New-York tribune. [volume], January 06, 1901, Page 6, Image 20

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6
developed almost entirely In the latter half of
the nineteenth century. In this movement the
United States has been the acknowledged leader.
Economy early dictated the obvious necessity
for co-education in the primary schools, and the
came cause, combined with a bent toward social
experimentation, led to an extension of the sys
tem In many of our public and denominational
secondary schools. Both in the United States
and In England the Influence of the Wesleyans.
or Methodists, save an impetus to the higher
Education of women ; and it is asserted that
the first degrees in arts conferred upon women
¦were granted in 1840 by a Methodist college in
Georgia. The foundation of Mount Holyoke, in
1836, first secured for girls secondary instruc
tion of a sterling quality, and paved the way
for the multiplication of colleges of the highest
grade exclusively for women. Of these there
are fully a score to-day in the United States.
Many of the newer colleges in the West and
South grew up under a regime of co-education,
while the growth of women's colleges In the
East, affiliated with some of the older collegiate
foundations, has provided for women generally.
Instruction of th 3 same type as prevails in the
older institutions for men. Much the same
progress has been made in England, although
the colleges for women in Oxford and Cambridge
are not acc3unt?d integral parts of the re- j
spective universities; nor are their students ad
mitted to the regular degrees. The other Eng
lish universities, as well v thos» of Scotland
admit women to their degrees, and the profes
sional schools both in England and the United
States have very generally opened their doors
to women. Curiously enough, on the Continent,
outside of Switzerland, the provision for su
perior education for women is still meagre. In
France the comparatively recent inauguration of
lycees for girls accounts for the small number
of women applicants for higher degrees, though
the professional schools of the French univer
sities are open to women. Germany is most
backward of all civilized nations in this matter,
anJ seeks to hedge about with endless and irri
tating restrictions the matriculation of women in
the German universities.
Vo account of the spread of educational agen
cies during the century would be complete
without mention of— even though it be but a
passing reference— of a voluntary order.
The old fashioned lyceum, the Cheutauqua or
ganisations, the various summer schools, the
University Extension movement, and, most im
portant of all. the multiplication and growth of
public and private libraries, illustrate this phase
of the century's broadening educational fran
chise.
THE UTILITARIAN IDEAL.
The nineteenth century's trend toward democ
racy is evidenced in the domain of education, in
.the instruction of masses previously unenlight
ened, and in the enriched culture of those who
hitherto had only a slender training, or were
supposed Incapable of any education at all. But
the century has been marked not only by its
democratic trend, but equally by Its advance
in physical science and the dependent arts. How
has this advance been reflected in the educa
tional life? Mainly in two ways— the rapid
growth of a utilitarian ideal of education, and
by various provisions to realize that end through
technical institutions.
If Germany is entitled to the credit of insti
tuting the great reforms in popular education,
the palm In the matter of first establishing and
perfecting technical instruction must be awarded
to France. Sporadic instances there were or
various training schools for particular trades
and crafts prior to the nineteenth century. But
these can lay no very valid claim to being the
lineal precursors of the innumerable institutions
which have set before them as their goal the
fitting of their pupils for commercial life or for
the practice of the mechanic arts or scientific
agriculture. The superiority of the French tech
nical schools, both of a higher and lower grade.
"became apparent largely through international
exhibitions, which date from about 1859. Ger
many was not slow to recognize the fact, and
sought to rival her western neighbors. The
movement gathered rapidity as thi century pro
rT, Mfl i For example, there were m Germany
only forty-eight commercial institutes prior to
1571 Their number was tripled within the next
three decades. England was slow to realize her
own backwardness in this respect, and not until
about 1885 was the nation moved to any very
sertout. effort to supply its deficiencies in techni
cal educaUon: In the United States Senator
MorrlU. In 1862. secured the passage of an act
creating schools of agneultyre and the i allied
mechanic arts in every, State ot the Lnlon. The
™t of these schoolsTEas been partly a
chSrSf on the Federal revenues and partly on
revenues of the commonwealths, the first
¦;aßric"ltu?£ f college to be established being in
M AUild n to. though in theory distinct from, this
general technical trend 4s the manual training
low given in many secondary •schools. Intro
duced into the United -States; in 1876. it has
spread to a large number of schools, public
and private. In its. most Intelligent form it
seeks the education of the manual and visual
faculties "by imparting an experimental knowl
edge of the general principles underlying the
Industrial and graphic arts. The practice In
cludes the manipulation of tools and practice
to drawing. A lower form of this training seeks
to impart specific instruction in carpentry or
n*etal working, and to girls the knowledge of
sewing, housekeeping and cooking. The grow
toK severity of the international struggle for
Markets has had much to do with the diffusion
of industrial education. It is not only by con
scious national design, but in large part by
national necessity, that living nations have
been forced to adopt compulsory elementary ed
ucation. For much the same reason they are
being compelled to broaden the area of indus
• trial training.
SCIENCE RIVALS CLASSICS.
Th same set of Influences which established
•upon a lower plane the various commercial,
" trade and technical schools, and which led to
the frequent inclusion of manual training as a
part of secondary education in the United
States, has not been without marked Influence
upon the character of higher education the
world over. The advocates of the more ex
tended study of the physical sciences have chal
lenged with increasing vigor the classical pro
gramme which at the beginning of the century
• was dominant in all of the higher institutions
of learning. The classics, along with pure math
ematics, furnished the exclusive preparation
for the higher learning and a very great part
of the material of study in the universities them
selves. Not satisfied with the gradual infiltra
• tion of science into the staple of the higher
learning, the advocates of the study of science
have built up schools exclusively devoted to this
quest, In Germany the first Realschule— or sci
entific high school— dates from 1832. Since that
-time in France, in England and in the United
. States the schools of science have developed
both In an affiliated relation with the older
classical colleges and also as independent in
- su rations devoted to the higher scientific study
of technology. Very commonly the curricula of
• the scientific schools have substituted the study
¦of modern languages for the study of classical
• literature. The most recent phase of the move
ment is seen In the attempt to make the phe
• nomena of the commercial world the basis of
the same serious study as hitherto has been
accorded to the humanities and to physical
science. Schools of commercial administration
and corporate finance have recently been or
. ganized, both in England and the United States,
' upon these general lines. Their permanence as
Institutions of culture, and apart from the
; preparation they may afford for commercial
•pursuits, is not yet beyond question. On the
whole, the contest for the exclusive possession
of the field of the higher learning which has
been carried on so long and so bitterly by the
advocates of science against the defenders of
the older classical culture seems to be resolving
Itself Into a compromise which promises to se
cure to both parties a permanent territory fairly
commensurate with the cultural and disciplinary
capabilities of the two systems.
