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 -■^* ..'^. ,^Ai^Aki»ka'^y - , .S(-i*»^»eiSgaS*Ji^;)t.*„ 
 
 ""MlfiSSiJiSi,?^' research; an account of 
 
 3 1924 002 971 277 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924002971277 
 
MICHAEL FARADAY 
 
TEXT-BOOKS OF CHEMICAL RESEARCH AND ENGINEEIUNG 
 
 NOTES ON 
 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF CERTAIN CONDITIONS WHICH 
 APPLY TO ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION 
 
 W. p. DREAPER, O.B.E., F.I.C. 
 
 Second Edition. 
 
 5 ' ■',,,■ ■■ j <:. : 
 -'' 7 ■< 
 
 PHILADEtPHIA ^ ' * "^ 
 
 P. BLAKISTON'S SON & CO. 
 
 10t2 WALNUT STREET 
 1920 
 
D7 
 
 Printed in Great Britain. 
 
 t.'t; 
 
 
 / 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION 
 
 The text of the first edition has been considerably 
 rV enlarged, and the pres.ent volume is divided, for 
 \ convenience, into two parts. In the second will 
 ^^ be found an account of works practice and organisa- 
 A tion which conforms to the requirements of modern 
 V research. A chapter has been added on the some- 
 ^ what vexed question of the student's training. 
 
 The writer believing, that, if a similar book had 
 been placed in his hands when he left college, he 
 ' would have reaped an advantage, now passes this 
 v;;J one, in its present form, on to the student. 
 
 a) 
 
 
 The Authoe. 
 
 c1 
 
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION 
 
 Modern science is based on the record of past 
 investigation. This condition must therefore apply 
 to chemistry, which is essentially an experimental 
 science. 
 
 While original investigation remains an impor- 
 tant factor in further progress, those engaged in any 
 branch of science must have some knowledge of 
 the general conditions under which such work has 
 been undertaken in the past ; and tealise that it can 
 only be undertaken by an investigator who has 
 reached a stage in his development, at which he is 
 able to think in terms of his science. He must 
 become one with his work. 
 
 A mere knowledge of facts and principles, how- 
 ever complete in itself, is an insufficient equipment. 
 A student may possess this, and yet occupy an isolated 
 position. Many who seem well qualified by examina- 
 tion, or otherwise, fail in the initiation of such work, 
 for they cannot make practical use of such knowledge 
 and apply it to the further investigation of natural 
 phenomena. 
 
 Other important conditions are involved in work 
 of this nature. They are of little account in the 
 absence of this controlling factor, which brings with 
 it the power of seeing into things and realising the 
 relative importance of observations made under 
 definite conditions, and the correctness, and value, 
 of any deductions arising from the same. 
 
 An attempt has been made to state, in general 
 terms, the conditions which have been regarded as 
 
viii PREFACE 
 
 essential to success. The influence and importance 
 of the results already obtained by investigation have 
 been generally noticed, and the recent advance in 
 the conditions of training and facilities for research 
 has not been overlooked. 
 
 The student must give special attention to the 
 theoretical side of his science, and train his mind to 
 discover in the recorded work of others, the con- 
 ditions which have led to success; examining the 
 why and wherefore of each step, as it occurs in its 
 natural, and therefore logical, sequence. 
 
 Such intangible factors as mental outlook and 
 personal quaMcations can only be dealt with in a 
 general way, and then chiefly by reference to the 
 experience of past investigators. It is equally 
 difficult to determine, from available data, to what 
 extent these faculties may be developed, or actually 
 created by training. It is certain, however, that 
 when these are present, the battle has yet to be 
 fought out in the laboratory, or works. 
 
 An insight into such matters may be gained by 
 examining the results obtained by others. A 
 general knowledge of the conditions involved must 
 be possessed by those who wish to succeed in the 
 conduct of such work. In some cases a survey of 
 past investigation may be the simplest way to 
 secure this end. A search of tMs nature will often 
 suggest the need for further investigation, and 
 supply the investigator with suitable subject-matter 
 for research. This end may also be secured by the 
 study of abnormal phenomena, which may from time 
 to time be observed in actual practice, particularly 
 when these occur on an industrial scale. 
 
 A satisfactory knowledge of the conditions which 
 govern such investigation is of importance to the 
 general chemist. It cannot fail to influence the 
 conduct of routine work, and instil into it a new 
 meaning. 
 
PREFACE ix 
 
 Generally speaking, the laboratories of our leading 
 colleges and technical institutions offer facilities for 
 the conduct of such work. When these are examined 
 and considered, in conjunction with those which 
 exist elsewhere, it is evident that stUl more attention 
 will be paid to investigation of this nature. This 
 must greatly influence, if not determine, the future 
 of our industries, as well as our position in the 
 scientific world. That this fact is being more and 
 more realised is sufficiently obvious. 
 
 It is hoped that the publication of this small 
 work may induce the student to realise certain 
 essential conditions which must necessarily govern 
 his future work, and emphasise the value of those 
 personal qualifications which can be recognised as 
 influencing the work of investigators in the past. 
 
 The Author. 
 London. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface to Second Edition . . . . v 
 Preface to First Edition ..... vii 
 
 PART I 
 
 Scientific Fact and Method. 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Nature of Scientific Knowledge 
 
 General Knowledge, p. 3. Experimental Science, p. 4. 
 Direct and Indirect Knowledge, p. 6. Classification 
 of Knowledge, p. 7. Stages of Discovery, p. 8. 
 Nature of Discovery, p. 9. Generalisations and Laws, 
 p. 10. Utility of Scientific Knowledge, p. 10. Limit 
 to Experimental Knowledge, p. 12. The Unknown, 
 p. 13. Extension of Discovery, p. 13. Nature of 
 Experience, p. 14. Science founded on Definite 
 Procedure, p. 16. 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Historical Review and Nature of Research 
 
 Review of Past Investigation, p. 17. Advance by Succes- 
 sive Stages, p. 20. Present State of Research, p. 21. 
 " Accidental" Discovery, p. 22. Special Requirements 
 of Economic Research, p. 25 . Definition of Research, 
 p. 26. 
 
xii CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Observation and Experiment 
 
