VOL. 8. NO. 5
CHEMISTRY T E X T OF 1830
901
ine, and one atom of hydrogen. Dr. Ure would have it a principle or element. These discrepancies may be accounted for, says Professor Porter, because "fluoric acid is such a disagreeable subject to meddle with that chemists are not fond of making experiments upon it." Ammonia has escaped very well the mania for changing names.
In this instance and many others, we may picture Professor Porter and Mr. Gray standing firm champions of the old order. Does Porter's comment on ammonia imply that he himself was beginning to give up hope of holding out against the new? Almost every page throws interesting light on the status of the chemical arts and theories of the age. Taking the book as a whole one is impressed with the remarkable progress which chemistry has made this past century, noticeably in chemical theory and in the vast increase in the variety of industrial chemical activities. Many of the processes in use today, however, are essentially the same as they were in 1830 and one is moved to admire the skill of those pioneers in industrial chemistry who accomplished so much with the limited resources available. Literature Cited (1) S M I T IEDGAR ~, FAHS, "Old Chemistries." McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York City, 1927. (2) See reference ( I ) , p. 74. ~ ,L.. "Rlements of Chemistry." Hartford, Conn.. 1831. ( 3 ) C o ~ s r o cJ.
What Is a Teacher? I t is impossible to computc the total numher of teachers or schools in the United States, because of the lack of agreement among statisticians as to just what is a teacher, Dr. Frank M. Phillips, chief of the statistical division. U. S. Employees' Compensation Commission, and formerly of the Office of Education, told thc American Statistical Association meeting recently in Cleveland. A teacher is a teacher, of course, but how about the principal? I n ten states he is also a teacher, according to definition; in one state he is a teacher only if he teaches half the time; another state specifies that he must teach some of the time. And then again how about the superintendent-the librarian-the nurse? There is not much agreement about these. I n four states the clerical force is included in the count of teachers. and in onc, even the janitors. There is even greater confusion over the definition of a school. "A sub-district with two eight-room school buildings would in some localities he called one school." Dr. Phillips said; "in other localities two schools, and in still others. sixteen schools." Here is the reason: "In nine states the school is defined as a classroom, including a teacher and her pupils. Two states describe the school as a unit for instruction purposes; five, as a group of grades. . Ten states refer to the schwl as a building, and six others as an organization under a single principal. Five states describe the school as a district or a sub-district."-Science Service
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