DIVERSITIES VS. COLLEGES.
The history of the higher education in the
United States in the nineteenth century stands
is a way by Itself. It has been here in a state of
transition. Only In the last quarter of a century
has th- university in this country clearly dif
ferentiated Itself from the college out of which
It has sprung. The line of demarcation is to
day fairly distinct. The function of the college
to the preservation and dissemination of general
culture and learning by means of instruction
which Is mainly disciplinary or formative. Uni
versity work proper presupposes the collegiate
training, and In essence is exploratory— the
widening of the circumference < ' knowledge. In
another Important respect also the history of
American higher atlon in the- century just
ended is unique. Both in Germany and in
Fran the curricula of the primary and the
tecondary schools had been correlated with one
another and with the work of the universities
•by the central administrative control exercised
- by the State. In this country, with He countless
educational institutions of almost every degree
• of maturity immaturity, the whole task of
differentiating between secondary and superior
?duca7ion al had to be wrought out by endless
discussion and experiment, with no possible aid
to l.c derived from any central public authority
- The ta-'k is not yet finished, but broad line* of
demarcation have been run wnich are likely to
¦ prove permanent. A few central and related
v studies taught by competent Instructors and af
fording a choice between two or three broad
programmes, classical, scientific and English,
will constitute the normal type of study In our
high schools and preparatory schools. The elec
tive principle is hardly likely to be given any
considerable scope tat the secondary schools, ex
cept as between the various courses or pro
grammes of study, and even in our colleges the
option between studies now generally granted in
the two upper years, and more sparingly in the
earlier years, will give Its best results when
confined in large measure to cognate groups of
studies, instead of aimlessly framing an ill as
sorted schedule, too often provocative at pres
ent of intellectual indigestion and ultimate men
tal dyspepsia.
The progress of the various professional
schools in the century would fill in detail a vol
ume by itself. Perhaps the most significant ad
vances in professional education are the length
ening of the required course of study; the gen
eral introduction of laboratory or other experi
mental work, as an accompaniment of the in
struction by lecture; and the growing require
ment, long ago established in Europe, for ade
quate preliminary training evidenced by a de
gree from an approved college.
EDUCATIONAL, LITERATURE.
Like all sciences of any maturity, the science
of education — what parades under the some
what grandiose title of pedagogics— has in the
nineteenth century become introspective, and
has been trying to fashion to itself some con
sistent theory of Its own nature and functions.
The literature of education has grown to vo
luminous proportions, and the dominant theory
of education is to-day the psychological. Her
bert Spencer's "Education" presents this theory
in most engaging form. Indeed Spencer's '•Edu
cation" touches the high water mark of the
century's literature of education, just as Rous
seau's "Emile" did in the century preceding.
It is questionable whether Spencer's treatise
proves to be any more of a finality than Its
famous predecessor. According to the psycho
logical theory of pedagogics, there is a normal
order in which the individual's rxwers mature.
Instruction must, therefore, be adjusted to this
order of development, and various programmes
of study have been compiled which avowedly
conform to this test, but which unfortunately do
not harmonize with each other. If we may take
Professor Munsterberg's opinion of the actual
achievements of the modern psychology, we
shall be chary of regarding the modern psycho
logical pedagogics as much more than a pre
carious scaffolding. Experience must pass final
judgment upon it, but it seems likely that it is
a vainglorious attempt to prescribe for to-mor
row by a most limited knowledge of to-day. In
deed, if we consult the history of the nineteenth
century's progress in education certain facts
stand out in a clearer and more certain light
than when viewed from a standpoint largely
hypothetical. The century's advances in educa
tion have, as a whole, been effected by move
ments in National life rather than as the out
come of pedagogic theory. The resuscitation of
Prussia after its downfall at Jena was success
fully attempted largely through popular educa
tion, but this in turn was due to the insight of a
benevolent despotism. Austria, France and
Italy afford similar instances of national reno
vation, though the motive power in France and
Italy, however, was popular and democratic.
Another truth deducible from the educational
experience of the century is the ever present
possibility of the degeneration and decay of the
best educational systems. That such was the
case between 1800 and 1830 in New-England is
proved beyond all controversy, and other in
stances of the same kind might easily be cited.
Eternal vigilance is the price of popular en
lightenment. Perhaps most dangerous of all
modern educational tendencies Is the growth of
a short sighted utilitarian Ideal, especially in
secondary and college education. In the long
run, intellectual advance is most certain when
the taproots of learning go down to the basal
Inquiries of the human spirit, furthest removed
from Immediate utility. We must "either make
the tree good, and bis fruit good; or else make
the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt: for the
tiee Is known by his fruit."
WINTHROP M. DANIELS.
THE COAL TRADE FIFTY TEARS AGO.
F. W. Saward, In The Coal Trade Journal.
According to the census of 1840 the United States
produced 863.489 gross tons of anthracite and 985.828
gross toriF of bituminous coal, a total output of
1.849,317 tons. These figures were an underestimate
due to the lack of returns from certain districts,
and the output of bituminous coal In Pennsylvania
alone Is supposed to have amounted to 1.300.000 tons
in 1852. Even then there was competition between
the relative merits of Welsh anthracite and Penn
sylvania anthracite, and a comparative test showed
that Welsh anthracite evaporated 9.263 pounds of
water from 212 degrees, while Pennsylvania evapo
rated 9.590 pounds.