 Observation and Experiment, p. 29. Relative Value of 
 Observation, p. 30. Empiricism and Relative Kjiow- 
 ledge, p. 30. Nature of Empirical Knowledge, p. 34. 
 Relative Significance of Observation and Experiment, 
 p. 35. Empiricism, p. 36. Intermediate Stage of 
 Knowledge and Experience, p. 36. Branches of 
 Chemical Activity, p. 37. The Personal Factor, p. 38. 
 Research on Practical Lines, p. 40. Theory and 
 Practice, p. 42. 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Preliminary Survey and Selection of Subject-matter 
 
 Survey of Past Knowledge, p. 45. SimpUcity a Main 
 Factor to Success, p. 46. Absence of a Common 
 Expression in Research, p. 49. Residual Phenomena, 
 p. gi. Preliminary Search for Past Records, p. 52. 
 Reference to Journals, 53. Patent Literature, 54. 
 Early Research, p. 55. Personal Quahfications, p. 56. 
 Manipulative Skill, p. 57. A Mental Survey of 
 Action, p. 58. Introduction of Instruments of Pre- 
 cision, p. 59. Cost of Experimenting, p. 60. 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Methods of Investigation 
 
 General Procedure, p. 62 . Working Conditions, p. 63 . 
 The Time Factor in Experimental Science, p. 65. 
 Methods of Research, p. 66. Aids to Research, p. 67. 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Philosophy and Experimental Science 
 
 Value of Theory, p. 70. Philosophy and Science, p. 71. 
 Value of Results, p. 72. Chemistry and the Other 
 Practical Sciences, p. 73 . Future Developments, p. 75 . 
 Scope and Nature of Application, p. 76. Modern 
 Researches, p. 78. 
 
CONTENTS xiii 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 Chemical Research and Industry 
 Science and Industry, p. 80. Utility of Economic Research, 
 p. 82. Connection between Theory and Practice, p. 82. 
 Aims of the Practical Investigator, p. 83. Scale of 
 Working, p. 85 . Experimental Works, p. 85 -. Treat- 
 ment of Ores, 87 . The Practical Man, p. 88 . Catalysis, 
 p. 89. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Research in Relation to Analysis 
 
 Modern Analysis, p. 91. Technical Analyses, p. 92. Work 
 of the Analyst, p. 94. 
 
 PART II 
 
 Practical Research 
 CHAPTER IX 
 Aims of Practical Science 
 
 Economic Gain, p. 99. Scope of Practical Research, p. 100. 
 Results obtained in Practical Research, p. 100. 
 Academic and Practical Workers, p. 102. Additional 
 ResponsibiUty, p. 103. "Pure" and "Applied" 
 Research, p. 104. Teaching, Research, and Industrial 
 Control, 105. Knowledge and the Practical Chemist, 
 p. 105. The Chemist and Industry, p. 106. Know- 
 ledge of Previous Research, p. 107. Research and 
 UtiUty, p. 108. Changing the Process of Manufacture, 
 p. 108. Relative Efficiency and Cost of Production, 
 p. no. Research and Industrial Operations, p. 112. 
 Science and Industry, p. 112. 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 Practical Investigation and the Personal Factor 
 
 Scientific Knowledge and Practice, p. 114. Recognition of 
 Research, p. 114. The Progress of Research, p. 115. 
 The Practical Sense, p. 116. Invention, p. 116. Dis- 
 covery and Invention, p. 118. Process of the Mind, 
 p. 119. The True Investigator, p. 120. The Genius 
 and the Trained Investigator, p . 1 2 1 . Common Process 
 of Research, p. 122. Laboratory and the Works, 123. 
 Success in Industrial Research, p. 124. Life of 
 Industrial Research, p. 125. 
 
xiv CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 Laboratory Research and Works Practice 
 
 Large Scale Production, p. 127. Past Experience, p. 128. 
 Large Scale Experiment Plant, p. 129. Research and 
 the Laboratory, p. 130. Difficulties of Large Scale 
 Working, p. 130. Works Problems, p. 131. Economy 
 of Working, p. 132. Nature of Progress, p. 132. 
 Chemical Knowledge and Works Practice, p. 133. 
 Additional Qualifications, p. 134. Chemical Engineer- 
 ing, p. 137. Works Control, p. 137. 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 Works Organisation 
 
 Conditions of Manufacture, p. 140. The Chemist's Work, 
 p. 142. Staff Arrangements, p. 143. Reports and 
 Records, p. 145 . 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 Efficiency and Working Conditions 
 
 Members of Staff and General Management, p. 147. The 
 Manager of a Chemical Works, p. 148. Research, or a 
 Waiting PoUcy, p . 1 48 . Staff of a Modern Works , p . 1 5 1 . 
 Research in the Works, p. 151. Chemical Department 
 in a Works, p. 152. The starting of a New Process, 
 p. 153. Laboratory Research and further Develop- 
 ment, p. 154. Relative Efficiency of Processes, p. 155 . 
 Experimental Plant, p. 156. Materials Used in Plant 
 Construction, p. 156. Results obtained on Small 
 Manufacturing Plant, p. 157. Large Scale Operations, 
 p. 158. Manufacturing Results, p. 159. Conditions 
 Vary with Scale of Operation, p. 160. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 Large Scale Operations 
 
 Works Practice, p. 162. Design of Plant, p. 163. Setting 
 Out the Process, p. 163 . Size and Nature of Plant, 
 p. 165. Works Problems, p. 166. Record of Progress 
 on the Plant, p. 167 . The Chemist and Process Labour, 
 p. 168. Labour and Improvements on the Plant, 
 p. 169. Labour's Position in the Works, p. 171. 
 
CONTENTS XV 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 The Student and his Course of Training 
 
 The Student's Position, p. 173. System of Instruction in 
 Research, p. 175 . Future Developments in Instruction, 
 p. 176. Scheme of Training, p. 177. Information Re- 
 c^utred in Works Practice, p. 178. Period of Instruc- 
 tion and Training, p. 179. A Student's Holiday, 
 p. 180. Post-Graduate Work, 180. College Staff, 
 p. 181. The Student's Aims, p. 183. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 The General Recording of Results and Other 
 Matters 
 
 Use of Mathematics, p. 186. Methods of Recording 
 Results, p. 189. Publication of Results, p. 189. 
 Effect of PubUcation, p. 190. Protection by Patent, 
 p. 191. FaciUties for Research in this Country, 
 p. 192. Future of Research, 194. 
 
