are not for sale, it is hard to show that the purchaser a t the time of purchase really believed that he was getting a bona fide degree. We do not know who is responsible for this advertisement, but there is a group operating which so far has not been reached because of several technicalities, although the case has been before several government departments. We call upon the Chemical News and other scientific and technical publications to assist us in placing this matter properly before all classes of scientific readers.