At the coal pits at Chesterfield, near Richmond,
Va.. the coal trade adopted as a standard five pecks
to the bushel, while, at the terminus of the rail
road, twelve miles from the mines, another system
commenced. There, at Richmond, where the coal
was shipped, tbe orthodox bushel was four pecks.
and when the coal reached Boston or New-Tork
sales were made by the chaldron, or thirty-six
bushels, or by the so-called ton of twenty-eight
bushels. Nova Scotia coal sent into the country
was invariably sold by the chaldron, yet that
seemed to be an indefinite measure, being some
times fixed at 3.000 oounds sometimes at 2,928. but
most frequently at J. 380 pounds, or a ton and a
half, while the Custom House rules fixed the
amount at 2.880. and the retail trade sometimes sold
2,700 pounds weight and sometimes 2.500 pounds as a
chaldron. In 1792 the selling price of foreign coal at
New-Tork was fl9 a chaldron. In 1815. 120 to $23; the
next year. $12 to $15. and 1824. $10 to $11. In 1842
prices were quoted at $5 56 to $716. In 1839 the
wholesale price of anthracite coal, at Philadelphia
was $5 50 per gross ton: in 1842. $4 26; in the follow
ing year. $3 50. followed by a reduction to $3 37 the
following year and rising to $4 75 in 1854. In 1839 the
retail price in New-Tork was $8 per net ton. falling
to $5 50 in 1844 and rising to $7 in 1852. At Boston the
retail price reached $11 in 1840. fell to $6 50 in 1844
and rose again to $9 in 1854.
r\7./.'',v nu:rcr rrtau ri/?/?o.v.
A. B. Kennelly In The Electrical World and En
gineer.
The mere fact that by chemical processes we are
able to transfer at least a part of the energy of
rarbon to a different substance in chemical form
without first liberating It in heat, should encourage
the hope that we may find a means of transferring
It in some form other than chemical or thermal,
and not until we have a clear knowledge or the
mechanism Involved and a clear conception of Its
necessary limitations will that hope be destroyed
When we consider that the world's annual con
sumption of coal is roughly 500.000.000 of tons, the
enormous Importance of improving upon the means
of obtaining the energy from coal is sufficiently ap
parent. Perhaps the most important ultimately
of all problems before the human race is the dis
covery ot an available power supply when the
world's coal shall have become exhausted some
hundreds of years hence. Every waste of this sub
stance diminishes to that extent the time In which
the problem must be solved, if the future of the
race Is to be unchecked. Meanwhile, however.
there is every reason to expect that Improvements
will take place In heat engines, and there is rea
son to hope that If their improvement Is not suf
ficiently rapid, a more efficient means of utilizing
the energy may be found either Indirectly in a
voltaic cell or in some manner not at present con
ceived of.
COX SUMPTION OF MALT LIQUORS.
From The Brewers' Journal.
The official report of the Commissioner of Inter
nal Revenue shows that in the various States and
Territories of the United States In which breweries
are located during th* fiscal year ending June 30.
1300. the safes of malt liquors amounted to 39 330 849
barrels, compared with 36.551.114 barrels for the pre
ceding fiscal year, a net increase of 2.749.735 barrels
for the fiscal year ending June. 1900. With six un
important exceptions during the last and ten pre
ceding fiscal years all the States have Increased
their sales during the twelve months ending June
30. 1900. Pennsylvania carries off the honors as
far as the Increase is concerned, with 381,019 barrels
to her credit, followed by Wisconsin, with 360.548:
Ohio. 264,469: Illinois. 260.176; New- York. 257.761. and
Missouri, with 207.213 barrels, these being all the
States that showed an increase during the year of
more than two hundred thousand barrels. Of the
States showing a decrease, New-Hampshire heads
the list, with a falling off of 7.747 barrels, possibly*
attributable to the gradual decrease in the demand
for ale, which all her breweries produce, and also
to the extraordinary activity In that State of the
prohibition element, which always reacts first on
the sales of malt liquors. The falling off In sales
In Florida, Georgia. New-Mexico. North Carolina
and South Carolina has no particular significance,
none of these being recognized as brewing or beer
consuming States. if
THE BUILDING OF LOCOMOTIVES.
From The Railroad Gazette.
During the year 1- all the contracting: locomo
tive works In the United States— that is, those out
side of the railroad shops— In number
built 3.133 !oi , 'TV tivi This Is r!:.- largest num
ber ever built in one year, and is 680, or 27 5
per cent, more than in ltN). when the record was
also broken. In fact, the Increase in 1900 was
nearly 11 per cent greater than .!.. Increase of
ISM over 1896. The number of locomotives that
were .mi for export in ISOO I, MS." or about
.-. per cent of the total output. This is nine or
not , .It.- 2 per cent, less than in 1833. when 514
engines were • Hit for railroads in foreign coun
trie* In 1858 651. or 30 ;¦¦ r c?nt of tl •¦ total, were
sent abroad, and in IW. 3*'.. or 31 per cont. In
W. 309, or 26 per cent, were exported. Th. fol
lowing table- shows the total number of locomo
tives built each year for the last ten years:
•1&O0 8.153 IW4 f,.,-,
IM»9 2«?.< 1M« m,,,,
I«>S 1.R75 }"¦¦•• :::::|oia
IMI7 UN i *••• i Emi
IMS 1.17.'. JM*> 2;,,,
lMir, 1.101 ISSO 1...*,
At present the outlook Is that 1901 will at least
equal 3900.
EXGLISIh LA.yCVA.GE i SPREAD ING.
From The Manufacturers' Record.
One hundred years ago only 21. ft*. WO people spoke
the English language. Now It is estimate.] .that
130,000,000 of the inhabitants of th* globe employ the
Engllih tongue In their dally business."
• '..¦-¦¦
NEW- YORK DAttT TRIBUNE. ST'XDAY. JANUARY 6, 1001
~~" ""— ""^
El I/AS BEEX BUILDED IXTO A SCIEXCE BY THE WORK
OF THE LAST THREE (i EXEUATIuXS.
WHUm ftf I'ROFESSOR CHARLES AVERT DOREMVB, M. D., Ph. D.,
Chemistry and Physics, College of the City of New-York.