PART L— SCIENTIFIC FACT AND 
 METHOD 
 
 " When man dropped the idea of concealing knowledge, 
 alchemist gave place to chemist, and all that is worth having in 
 modern life, all that makes it better and safer and more hopeful 
 than the ancient life began." — ^H. G. Wells. 
 
 CR. 
 
PART I.— SCIENTIFIC FACT AND 
 METHOD 
 
 " When man dropped the idea of concealing knowledge, 
 alchemist gave place to chemist, and all that is worth having in 
 modern life, ail that makes it better and safer and more hopeful 
 than the ancient life began." — H. G. Wklls. 
 
 C.R. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 
 
 " The chymists are a strange class of mortals impelled 
 by an almost insane impulse to seek their pleasure among 
 smoke and vapour, soot and flame, poisons and poverty, yet 
 among all these evils I seem to live so sweetly, that may I die 
 if I would change places with the Persian King." — Physica 
 Sunterranaea. 
 
 General Knowledge. — Our knowledge of the natural 
 phenomena known to chemistry, and the experimental 
 sciences which have sprung from the latter in the 
 course of its development, is confined within the 
 range of our senses. In certain cases, this natural 
 limit has been extended by the aid of instruments of 
 precision, such as the spectroscope or microscope. The 
 application of mathematics, when applied tothe exten- 
 sion of knowledge has served a similar purpose. 
 
 The results obtained from a study of the conditions 
 which control, represent, or indicate, in accepted 
 terms, such changes or phenomena have been 
 brought to a state of order and expressed in terms 
 of so-called laws. In this way, many phenomena 
 have been reduced to terms of definite comparison. 
 A classification of the results thus obtained provides 
 that the work of the past is under continual 
 revision, and re-examination in the light of further 
 discovery. 
 
 It is not possible to determine how far the con- 
 clusions arrived at correspond with the ultimate 
 conditions of energy and space ; or whether these 
 can be satisfactorily expressed in terms of our 
 system of thought. Facts and phenomena, as we 
 
 I — 2 
 
4 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 realise them, may be so distorted in their expression, 
 or so partial in their nature, that the conclusions 
 arrived at may only outline actual fact as a shadow 
 on the wall represents the substance. 
 
 There is, however, a growing sense of security in 
 the value of modern methods of research, and a 
 belief that these indicate, in some way,_ the nature 
 of natural phenomena, even if they still fail to 
 represent it in absolute terms. This conviction is 
 based upon the nature of the evidence brought 
 forward by the practical investigator. 
 
 A hypothesis is accepted, and its use becomes 
 general, when it ofEers an explanation of certain 
 phenomena. It is specially received when its use 
 is a general one. It must always be remembered 
 that the hypothesis is a " mentally constructed and 
 quite imaginary mechanism/' and that it may not 
 in any way represent the actual conditions existing 
 in nature. All that can be said is that it would 
 appear to be true, and that it is a useful aid in 
 practical investigation. 
 
 In the scientific examination of natural pheno- 
 mena, the research is carried to the point where for 
 the time being further progress seems impossible, and 
 where provisionally the results and generalisations 
 secured are regarded as representing knowledge. 
 An atom was so regarded until it was resolved into 
 simpler units. The latter, in their turn, remain for 
 the time being the accepted foundation of what is 
 termed matter. 
 
 Experimental Science. — An experimental science 
 may be stated to be developed in relation to its 
 power of direct measurement, that is to say, in 
 the expression of its conclusions in quantitative 
 terms. This explains the importance of some new 
 scientific instrument, which enables us to increase 
 knowledge on a quantitative basis. Such an in- 
 
NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 5 
 
 strument may have a great value in its applica- 
 tion. An example of this might be seen in the 
 receiving instrument in a wireless station where the 
 exact record is obtained by the receiving of rays of 
 certain wave length. 
 
 The limits of scientific inquiry are quite definite. 
 Science is concerned with the question how things 
 take place ; it has never, in a single case, been able 
 to explain why. There is no indication that we 
 shall ever be able to answer the latter question. 
 The first cause is unascertainable,.and will probably 
 remain so.. To appreciate the why and wherefore 
 of things, we should have to get outside our present 
 system. This seems to present an impossible 
 condition. The only alternative is that knowledge 
 should come from the outside. Even then it is 
 doubtful whether this qould be expressed in our 
 method of thought, which is so closely founded upon 
 our own impressions. 
 
 In the search after causes there is a distinct break 
 in our experience. The former are beyond experience 
 and thought. , The curtain is down, and there is no 
 certainty- that it will ever be lifted. 
 
 Uncertainty as to ultimate conditions need have 
 no disturbing influence on the student's mind, as 
 to the value of the experimental method. Rather 
 may the contrary effect be produced. The future 
 programme before the chemist is sufficiently definite. 
 Investigation must be continued and extended in 
 every possible direction by the aid of experiment, 
 carried to its utmost limit, and then compared with 
 the results obtained in other branches of science. 
 
 Knowledge gained by the aid of experiment is said 
 to have been obtained by a process of induction. 
 This may be, within, certain limits, utilised to a 
 further extent by a process of deduction. The 
 attempt to extend knowledge on lines of theory by 
 considering the nature of results which may reason- 
 
6 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 ably be expected to follow under conditions equiva- 
 lent to, or in extension of, those already dealt with, 
 has been shown to have a definite value. 
 
 By this method of reasoning future results may be 
 anticipated ; results (inferred or foretold by such 
 speculation) arrived at, and important conclusions 
 obtained. The existence of unknown elements and 
 their properties have been deduced and subsequently 
 verified by experimental evidence. 
 
 Such deductions have been shown to be fully 
 justified as a means of progress. Conclusions based 
 upon theory have been of considerable value as 
 stepping-stones to a further advance, or the bridging 
 in a temporary way, of gaps in the chain of experi- 
 mental evidence. 
 
 Direct and Indirect Knowledge. — At the same time 
 a sharp line must be drawn between knowledge 
 obtained by direct and indirect methods, which may 
 be defined as of the first and second order respec- 
 tively. When an investigation is based on theore- 
 tical speculation, the results obtained must be of 
 a convincing nature. They must be continually 
 subjected to re-examination in the Hght of further 
 experimental evidence and compared with any new 
 facts, which may support, or oppose, the con- 
 clusions originally arrived at. 
 
