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IAVDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERIlYG C H E M I S T R Y
VOl. 22. No. 4
professions and the laboratories of colleges and industrial to many of our members and authors. It will rob any concerns. necessary delay in final publication of such disadvantages as Continuation of this democratic form of pharmacopeial may have existed heretofore, and should tend toward inrevision carries with it a great responsibility on the part of creased care in the preparation of the final expanded articles. the revisers. They must take steps to assure confidence on This, in turn, will make not only for better writing but for a the part of all in the scientific accuracy and the integrity of conservation of precious space. We regard it as a distinct the standards devised. They must be sure that the sub- advance which will be welcome to all those who contemplate committee on scope, which recommends the addition of new the use of the facilities offered by the AhfERICAN CHEMICAL drugs and medicines and the deletion of obsolete or obsolescent SOCIETYfor the wide dissemination, in permanent form, of items, bases its judgment on facts and not on opinions. A scientific announcements and discussions. liberal attitude toward the problem of what shall be included in a work of this character seems preferable to a narrow viewpoint. Medicine is not yet an exact science. It is more important that rigid standards of purity shall be prescribed E HAVE lost from our ranks a founder, honorary for a drug whose therapeutic value may be a matter of contropast president, and outstanding leader in the versy than that it be omitted from the book and no standards wmember, promulgated merely because some physicians doubt its value. field of American chemical industry-William H. XicholsThose who do not believe the drug t o be useful need not pre- who died in Honolulu February 21 in his seventy-eighth year. scribe it, but for those who do believe it to have value the Not only was he a pioneer in American chemical industry, but he rontinued active throughout his life and lived to see protection of a pharmacopeial standard is all-important. Research would appear t o be an indispensable phase of the enterprises with which he was identified reach international work of revision. Changes in standards, admissions, and de- importance. He received many honors and performed many letions should be based on demonstrable evidence. If such important tasks. He carried great burdens and discharged does not exist, it should be the duty of the revision committee grave responsibilities, yet he never lost his human interests. to provide it. A perusal of the standards given in the U. S. P. He frequently recounted in an entertaining way the incidents for many chemicals and drugs indicates considerable room for of his early career and the difficulties overcome when indusimprovement. We are sure the revision committee will study trial chemistry and chemical engineering were little known such cases carefully and bring the standards into line with in our country, and described in a delightful manner the modern advances in analytical chemistry and pharmacology, experiences which come to those who have lived a long and busy life in intensive work. which have been marked during the past decade. Doctor Nichols was identified with education, was a great benefactor of Kew York University, was interested in the work and program of the AMERICANCHEMICAL SOCIETY, H E number of acceptable manuscripts submitted for and in The Chemists’ Club. In his bequests he remembered publication in the Journal of the American Chemical a number of institutions and associates. Fifty thousand Society during the past year has been greater than could be dollars has been provided for the work of the AMERICAN SOCJETY, and our membership is grateful that he printed with the funds afforded by our budget. There has CHEMICAL been, therefore, a considerable accumulation of material and should thus have confirmed his often expressed belief in the undertakings. a consequent delay in publication. Thanks to the additional importance of the SOCIETY’S funds generously provided by the Chemical Foundation, this accumulation is now being rapidly reduced. There are, nevertheless, certain other delays in publication, even when no excess material is on hand; such, for instance, OR seven weeks we have been in the field, visiting local as are involved in the editorial examination of manuscripts, Fsections, educational institutions, manufacturing estabthe typesetting, the proofreading by the often distant author, lishments, and meeting a number of business organizaand the final printing and binding. These normal delays are tions. A few impressions may be recorded here, together doubtless of no importance in the case of most manuscripts with appreciation for the courteous reception everywhere sent to The Journal. Occasionally, however, contributors and the efforts to make our visits as profitable as possible to wish to bring promptly to the attention of our readers impor- us. tant new discoveries or novel results. The injunction to do the best you can with what you have To meet this need for special promptness, we now offer to wherever you are seemed to us to be generally followed. publish short manuscripts of not over 500 words without cer- We have yet to visit a laboratory where there was no need tain of these delays-namely, a t the sole discretion of the for additional personnel and equipment, but that undoubtedly Editor-without submitting them to associate editors or refer- typifies active laboratories everywhere. When one reaches ees, or proofs to authors for their approval. These manu- the point where nothing more is needed, i t will no doubt scripts may be sent as letters or as communications to the soon be closing time. We were also impressed with the Editor. Their publication will not estop the subsequent pub- loyalty to the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETYand its work. lication by the authors of the complete and definitive manu- One chamber of commerce slogan appealed to us as applicable script describing the same subject matter. in our SOCIETY work. It read: “Loyalty to your city costs ARTHUR B. LAMB nothing and yields vast returns. Think about it.” There Although for the most part notes to establish priority of are very few who fail to appreciate the place of our SOCIETY industrial research are more frequently submitted first to in America’s scientific and industrial progress, but neverthethe Patent Office rather than to a technical publication, less this sentiment can be kept before us to advantage. We were convinced of the great desirability of aiding local nevertheless INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY has always been glad to consider such notes for immediate pub- sections, particularly in two ways. We believe i t t o be the lication. We are pleased to confirm this phase of our policy. duty of those who travel extensively to let their plans be The availability of space to publicize immediately such known, that local sections may have an opportunity to statements as Editor Lamb describes will be most welcome arrange meetings to hear them. Groups have been known to
William H. Nichols
J. A. C. S. Extends Policy
Travel Observations
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