Chemistry, although practise ! as an art from '
the earliest times, has only been builded into a
science by the work of the last three genera
tions. Man's use of fire, and in consequence
thereof his ability 10 extract metals from their |
ores, dates from remotest times. The records of !
the tombs of Egypt and the East disclose va- j
rious chemical manufactures. The doctrines of j
Aristotle and Paracelsus regarding the so-called '
elements were overturned by Boyle, who estab- :
lished in the seventeenth century the individ- ¦
uality of the metals and the non-metals carbon, j
sulphur and phosphorus. The era of pneumatic '¦
chemistry was one prolific of great progress. The
skill attained in the collection and management
of gases led not only to the detection of several
of the most important elements— oxygen, hy
drogen and nitrogen— but also to the study of
compounds usually gaseous. The composition
of the air became known, and its relationship to
combustion and to both the life of plants and of
animals was clearly defined. The masterly mind
of Lavoisier marshalled the elements into order.
A system of nomenclature was devised. It was
seen that the facts collected pertained to a dis
tinct science. From thence on. chemistry has
been ranked as a separate branch of natural
philosophy.
Some thirty elements were known at the begin
ning of the century. Five important groups now
extend the list to about eighty— metals as
sociated with platinum in its ores; those isolated
from the alkalies and the alkaline earths by the
aid of the electric current; those of the rarer
earths of the cerium group; the metals revealed
by spectrum analysis, and the associates of
argon as constituents of the air and occluded In
minerals and waters.
CHEMISTRY HAS CLOSE RELATIVES.
The strides taken by chemistry from 1800 to
the present time are paralleled In sister sci
ences. Chemistry is closely allied to each.
Priestley and Lavoisier in explaining combus
tion and respiration established the kinship of
chemistry to biology. Lavoisier taught the de
pendence of agriculture on chemistry. Davy
was the first to lecture In Great Britain on
geology. His remarkable discoveries, together
with those of Gay-Lussac. Ampere and Faraday,
paved the way for a splendid record of research
in topics where chemistry and physics are so
blended that no definite line of demarcation can
be drawn. The work of the first quarter of the
century was largely a specialization of chemistry
to mineralogy, while that of the closing years
has been Intimately connected with astronomy
and the higher mathematics. Thus the cross-"
fertilization of the sciences presents a galaxy of
discoveries far exceeding in magnitude the com
bined Inheritance of previous ages.
It was found at a very early day that chemical
union between elements could be expressed by
very simple numerical relations. Symbols were
adopted to represent the names of the elements,
and Dalton showed that compounds always con*
talned a definite proportion of each element or a
simple multiple of this proportion. Adapting an
ancient hypothesis to modern uses, the atomic
theory , was '; postulated. The combining or
equivalent weights of the elements, now changed
to the atomic weights to meet the demands of
more recent discoveries, are the basis of all
theoretical and practical calculations' regarding
chemical change.
The relationship of gaseous volumes undergo
ing combination or decomposition, and the phys
ical properties of gases under the influence of
heat. have become, as formulated by Gay-Lussac
and Avogadro, the basis of our present views of
molecular composition, and are found to accord
with the kinetic *heory of gases. Curiously.
Dalton was led to the law of multiple^ propor
tions through his knowledge of the composition
by weight of the then only well recognized car
bon and hydrogen compounds, marsh gas CH«
and defiant gas Ct II«. The recognition of a
progressive relationship between the members
of the series of the alcohols by Schiel and of
that of the fatty acids by Dumas made the be
ginnings of the remarkable classification of the
carbon compounds which has so greatly aided
research.
PREDICTING UNKNOWN COMPOUNDS.
While the hypothesis that all elements are but
aggregations of particles of a single element has
been shown to be fallacious, the study of the
numbers expressing their atomic weights, to
gether with consideration of their physical and
chemical properties, has led to their being
grouped in a system of octaves known as the
periodic law of Newlands and Mendelejeff. The
influence of the homologous series in predicting
the existence of still unknown compounds has
been by this last development extended to the
prediction of the elements themselves; and the
verification of the prediction of certain metals
to fill the gaps In the periodic series, by the dis
covery of the metals gallium, scandium and
germanium has been of as keen satisfaction to
the chemist as the discovery of a new planet In
a precalculated position of the heavens to the
astronomer.
Three era making discoveries have been the
means of increasing our knowledge of the ele
ments. As soon as Davy had shown the pres
ence of a metal in potash the path was open to
further explorations. When Bunsen determined
the existence of bright lines in the spectrum of
the saline residue of a mineral water, and was
able to isolate caesium by chemical methods,
other investigators soon made known other ele
ments. When Rayleigh and Ramsay separated
argon from air and found that its presence had
remained undetected because of the absence of
all power of chemical union, other elements were
soon discovered, the presence of one of which as
a constituent of the sun and of some stars as
"helium" was already known to science.
WOEHLER STARTED AN ERA.
An Important period in the growth of chemis
try dates from the observation by Wohler, in
IS2B, that urea could be prepared without the
instrumentality of vital force. From then on
chemists devoted themselves to the study of
organic compounds. From the advent of this
specialization dates the erection of schools and
laboratories of chemistry. Before that period
the chemists were associated with the schools
of medicine or of pharmacy. The Inauguration
of the laboratory at Giessen under the glowing
enthusiasm of Lleblg soon led to the construc
tion of others In Germany. Now costly edifices,
equipped with rill the necessary apparatus for
research and fill.- I with zealous students, under
the guidance of trained instructors, are to be
found in all parts of the world. Since about
ISTO this country has been eager to make
amends for her former lack of recognition of
chemistry. While great advances have been
made for university and college work, that of
our technical schools is still behind that of
Europe.
The greater part of the earth's crust, th •
water and the air, consists of but few elements.