 The student will always remember that a so-called 
 fact is of no value except in its relation to other facts, 
 and that as the latter are multiplied, or varied, its 
 significance will be correspondingly changed. 
 
 In the absence of any definite plan of action, a 
 preliminary scaffolding, based on theory, may 
 sometimes be erected. When the experimental 
 results obtained do not conform to, or uphold this, it 
 must be correspondingly modified, or replaced by 
 one which agrees with further facts disclosed to 
 the investigator. 
 
NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 7 
 
 Such a use of theory is fully recognised. It serves 
 a purpose by indicating new Unes of research, which 
 the results obtained by the investigator must either 
 prove to be of value, or the reverse. 
 
 A hypothesis is defined by Mill as a supposition 
 which may be made without actual evidence, or on 
 evidence avowedly insufficient, in order that an 
 attempt may be made to deduce from it conclusions 
 in accordance with facts which are known to be true. 
 When a hypothesis becomes well estabUshed it 
 is regarded as a working hypothesis. 
 
 Where a general relationship is observed, as in 
 the distillation of dilute solutions of fatty acids, 
 where a definite relationship between rate of distilla- 
 tion and molecular constitution can be traced, such 
 results are conveniently referred to as regularities. 
 
 The relative value of induction and deduction has 
 been much discussed. The successful investigator 
 must be prepared to make use of both methods, 
 verifying all deduction by direct experiment (where 
 this is possible) as the research opens out and 
 progresses towards its logical conclusion. 
 
 Chemical research is confined mainly to the study 
 of changes which matter undergoes under definite 
 conditions of strain, with an examination of products 
 obtained, and the conditions ruhng at the time. 
 The examination is completed by the setting out of 
 results in terms which suitably classify them. 
 
 A record of such facts has been defined as " crude 
 knowledge," which, in turn, may be regarded as the 
 raw material of science. 
 
 In economic research, a search is made for the 
 conditions which give greatest efficiency and the 
 easiest methods of working which are consistent with 
 the same. 
 
 Classification of Knowledge. — Knowledge is either 
 generaUsed, or empirical. In the latter case it has 
 
8 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 not yet been expressed in terms which can be recog- 
 nised, or referred to any known cause or law. Facts 
 of this nature are considered useless for the purpose 
 of science, although they may have a definite value 
 in the arts and manufactures. Where these exist 
 there is a further call for an investigation of recognised 
 conditions. Many pay special attention to these 
 reactions, for they often suggest suitable subject- 
 matter for further research. In the industrial 
 world such phenomena are constantly met with^ 
 in many cases to be hghtly passed over. Thus 
 promising material for research is too often neglected 
 for want of a suitable opportunity for investigation. 
 As this undesirable position is met with in thfe works 
 rather than in the laboratory, it is still prevalent in 
 many directions. Under the stress of circumstances 
 or through neglect,. the connecting Unk between the 
 passing observation and the means of examining it in 
 detail is absent. 
 
 Stages of Discovery .^-It is doubtful whether the 
 terms "pure" and 'applied" research stiU serve 
 a useful purpose. It is therefore suggested that 
 these be replaced by " static " and " dynamic." 
 
 Under modern conditions, there is no real distinc- 
 tion between the methods employed in the different 
 branches of research. A worker should be able to 
 engage upon academic, or practical research with 
 equal success, especially if any.training he may have 
 received in method has been supplemented or 
 based upon a real knowledge in the underlying 
 principles, which necessarily control practice. The 
 aims of the workers may differ, but the under- 
 lying principles involved are of the same order. It 
 is held that the main consideration is whether the 
 results obtained are useful. If so, the process of 
 discovery is complete. To call research "pure" 
 when it yields results which constitute crude 
 
NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 9 
 
 knowledge, as it is termed, and "applied" when it 
 yields knowledge which is immediately useful, is 
 beside the mark. 
 
 If, however, knowledge is regarded as static until 
 discovery is completed, and dynamic when this 
 stage is reached, difficulties in classification are 
 reduced or eliminated, and the additional recogni- 
 tion, which research should receive when it is of 
 economic value, is secured. 
 
 During this first stage of discovery, knowledge re- 
 mains static. When by further discovery, or action, 
 it is brought into the region of usefulness it becomes 
 dynamic. Thus discovery is completed and " crude 
 knowledge" becomes useful knowledge, and a 
 further advance in experience is secured. In a 
 certain class of research, knowledge becomes dynamic 
 at an early stage of discovery. This happens when 
 the investigation is practical. 
 
 A generalisation may come as a flash, or by a long- 
 drawn-out process entailing close investigation. In 
 the first case, it must agree closely with observed fact, 
 or else tested for its validity, by the carrying out of 
 further investigation, which will either support, or 
 destroy it. 
 
 During this process, uncertain facts and theories 
 are rejected, and thought crystallises into more con- 
 vincing explanations. A final stage is reached, when 
 observed facts seem to conform to the suggestion 
 that the principle exists. 
 
 Nature of Discovery. — Every time a new substance 
 is prepared, or a new discovery made, a further step 
 is taken in the development of science. Yet in the 
 former case every link in the chain was present before 
 the investigation was started, and action would have 
 resulted in precisely the same manner had the new 
 conditions been normally present in nature. 
 
 When the knowledge so obtained can be utilised 
 
ro CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 in an economic sense, it stands on a higher plane. 
 When its nature is such that it leads to the production 
 of a new instrument of precision, or a new generalisa- 
 tion, which materially simplifies practice, or when it 
 aids progress in some other way, knowledge takes to 
 herself the mantle of usefulness, its highest attribute. 
 In the absence of an immediate use, knowledge 
 must be recorded so that it may be available should 
 some new conditions arise, making possible its 
 utilisation. 
 
 Generalisations and Laws. — The vahdity of a law 
 is based upon the assumption that a phenomenon is 
 always determined in exactly the same way, and 
 that the relation between an observed fact and the 
 conditions which give rise to it, is always the same. 
 
 When observation proclaims an ordered sequence, 
 it is necessary that the conditions, which give rise 
 to the observed phenomena, should be discovered by 
 experiment. 
 
 When a generalisation is observed, it is sometimes 
 very difficult to determine how far it applies in 
 nature, for in some instances it may be cloaked by 
 simultaneous action of another order. Thus, while it 
 is far easier to bum straw than a piece of iron, yet if 
 the latter be finely divided this order is reversed. 
 