Oxygen forms one-half by weight, silicon a
quarter; aluminum, iron, calcium, magnesium,
sodium and potassium combined form 23 pel
cent, leaving about '1 per cent for all the other
elements. Chemical compounds rarely contain
many elements. Various groupings of the same
elements produce, new substances. Carbon sig
nalizes itself by a peculiar adaptability or plas
ticity. It forms nuclei! for aggregation, and
these nuclei! are bonded together to form com
plicated molecule*. United to 'hydrogen In vary
ing number, of atoms of each, a wealth of pas
sible and actual forms is produced unequalled
as yet by the combination of any other two
elements. When oxygen is added to them the
system expands and includes a multitude of
well known substances, such as the groups of
starches, sugars, fats, alcohols and ethers. When
nitrogen enters with the foregoing we have the
essentials of those proteld bodies common to all
living organisms.
Pattern's crude symbolism of differently colored
balls to lepresent carbon, hydrogen and other
elements gave wiy to structural formula:.
Though a fad for a time, formula worship has
given way to more concrete ideas, based :on
molecular structure and crystallographic form.
Quartz crystals differ from each other as do
right and left handed gloves. It is the relation
of object and image. The earlier observations
of Blot on the influence of such crystals on the
rays of polarized light were further elucidated
by the researches of Pasteur on the tartar ic
acids, and with this as a beginning there has
arisen a study of the grouping of the atoms in
space. It has been said that "most people think
in two,, some in three, dimensions, but none in
four." Chemistry has emerged from the for
mulae spread on a plane surface to the concep
tions of stereo or three dimension chemistry.
The asymetric carbon groups of the sugars ap
pear to impart the rotary powers which charac
terize them.
"Substitution." or the possibility of replacing
elements or groups of elements by means of
other elements or groups in compounds, thereby
producing new substances, has been the means
of extending the list of compounds Into the
thousands. The processes of condensation and
polymerization enable the chemist to rival the
architect in his ability to build complex struct
ures from simple forms. Thus six carbon sugar
Is producible from one carbon atom formal
dehyde.
Observing nothing but motion in all about
him. the chemist, though he may be called a
visionary, ascribes motions to the atoms within
the molecule. Many groups are in unstable
equilibrium, as the atoms in ozone, acetylene
and nltroglycerln. In the tautomeric com
pounds there seems to be a transitional change
In the position whereby the substance assumes
different properties at different times. This
spontaneous shifting of position Is like the
movements of a comet in a solar system, where
the periodic alterations lend varying character
to the whole. ;
THE MOVEMENTS OF ATOMS.
The development of the theory of heat as a
mode of motion; the study of the thermal re
lations of the elements to one another In all
chemical changes; the relations cf chemical sub
stances to the wave motion we call light; the
Influence cf excessive heat in modifying chemical
affinities, or the absence of heat. or. as we say.
cold, on the extinction of chemical change— all of
these and other experimental data have paved
the way to the acceptance on the part of many
chemists of the advanced views of the migratory
movements of the atoms both within and with
out the molecule. The study of the dissociation
of gases, of the lonlzatlon of compounds in un
dergoing solution, and their behavior in osmo
sis and electrolysis lend further experimental
proof of this incessant, vibratory alteration of
relative position. The devotees of physical chem
istry, such of them, at least, who are the ex
ponents of energetics, push a step further, and
atOrm that "matter Is a collection of energies
in space." and attempt to elucidate chemical and
physical phenomena from this standpoint.
That chemical reaction is accompanied by def
inite thermal changes was determined about the
middle of the century. The facts thus ascer
tained, together with, those resulting from the
experimental and theoretical studies of physi
cists on the equivalency of heat to mechanical
work have led to the creation of a special field
known an thermo-chemlstry
Faraday's experiments on the liquefaction of
gases have resulted In even hydrogen being
turned to a liquid. Many substances hitherto
used as gases are now commodities as liquids.
Elements such as fluorin. rarely met with in a
free state, have been Isolated in quantity. The
allotroplsm of the elements has shown how
phosphorus may ba made to lose its spontaneous
Inflammability and its poisonous character; how
silver may be converted Into a gold colored
metal; how charcoal may be made to glisten in
the form of diamond."
PRACTICAL USES OF CHEMISTRY.
To Americans the practical has generally had
a greater charm than the ideal, except in Na
tional politics. Let us consider the services of
chemistry to arts and manufactures. While
recognizing the advances made In Europe, our
theme may be Illustrated by Instances taken
from our own country. ,
The Hatch act of 1887 provided for the estab
lishment by the National Government of the
most complete and efficient system for the pro
motion of agricultural chemistry In the world.
In 1899 there were fifty-six experiment stations
in full running order, requiring the services of
678 skilled scientists, and having an Income of
$1,183,000 for the prosecution of the work.
These stations published 445 annual reports and
bulletins In that year. This is the chief depart
ment of applied chemistry, for us, at least, who
are the purveyors of the world in foodstuffs,
live stock and of vegetable and animal product*
not thus classified. The territory of tho Louis
iana Purchase, first thought useless, has in Its
wheat fields, by the aid of the reaping machine
and the guidance of the science of agriculture,
become one of the sources of our National pros
perity. In the forties Lleblg*s experimental work
In Germany was spread far and wide by our
Government publications. Fertilizers, such as
ammonium sulphate, potash and the phosphates,
were then described.
The Florida Purchase has since become. In Its
great beds of fossil phosphate, a source of
the fertilizers for the Northwest. In Europe
blast furnace slag has been used successfully.
The byproduct coking ovens of Alabama and
Tennessee are giving us nitrogen as ammonia.
The potassium salts we must continue to Im
port from the Stassfurt mines until we discover
a natural supply at home.
BENEFITS TO AGRICULTURE.
Soils have been critically studied during the
last decade. Barren tracts have been made
fertile through irrigation. Equally worthless
swampy lands have been redeemed by subsoil
drainage. It I.as been shown that bacteria aid
plants to absorb nitrogen directly from the at
mosphere. The danger of a famine as a result
of the exhaustion of the nitre beds is no longer
a nightmare. Chemical manufacturers are culti
vating the nitrifying bacteria for the Inoculation
of unfruitful soils.
The ability to fatten stock for market in one
half the former time has justified the expendi
tures for elaborate feeding experiments. The
respiration calorimeter has enabled the Division
of Chemistry to study the food of man and sug
gest new dietaries. Food adulteration will cease
when National legislation will regulate the sale
of foods and drugs.
Our great lumber belts have an Intimate re
lation to chemical industries. It is proposed to
protect land against th.- ruthless denudation of
timber by a rational system of forestry. Chemi
cal processes are being applied to render timber
uninflammable. The by-product kiln for Char
coal is rapidly taking the place of the old fash
ioned methods, and thousands of tons of im
portant chemicals are being saved. Wood pulp
is serving as never before as a source of paper.
The introduction of- the manufacture of oleo
margarine in the seventies, the output being
now about 100.0C0.000 pounds yearly, revolution
ized the dairy industries.
Maize gives rise to two important indus
tries, starch and starch sugar manufacture.
While cane sugar is extracted from the sugar
cane, the sugar beet, sorghum and the maple
starch sugar results from the boiling of starch
with a little acid. It is an artificial product of
great value.
Starch is the raw material for the . brewery
and the distillery. Th.- maltster controls the
.chancre of starch . to fermentable sugar. This
sugar is th. ,i converted by the delicate process
of fermentation into alcohol.
The cultivation (if the grap^ and the produc
tion of wines have become a flourishing industry.
and the Paris Exposition awards are highly
creditable to us.
; THE- PRESERVATION OF FOOD.
The preservation of foods of all kinds, as ex
emplified In the canned and other goods, forms
a group of Interests' wherein chemical control
is needful. It i 3 the chemistry of th« kitchen
which here directs the preparation of wholesome
foods.
The products of our mines rank next to those,
of agriculture. Aside from the geological de
posits of economic value which furnish us with
building stones and are used in their natural
condition, there are the deposits of clay, marl.
sand, limestone, gypsum and the like which
undergo treatment by chemical means before
being used as cements, limes, plasters, terra
cotta and bricks. , _
Our country is lavishly provided with coal of
every quality. Anthracite, it is true, has only
been in use for the last half of the century,
while the art of burning bituminous coal with
economy and without smoke is only rarely prac
tised.
The rich deposits of Iron ore. located 30 ad
vantageously near the coal and limestone neces
sary to the separation of the metal, have given
rise to industries more thriving than any of
their kind in the world. We are now exporters
not only of iron and steel of all grades, but or
machinery as well. The winning of the metal
Is by chemical processes. The value of the
product is determined by the analyst.
INCREASING MINERS* PROFITS.
The copper deposits of the Eastern, Middle and
Western States have shown themselves to be
an unexpected source of revenue. The Inge
nuity of the mining engineer in procuring the ore
from depths where the heat limits human labor
has been paralleled by the skill of the chemist
In devising methods capable of separating the
copper in a state of extreme purity from the
gold, the silver and the base metals with which
it Is associated. Gold is now extracted by the
cyanide method. Ore heaps regarded as value
less now yield in paying quantities. The silver
ores, even the refractory tellurldes, are made
more profitable than before by the newer
processes. „ , - , ,
Lead is used both as a metal and in chemical
combination. White lead is the basis of that
diversified class of industries known as the
paint and color trades. Zinc, nickel and a few
other metals have been brought into common
use during the century. Tin. still derived from
the ancient mines of Britain and the Straits,
has not as yet been found in extensive amounts
within our borders. Aluminum is, however, the
newest metal of the century. It already rivals
copper, and will soon contend with iron for the
supremacy. Unlimited beds of clays, kaolins
and bauxites are ready at hand to yield- this
beautiful metal. The raw material mined in
Georgia is prepared for the furnace in Penn
sylvania and subjected to the electric current at
Niagara.
The nitrate deposits of India and Chili are still
the great sources of the nitrogen needed in the
manufacture of gunpowder, dynamite and
smokeless powder. Our universal resources have
been made available by the use of explosives in
mining operations, while the civil engineer has
made transportation by highway, canal or rail
road possible.
A group of industries of gigantic proportions
has come to the fore in the last quarter of the
century. Petroleum and natural gas are prod
ucts of chemical character. The refineries con
sume the output of great chemical factories. The
Industries of the gas region are chemical. The
asphalts are closely allied to petroleum in their
composition. They have revolutionized the con
struction of our roadways and made our cities
more sanitary.
THE HANDMAIDEN OF ART.
Light and cleanliness are prime essentials of
our homes. The light of day streams through our
window glass while this same material forms
the envelopes of our sources of artificial light.
Cbevreul's researches on the fats gave the ada
mantine candle to replace the tallow dip early
in the century. Gas produced by the carboniza
tion of coal or wood supplanted candles and oil
lamps between the forties and fifties. Petroleum
and its derivatives reached Importance in the
seventies. Electricity came to the fore in the
eighties. During the last ten years gas re
ceived fresh Impetus through the use of the in
candescent mantle. The carbon rods of the arc
lamp are the product of the gashouse. The
slender filament of carbon of the incandescent
lamp is a transformed cellulose of chemical
manufacture. It is proposed, to substitute the
metal osmium for the carbon filament, and
thereby quadruple the light giving power.
Mixtures of rare earths are found to conduct
electricity when once heated, and to become
luminous. Gases and solids will soon be forced
to give light without heat, and then our dwell
ings will be suffused with an artificial daylight.
For cleanliness, we resort to those best ad
vertised of all chemical products, the soaps.
Though Le Blanc devised a process for convert-
Ing salt Into alkali, during the last quarter of
the century the Solvay ammonia process has In
great measure supplanted it. Using salt as a
raw product also, the great beds of that material
in New- York and Michigan are to-day the Beats
of the new industry. We manufacture the soaps
from the alkali and fats or oils.
Sulphuric acid remains still the chief acid, but
by the contact method, wherein sulphur dioxide
and oxygen are made to combine through the in
fluence of platinum, Important and recent im
provements have been introduced in its manu
facture.
Chloride of lime, the sulphites, hydrogen
peroxide and ozone are now the most commonly
used bleaching agents. Their manufacture is
connected with that of the acids.
DYES THAT DELIGHT THE EYE.