 Utility of Scientific Knowledge. — ^The statement is 
 often made that knowledge obtained by scientific 
 method will, sooner or later, be of value. This may 
 be so in well-considered research, but it is evident 
 that much of our modern work will not stand the test 
 of time, especially when it is based upon imperfect 
 data or theory. It is also evident, that of the many 
 thousands of substances, which have been prepared, 
 a very small proportion can possess such distinctive 
 properties that they will have an economic value. 
 
 The only way to overcome this difficulty is to work 
 in practical directions. 
 
NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE ii 
 
 That research of the right kind will be useful in the 
 long run is illustrated by the following , instance. 
 Twenty-five years ago two enthusiastic collectors 
 amassed a collection of fleas from all quarters of 
 the globe. These were carefully classified and de- 
 scribed. Many years later, it was discovered that 
 fleas were carriers of bubonic plague from rat to 
 man. The original work then became useful, to 
 those who were engaged upon the major research, 
 as it shortened the time taken, and provided useful 
 information. 
 
 It is doubtful whether a similar use will be found 
 for much of our modem research, which carries with 
 it indecision, mainly due to an imperfect realisation 
 of the aims of research, and the guiding principles 
 which must rule its action. 
 
 The worker, who possesses the instinct, which leads 
 him to proceed in useful directions, is distinctly 
 favoured. The results he obtains bear the impress 
 of usefulness, and gradually his fellow workers look 
 for accotmts of his further work with increasing 
 interest. When investigation is distorted, or appa- 
 rently aimless, or where it merely has a reflected 
 interest, it has less value than some simple piece 
 of works practice, which has been carried out with 
 a definite end in view, and in accordance with 
 the rules governing scientific investigation. The 
 latter is straightforward and practical, the former 
 mechanical and indefinite. 
 
 The chemist should therefore see to what end his 
 work will lead him. If this is indefinite or ill-con- 
 sidered, the results may be equally unsatisfactory. 
 When it is seen that a definite end is unlikely, the 
 original scheme should be remodelled or discarded. 
 There is little advantage in planting seed in a 
 wilderness when there is unoccupied ground of high 
 fertility available. 
 
 Only that section of research which is practical, can 
 
12 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 influence current ideas. The rest is shelved because 
 its value is too indefinite, and there only remains 
 the prospect of it becoming useful in the future. 
 
 Research based upon practical ideas can never be 
 trivial. When it is simple in its nature, it is often 
 pxirposely so. Those who have vision, a wide 
 outlook, and the faculty of realising the things 
 which really matter, always give a practical turn to 
 their work. 
 
 Limit to Experimental Knowledge. — The difference 
 between the " how " and " why " of things is 
 apparently fundamental. This is well illustrated by 
 the recent discovery that hght is subject to the action 
 of gravitation, and deflected in its passage by a 
 solar body. This discovery, great as it is, does not 
 extend to that realm of knowledge which must deal 
 with the reason why gravitation exists. Conceivably 
 the solution of this represents the next stage of 
 discovery, but at present there is no evidence that 
 this wiU be brought within the range of human 
 experience. Evidence that this knowledge can be 
 obtained by the experimental method is entirely 
 absent, nor can we guess at the means which would 
 bring it within our ken. 
 
 All that we can be reasonably certain of is that, by 
 following the present road of experience and thought, 
 a former basis of knowledge may be established. 
 Where the end of this journey will find us is a matter 
 of speculation. Apparent contradictions cannot be 
 cancelled out, and their existence may either point 
 to imperfect views and methods, or to the fact that 
 we are approaching the limit of experience. 
 
 Of one thing we are certain. Experimental 
 evidence is the only safe guide to progress, and that, 
 at its best, science is nine-tenths practice. At pre- 
 sent we observe empiricism at one end of the scale, 
 and relative knowledge at the other, and between 
 
NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 13 
 
 these two extremes actual practice. We can explain 
 how things act, but never why. 
 
 The Unknqwn. — Speculation of the above order 
 naturally leads to inquiries as to the nature of the 
 unknown. One school holds that this is merely an 
 extension of the known, and that our methods wiU 
 gradually carry us into this region of knowledge. 
 The other holds that the unknown, as represented by 
 the why of things, is of a different order, and may 
 always remain outside the range of human thought 
 and experience, through the fact that we are part 
 of the system which it is sought to reahse. 
 
 It is increasingly difficult to resist the conclusion 
 that research only results in relative knowledge. 
 This being so, it follows that its value must be 
 expressed in terms of practical utility, rather than 
 absolute truth. 
 
 Its usefulness depends upon the fact that the 
 knowledge obtained is gained, by experiment, and 
 that it can therefore be utilised on economic lines. 
 
 Extension of Discovery. — The further effect of dis- 
 covery is well illustrated by the results which have 
 followed the recognition of the existence of electrons. 
 The infiltration of this knowledge has recently led to 
 the belief that in their action an explanation of the 
 mystifying results obtained by catalysts is obtained, 
 and possibly the similar effects produced by enzymes 
 is also due to radiation, and its influence on the 
 surrounding molecules. If this is so, many hitherto 
 unexplained phenomena can be traced to their 
 action. Thus a real discovery of a practical nature 
 may, by further discovery, become of increasing 
 utility, and bring advantage in unexpected 
 directions. 
 
 The fact that a single molecule of barium sulphate 
 wiU influence ten milhon molecules of water, so that 
 they are incapable of dissolving other barimn 
 
14 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 sulphate molecules, and that this single molecule 
 may greatly modify the conductivity of the water, 
 similarly point to the widely set action of a second 
 substance. While the explanation of this pheno- 
 menon is unknown, it has been recently suggested 
 (Bacon, J., Physical Chem., 1919, 23, 469) that the 
 increased conductivity may be due to the barium 
 sulphate molecule splitting up into an enormous 
 number of electrons, each possessing the charac- 
 teristic periodicity of the parent molecule, and that 
 these permeate the solvent so that each molecule 
 of the latter comes in contact with these electrons 
 periodically at least, and that by such means an 
 equilibrium relation is maintained. 
 