Two classes of dyeing materials have for the
last forty years been contending for the su
premacy, the natural and the artificial. The
natural dye stuffs held the market until in 1856
Perkins obtained the first "coal tar" color. Since
then alizarin has displaced the red from mad
der root and artificial Indigo Is now a full
fledged offspring of the new industry. Scien
tific research ran riot in the German and other
universities until the industrial establishments
rivalled them In equipment and in the original
ity of their corps of scientific workers. In no
department of science have the discoveries been
of greater theoretical and practical value. The
beauty, variety of shade, permanency, adapta
bility to various fibres, ease of manipulation and
economy of the artificial dyes stamp them as
pre-eminently the best.
Pigments are receiving great attention from
the chemist. The adornment of our -buildings
and of our homes has fostered these manufact
ure?. The beautiful wares In glass and porcelain
and the canvases of the artist demand the finest
type of chemical manufacturing skill.
When soda ash was obtained from seaweed a
Parisian soap boiler discovered in it the element
of iodin. In the hands of Niepee and Daguorre
this lodin was found to render a silver surface
sensitive to light. The developed and fixed Im
pression on the plate gave the daguerreotype.
The French Government purchased the secret
and made It Tree to the world.
From the colorless picture thus produced we
have advanced to the colored photograph of
Llppmann. The most recent work has brought
about the reproduction In color of natural ob
jects by tie aid of photography. Thus light as
well as heat is a tool In the chemist's hand.
In the year 1800 Nicholson and Carlisle ob
served that water was separated Into Its ele
ments by the voltaic current. This is the first
record of electro-chemical decomposition. Pur
suing this line of work. Berselius and Hisslnger
decomposed saline solutions. Sir Humphry
Davy isolated the metals potassium and sodium
and also those of the alkaline earths, while
Faraday formulated the laws of electrolysis.
The art of electroplating and eltctrotyping
was for many years the only application of the
power of electricity to effect chemical chance.
Then came the dynamo. Cheap water power
replaces the costlier sources of energy to drive
the machines, and at Niagara, the falls of the
Rhine and elsewhere great electro-chemical in
dustries have developed. Soda, chlorln. potas
sium chlorate and other products, organic and
inorganic, are the result of this type of action
of the electric current.
Electricity has been utilized in yet another
manner. The high temperatures attained in the
electric furnace h.ivo been shown by Molssan
an I others to bo the only means of compelling
chemical union between certain elements. The
commercial production of carborundum from
sand and coke, of calcium carbide from lime
and coke, of graphite and many metallic car
bides, borides. silicites and nitrides, Is the back
bone of the electro-chemical Industries, whose
products had a value in IV.;. In the United
States of $97,000,000. Germany ranking second
with an output worth ?10,000,000.
. The researches of Cavendish in the eighteenth
century and of Beth, lot in the, nineteenth dem
onstrated that chemical activity may be induced
by electric discharges at hUh tension. Ozone is
now thus commercially prepared and used In the
manufacture of artificial perfumes and among
other applications that of a bleaching agent.
Nitrogen has been coerced Into union, and in the
near future we shall handle currents which a
few years ago would have been deemed impossi
ble of control.
The direct burning or coal to' yield electricity
must 50..,, become practical. We shall then not
have to be propelled in our automobiles by the
oxidation it low temperatures of the lead pUte»
in the boot. = *"•«•
Chemistry is affiliated to medicine and phar
rr.acy in a most intimate way The chemist ha«"
rendered the surgeon most unexpected aid in ¦<-
providing ether, chloroform. : nitrous oxid »y*a
cocaine, whereby the terrors of the operating
table and of childbirth disappear. By the ml ¦>
of an"v; surgery has become a new art-
Crookes's tub an! the X rays from it disclose ¦'
the inner structure of the body, and serU to 1
locate injuries. To the physician has been given
the u.ie of lodin, hromin, the alkaloid* anti"
pyrctlcs, saccharin, the antiseptics and the anti"
toxins. The sanitarian has been equipped with
disinfectants, with precise information concern.
'— ventilation, the water supply,- sewage dial-"
posal and other means cf safeguarding the com* •
munity.
Synthetic products, the soluble ferments th -•
surrogates for milk and the prepared foods are *
some of the lines of work en «M I chemists ar
engaged.
".GREAT PROBLEMS YET UNSOLVED.
Physiology ¦Is a study of processes largely
chemical. Together with bacteriology, whose
methods are chemical and whose study requires
a thorough knowledge of chemistry, we shall ex
pect the solution of problems that have always i
puzzled man.
"It is the duty of the chemist to be bold in ¦
pursuit." Ha vine analysed so much of the
earth as was within his reach he then discov
ered the composition of the sun and stars; hav
ing devised methods whereby he may dispose
the body to a painless sleep during which he
can investigate the vital functions; bavin?
gained much insight into the phenomena of the
minutest forms of life, shall he not without
audacity, but In reverence, approach the sola- ¦
tion of the problem of the origin of Kt»l if
WOhler's discovery set aside previous views en
vital force, some chemist may soon disclost the
problem of cell growth.
The immediate investigations of the new cen
tury will concern the newly discovered elements
argon, helium and their associates. Their rela
tion to other elements will be disclosed as*
their places in the periodic system determine,!
The characters of the supposedly new ele
ments found in uranium ores and named ladbjai
and polonium will be settled by experiment, aad
we shall have proof of whether they emit frag
ments of atoms or a form of radiant energy.
We shall decide on whether we win grow
or manufacture our foods. The navigation cf
the air will no doubt soon be accomplished.
Electricity will perform wonders equal to what
heat has done in the past. The possibilities at
liquid air will become realities. Oxygen, the
most abundant of the elements, will have useful
applications.
Chemistry, though deeply philosophical, is alas
broadly practical. The enthusiasm of her vota
ries has been contagious. Other sciences are now
keenly alive to the system of experimental re
search inaugurated to the chemical laboratories
of the world. CHARLES A. DOREXU&
SEC! h'ITY ABOVE ALL.
ONE OF the GREATEST FINANCIAL INSTI
TUTIONS OF THE WORLD. IT 13 ALSO
THE MOST CONSERVATIVE.