 As in the case of the dissociation theory, it is 
 obviously necessary to assume a force exerted by the 
 solvent molecules, which is capable of overcoming 
 the molecular force holding the solute system 
 together ; so in extremely dUute solutions, like the 
 one mentioned, the secondary attraction between 
 the molecule of solute and those of the solvent may 
 play a similar part to that suggested to explain the 
 isolation of atoms or ions in solutions, and thus the 
 system suggested for the latter possibly may be 
 extended to the electrons themselves. 
 
 The re-examination of past knowledge in the 
 light of more recent discovery must be continuous, 
 and the effect of this on current fact is observed. 
 The relativity of knowledge is thus emphasised, also 
 the fact that every new discovery of importance reacts 
 in its influence upon other fact. In the presence of 
 a new fact, past knowledge becomes strained, 
 and ideas only settle down when it is fully ingested, 
 and knowledge tuned to the new conditions. 
 
 Nature of Experience. — The message brought by 
 travelling light indicates that we are surrounded by 
 immeasurable distances, and that the solar bodies 
 
NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 15 
 
 are of similar composition to the earth. That the 
 solar bodies are set with enormous intervening 
 distances of space, resembling on a magnified scale, 
 the setting-out of the molecules, atoms and electrons 
 in the molecular system. 
 
 To appreciate distance, it may be remembered 
 that this earth would taJce a thousand years to travel 
 round the sun, if it progressed at the rate of sixty 
 miles an hour. This distance is actually performed 
 in one year. A student of twenty will have already 
 travelled eleven bilUon miles on this comparatively 
 restricted journey without realising it. 
 
 The stars in the " Milky Way " are three thousand 
 light-years away from the eaxth, yet light travels 
 at the rate of 186,000 miles a second. One hundred 
 and eighty million stars have been photographed. 
 
 At the other end of experience, we have the results 
 obtained by the use of the ultra-microscope, or 
 the apparatus used to track and weigh a single 
 electron. 
 
 Such terms of reference indicate conditions so 
 diverse and extreme, that they cannot be realised by 
 the side of the measurements we are accustomed to 
 in everyday life. On such a basis of comparison the 
 latter hardly seem to exist. Yet they occupy oiu 
 main attention. Thus we are able to realise the 
 relative physical significance of these greater, and 
 smaller, measurements, and to observe that appa- 
 rently there is equal perfection in the infinitely great 
 and the infinitely small. 
 
 In the midst of such amazing conditions the 
 chemist works at his bench, and plays a part which 
 is extraordinarily diverse. 
 
 By the methods of scientific control he leads nature 
 to work in new directions and utilises, to his own 
 advantage, the effects produced. 
 
 This leads him to claim a very definite recognition 
 for his science. From a plane on one of the smallest 
 
i6 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 solar bodies he perceives inexorable law and 
 order in the infinitely great and the infinitely 
 small, and observes that there is no apparent break 
 in the system, which 5delds to his observations. 
 
 Science founded on Definite Procedure. — Chemistry 
 is founded upon relative measurement or action. It 
 follows that all who work in this science should have a 
 clear idea concerning the underlying principles which 
 govern these, and give to chemical research its 
 meaning and direction. In the absence of such 
 knowledge, progress will be delayed, and the results 
 obtained less definite. 
 
 Much information may be gained by watching 
 others when they are engaged upon scientific research, 
 but this must always be an incomplete experience 
 in itself. The great masters did not gain their 
 powers by such means, but by personal effort. 
 
 A navigator more nearly reaches his destination 
 when he sails over a beaconed course, than when he 
 passes over uncharted seas. So in practical research 
 there are equivalent means of securing a rapid 
 passage from the known to the' previously unknown. 
 
 The aim of the scientific worker is such that his 
 endeavours are inspired by ideals, rather than 
 prejudice. The alchemist worked through mystery 
 and isolation, the chemist works in the market-place. 
 The one sought the shadow, the other seeks the 
 substance, the first led to uncertain fact and some- 
 times trickery, the second to useful knowledge. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 HISTORICAL REVIEW AND NATURE OF 
 RESEARCH 
 
 " A geniiis is the most' indispensable instrument of material 
 or mental progress." — Chr. Collin. 
 
 Review of Past Investigation. — Chemistry, as an 
 exact science, dates back to the middle of the 
 seventeenth century, although it has been practised 
 for thousands of years in a purely empirical manner. 
 
 It is thought to have originated with the manu- 
 facture of alcohol by a process of fermentation, and 
 the natural control of such operations (" History 
 of Chemistry," Thorpe, 1909). This substance is 
 said to have been manufactured in China in the year 
 2220 B.C. Dyeing, the production of leather, the 
 working of metals and alloys are also of great 
 antiquity. There is evidence that these operations 
 were conducted with skiU by the Egyptians from 
 very early times. 
 
 The speculations of Jean Rey, in France, and of 
 Descartes, foreshadowed the birth of systematic 
 investigation. 
 
 In this country research may be said to date from 
 the formation of the Royal Society, and the imme- 
 diate results which led up to this important event. 
 In 1661 Robert Boyle published the " Sceptical 
 Chemist," in Which he outlined a new philosophy. 
 This investigator, with the help of certain supporters, 
 sought to cultivate the system which naturally 
 followed on his suggestion. The Invisible College, 
 based on a conviction that " there was no certain 
 way of arriving at any knowledge unless they made 
 a series of experiments upon natural bodies," was 
 
 C.R. 2 
 
i8 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 founded. Boyle's personal work at once set a high 
 standard for future investigation. A consideration 
 of his discoveries, experiments and conclusions, is of 
 absorbing interest to the student. His conception 
 of an element is in general use to-day ; but his 
 great service to science and learning consisted in 
 the new spirit he infused into chemistry, which at 
 once lifted it into the plane of a great science. It 
 no longer remained the handmaid of medicine, as it 
 had formerly been. 
 
 As a result of this vital change in method, chemical 
 research was seen to offer great possibiUties, and the 
 Invisible College became the Royal Society, the 
 charter of which was obtained in 1662. 
 
 Robert Boyle's conclusions were destined to 
 influence the entire scientific world, as well as to give 
 rise to modern chemistry. To the close ring of mere 
 thinkers the experimental basis of science was 
 first proclaimed, and then established. 
 
 An examination of Boyle's work brings with it a 
 certain realisation of a power of concentration and 
 determination, which are present in all important 
 work. Its lasting influence emphasises the import- 
 ance of knowledge, as this is based on direct experi- 
 ment, and indicates the respect which such work 
 must always command. It shone out as a bright 
 star from a firmament of make-believe. It still 
 remains as an example to those who have the 
 advantage of working under modern conditions. 
 Boyle's method has dominated research and become 
 the recognised basis of all scientific inquiry. 
 
 Boyle certainly owed much to the teaching of 
 Francis Bacon, that greatest of the Moderns. He 
 carried out in his work, the principles enumerated 
 in " Novum Organum." Bacon fought against the 
 d priori method of establishing the first principles 
 of any science, and then by syllogism the propositions 
 which that science could contain. Bacon was so 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW 19 
 
 imbued with the importance of knowledge obtained 
 by observation, that his system virtually sup- 
 pressed the corresponding use of deduction. His 
 great service was in pointing out that all true 
 progress lay in a " graduated and successive induc- 
 tion " where advance proceeded by ordered steps to 
 the highest generalisations. 
 
 Modem experience has shown that the Baconian 
 method is too limited, and that progress is best 
 achieved by the continual use of both induction and 
 deduction. Thus TyndaU held " that the real 
 vocation of an investigator like Faraday, consists of 
 the incessant marriage of both. ' ' That Boyle was in- 
 fluenced by Bacon's work is generally acknowledged. 
 
 Lemery followed in Boyle's footsteps, and also 
 insisted that chemistry was a science of observation. 
 He suggested the natural division of this science into 
 its organic and inorganic branches. Boerhaave 
 published his " Elementa Chemia " in 1732. This 
 work greatly influenced the thought of the period. 
 The investigations of Priestley and Cavendish, which 
 followed, are too well known to demand more than 
 passing notice. With those of Lavoisier, Dalton, 
 Berzelius, Prout, and Davy, they bring us to the 
 early days of the nineteenth century, when Nicholson 
 and Carlisle first decomposed water by the aid of the 
 voltaic pile. This last observation received great 
 attention, deepening the rising interest in this 
 progressive science, and materially assisting its 
 general development. 
 
 Thus a rapid advance in chemistry followed the 
 recognition of the unique value of investigation by 
 experiment. Boyle's suggestion and its definite 
 acceptance as the only reasonable source of know- 
 ledge of natural phenomena has led up to the com- 
 manding position which modern chemistry and the 
 experimental sciences occupy to-day. 
 
 By an examination of the developments, which 
 
 2—2 
 
20 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 followed as a direct result of the general acceptance 
 of this idea, the student will at once realise the 
 supreme power and value of research, and measure 
 its direct influence on the progress of civihsation. 
 The suggestion of continual progress must be the 
 underlying thought. It must gtiide the investigator 
 at aU times and find expression in any research 
 having a permanent value. Progress by research 
 has become the watchword of science, and is rapidly 
 occupying an equally important position in the 
 industrial world. 
 
 The historical side of this development may be 
 followed in " The History of Chemistry " by Sir 
 Edward Thorpe (1909). This, with its excellent 
 bibliography, forms a suitable introduction to the 
 subject. For further details the standard works may 
 be consulted. The student should also be acquainted 
 with the Alembic Club Reprints and Ostwald's 
 " Klassiker." 
 
 Advance by Successive Stages. — The determining 
 phases of the advance of chemistry are many, but 
 the following discoveries roughly set out the begin- 
 ning of new things and the features of research which 
 have most deeply modified -this science : — 
 
 (i) The period up to 1869 during which many 
 elements had been discovered and isolated, 
 and their properties observed and com- 
 pounds prepared from the same. 
 
 (2) The periodic system of MendeleefE (1869), 
 
 following on the prehminary work of 
 Newlands in 1864. 
 
 (3) Atomic Grouping by Kekul^ (benzene ring) 
 
 (1865). 
 
 (4) Law of Mass Action by Guldberg and Waage 
 
 ^1867), following on the work of Wenzel 
 (1777), Berthollet (1799), Wilhelmy (1850), 
 and Berthelot (1862). 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW 21 
 
 (5) Thermochemistry, study of, by Thomsen 
 
 (i860), Berthelot (1865). 
 
 (6) Stereochemistry: Pasteur (1850), Le Bel 
 
 (1874), and van't Hoff (1874), and Guye 
 (1890). 
 
 (7) Phase Rule: Gibbs (1874). 
 
 (8) Osmotic Pressure : van't Hoff (1894), follow- 
 
 ing Pfeiffer's work (1877). 
 
 (9) Electrolytic Dissociation : Arrhenius (1884), 
 
 following Clausius (1851), and Grotthaus 
 {1806). 
 
 (10) Theory of Solution : van't Hoff, Arrhenius, 
 
 Jones. 
 
 (11) Radioactivity: Crookes, J. J. Thompson, 
 
 Rontgen, Curie. 
 It is claimed that chemistry first became an exact 
 science as a result of certain generalisations, the first 
 of which was the law of mass action. This is, of 
 course, the view of the physical chemist. It is not 
 possible at the present time to estimate the respective 
 value of these epoch discoveries and of others which 
 have not been included in this list, but the mere 
 recording of them indicates at a glance the nature 
 of certain researches, which have become classic as a 
 result of their far-reaching influence. 
 
 Present State of Research. — When considering the 
 exact position of research, the beginner must guard 
 against the conclusion that starthng discoveries 
 result from a casual observation on the part of some 
 investigator. This is not so, as many previous 
 investigators must have overlooked these same 
 phenomena. Only a trained observer can appreciate 
 their significance, and take advantage of their 
 occurrence. 
 
 Under modern conditions, successful investigation 
 has its origin in close reasoning, and only when this 
 is accompanied by a careful survey of previous work, 
 
22 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 and a full consideration of the best conditions of 
 working, can a successful issue be anticipated. 
 
 This view was certainly held by Faraday. When 
 referring to his own experience he said " that the 
 world little knows how many of the thoughts and 
 theories that have passed through the mind of a 
 scientific investigator have been crushed in silence 
 and secrecy by his own severe criticism and adverse 
 examination, that in the most successful instance not 
 a tenth of the suggestions, the hopes, the wishes, 
 the preliminary concluMons have been realised." 
 