It used to be held many years ago by outsmm*
that financial institutions ra America were Tinmsss
with more attention to bus* and quick prolts
than to piiinsiisnt stability. Tbcr* may have bass
some truth in this. This was a young, vigor***
country, affording unprecedented opportunities to
those bold, dawhing spirits who in their business
enterprises had the nerve to take chances which
if successful would repay tb*m an hundredfold, bat
if not successful would bring ruin. In homsh>
language, men determined to either "make a spam
or spoil a horn."
The rum. too. that came upon men in thos* days
was but a fleeting cloud. Active business men of
good character who had been overtaken by mis
fortune could always get upon their net again.
There was such a demand for capable men of
affairs in the bustling New World that it would
not allow them to drop out of sight.
Time, however, wrought changes in this, happy
go-lucky method. Capital, that great*** of all con
servatives, began to accumulate in the hands of
certain favored Institutions and Individuals ts
whom security was of far more moment than in
ordinate dividends. Clssr hssdad. jinilsni man.
agers of such aggregations of capital turned th*
back resolutely upon any and all schemes that
would not bear the closest scrutiny. In a. word, a
large proportion of financial Americans turned con
servative. Experience had taught them, that bust
ness conducted on any other lines entailed losses
of capital and of credit, and -¦»»m|rt+ ahswtil them
that business conducted with foresight, prudencs
and equity was assured of success.
Probably no one influence in the whole country
was as potent for good In this respect as that sf
the Equitable Life Assurance Society. The policy
of this grea£ institution from the day of its organi
zation. July St. 1556. to the present has been un
alterably conservative. It has always followed
safe and sure methods, and the world, noting the
fact that it has always prospered, has drawn the
inevitable conclusion. It has steadily refused to
bid for temporary business, no matter how allur
ing the prospective rewards, or to Jeopardise, how
ever remotely, security In any of Its transactions.
Thanks to this intelligent manisems.nl It has
become the strongest life Insurance company hi
the world to-day, with a surplus larger by many
millions than that of any other.
An example of the sort of management here al
luded to was the action taking effect January 1.
1909. by which It established a new system of pay
ing commissions to Its agents. Instead of giving
this commission in a lump sum it so extended it as
to cover years, thus making tbe amount dependent
upon the stability of the contracts obtained; in
other wcrds. making the volume of business se
cured a matter secondary In importance to its per
manence.
When the Equitable inaugurated this reform, the
life insurance community generally prophesied
that the company's business would suffer in con
sequence of the change, for the reason that a large
proportion of the business written of late years
has been done under pressure and so has not long
survived. The Equitable company, recognising
this evil, took this stand, determined to correct it.
Contrary to genera; expectations, and in spite of
the action. It wrote a larger amount of life Insur
ance in 190t) than in tbe previous year, or over
tSOS.OOft.ODO of new business.
The assets of the Equitable Life Assurance
Society now amount to 9sw.Alw.4MIS. and Us outstand
ing Insurance to over JI.I*JO.OO*.OO*. Its surplus, over
and above all liabilities, amounting to SB.oN.ttfc
makes it. as stated above, financially the strongest
institution of its kind in th* world. In which proof
position the care and conservatism of Its ¦asssj*
mem will undoubtedly keep it.
OUTLOOK FOR TELEGRAPHY.
Patrick B. Delany. In The Electrical World aai
Engineer.
The state of the art of electrical communication
to-day may be summed up as follows:
Telephony 60 words a mUrat»
Single More* circuits 15 words a minute
Duplex Morse circuits SO words a minute
Quadruples Morse circuits 5O words a minuts
Multiplex (six circuits) so words a minut*
Whentston* sutomatle 125 words m minuts
Wh»al<iioM automatic duplex ....... ..tCO words a minute
Wireless 10 words a minute
Undoubtedly before the new century is ten years
old at least one-half of the correspondent.-* now
carried by train will be telegraphed at an average
rate for th* whole country or IS cent* for fifty
¦words, or flve» times as many words for one-hatf
the present telegraph toll. It is practicable to
begin this change at once, bat not by present
methods* of operation. It is only possible by th*
chemtaal automatic system.
What the centenarian of a hundred years hence
may see. a prophet should leave to us son to
prophesy. In the way of telegraphy, doubtless Aft
ships amain will hold converse with each scssfi.
and correct their chronometers with th* tost os>
starvation a hundren miles away. They will be m
constant communlcctloa with th* shore through
th* air or by wires on th* bed ot th* ocean, but
as th* trip from the Hook to th* Usard will be
done In a day. ana probably without touching ths
water, only the overanxious will want a dispatch.
Communication with Mara has already been pre
empted, and seeing by electricity may bo no ki— ¦!¦
visionary. Forsooth, our s*v*a senses may ail ba
"wired" wireless!)".
OUR MILLS EXPORT \-EWS PAPER.
From The Taper Mill and Wood Pulp New?.
Th. year ...-.¦ oao of preat actlvltr t" 1
th«» paper Industry. There has bm more than
ordinary activity in the building of new- nulls sad
In Increasing the products capacity of mills al
ivady In „xis!.«nce Our export trade ha.-» prosptrev!
well. The value 1 the paper export, I for the M
months ended October 31 m 885 The value
for the similar t. :i months for the previ - year
a.,, <.mk,..;j;, The sain this year over lasc a
nbont 2T. per cent. Total exports for the year will
reach ST.OCO.OX). of --which one-half is print pape'
Our Imports will reach » .SV.iWft.
*. THE MANUFACTURE OF COTTOX.
Fronj The Manufacturers' Record:
In th • manufacture of cotton the South has mad*
marvellous prepress during the last twenty years,
as "* " by the following table:
. ¦' Xtrmti-r of factories. Solnati-a. . Loom*. t
1**0. ................. IM> tV.7.754 - 14.223
im»::::::::::::: a* .. \Trx&\ »:£fi
11HJ0 *» 6.207.163 . 121^*» '
!¦)¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦»' • ¦ - ¦ <)Mtfll
I