 Thus, it is generally held that no scientific dis- 
 covery can, with any justice, be coiisidered as due 
 to accident ; previous knowledge and training are 
 essential before results worthy of consideration can 
 be secured, or, what is perhaps of more importance, 
 their true significance realised. The young investi- 
 gator will do well to accept this statement. It is 
 important to reaUse from the first that discoveries 
 are laboriously sought for ; that they are the result 
 of a direct and patient search. Having realised this, 
 false hopes are destroyed, and additional value is 
 given to the results obtained. This beUef will act as 
 an incentive to the student to make full use of facts 
 already available, and to attempt to increase, know- 
 ledge by his personal endeavours. It points to the 
 only practical means by which success can be assured. 
 
 "Accidental" Discovery.^ — Exception has been 
 taken in some quarters to the opinion expressed in the 
 last paragraph, which was first emphasised by Gore. 
 It is true that many cases can be cited, where it would 
 appear at first sight that important results have been 
 secured by accident. A detailed examination will 
 bring to light the fact that the discovery was 
 only apparently accidental. The presence of unsus- 
 pected conditions had been seized upon by the 
 investigator, with a result that the research took a 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW 23 
 
 modified, direction. By such means progress has 
 undoubtedly been hastened. 
 
 A broken thermometer introduced mercury into 
 the sphere of action in the preparation of one of 
 the intermediate compounds in the production of 
 synthetic indigo, with beneficial results. Yet only 
 the methods of exact experimenting brought the cause 
 of the effect produced to the surface, and it is known 
 that the search for the increased efficiency observed 
 was a long one, and the tracking down of the real 
 facts was an exhausting process. The closest methods 
 of reasoning and experiment were required. 
 
 It is commonly stated that Perkin discovered 
 mauveine by accident. Yet Emil Fischer spoke of 
 this discovery in the following words : " While 
 examining the impure aniline available at this date 
 he was led to try the effect of oxidising agents on 
 the same. He was instantly rewarded with an 
 uninviting purple precipitate, which most of the 
 chemists of his day would have thrown into the sink. 
 Yet such was his perseverance that from this unpro- 
 mising product he was able to prepare the first 
 protean series of coal tar dyes." 
 
 The nature of this accident is thus disclosed. It 
 is seen that the main factor was the personal action 
 of the investigator, who by skill and perseverance 
 followed up his work to its natural limits. The 
 production of a dyestuff was unexpected, just as 
 the discoveries of Faraday could not have been 
 anticipated by mere surmise. The point to be 
 emphasised is that the search must be a true one, 
 and that the full powers of a skilled investigator 
 must be brought into play, and all the laws which 
 govern investigation given full consideration. Then 
 alone will determining results be obtained. In 
 practically all cases the discovery comes to the 
 qualified and skilled observer. To call this accidental 
 is a misuse of words. 
 
24 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 The account given by Kekule concerning the dis- 
 covery of his benzene theory is another case in point. 
 The final result followed an intense search. 
 
 It must follow therefore that an accidental 
 discovery, should this exist in very special cases, 
 must stand on a lower plane to one that is definitely 
 sought for, or directly obtained by the highest skill 
 and foresight. 
 
 A good example of the latter is found in the case 
 of salvarsan. Here a deliberate search for a com- 
 pound, which would possess in addition to certain 
 properties another one which would make it useful 
 in a new direction, was carried out. The thorough 
 nature of this search is revealed by the statement 
 that 605 compounds gave negative results before 
 one was secured, which possessed the combined 
 properties which were looked for. It has been stated 
 that some sixty chemists were engaged on this search. 
 
 So-called accidents therefore resolve themselves 
 into occurrences the significance of which is only 
 realised by those who are able to grasp the truth, 
 lying behind the observation. 
 
 The student will do well not to rely upon accidental 
 discoveries ; far less to get in the habit of working 
 for them. He must accustom himself to a definite 
 search for knowledge by investigation, governed by 
 certain definite rules. He must regard the results, not 
 as accidental, but as arising directly out of his work. 
 
 As quoted elsewhere, Crookes held that a scientific 
 observation was lost upon any but the skilled investi- 
 gator, and that it simply did not exist to others. 
 Empirical knowledge may be accidentally acquired, 
 but scientific knowledge never. The fundamental 
 basis of such research is order, not accident. 
 
 The recognition of this fact is of considerable 
 importance to the routine worker, for it indicates 
 that there is always a reasonable chance of securing 
 results by close observation. In standard methods 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW 25 
 
 of analysis the only safe means of detecting remaining 
 errors, or inherent defects, is by a comparison of the 
 results obtained on constant repetition. This often 
 leads to improvements and modification in detail. 
 Such results become immediately useful. They may 
 even, as in the past, bring to light new problems of a 
 comprehensive nature, and lead to further investiga- 
 tion on more general lines. Thus each type of 
 worker has special opportunities for securing an 
 increase in knowledge, which may be obtained in 
 this case by applying the latest methods of experi- 
 mental investigation to the everyday operations of 
 the laboratory. 
 
 In experimental investigation great attention must 
 be given to detail. Where this is not fully realised, 
 conclusions will be drawn from premises, which are 
 either incomplete or incorrect. When such conclu- 
 sions are made further use of, confusion and 
 uncertainty must follow. 
 
 Special Requirements of Economic Research. — In 
 large-scale operations a false step may be disastrous. 
 Much time has been lost in attempting to apply 
 imperfectly worked out processes on a manufacturing 
 scale. The effect on the actual investigator of such 
 partial success, or fail\u:e, is equally unfortunate, as 
 it may lead to a corresponding lack of confidence in 
 his ability to carry out such work in the future. 
 
 The natural difficulties, surrounding an attempt 
 to increase the scale on which an operation is con- 
 ducted, are always formidable. The data obtained 
 in the laboratory under the best conditions are often 
 not sufficiently complete for such an extension to be 
 carried out without further investigation. New 
 difficulties come to the surface, which have to be 
 overcome by further research in the works. 
 
 AU possible care therefore must be exercised in the 
 initial or laboratory stage, and the results examined 
 
26 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 and checked in the smallest detail. In this way 
 the presence of difficulties introduced through want 
 of knowledge can be reduced to a minimum. 
 
 The need of a sound training in the methods of 
 conducting research is self-evident. It is an 
 essential condition to success. The only point 
 remaining for discussion is how such training can be 
 imparted to a student in the university or college. 
 
 Definition of Research. — Experience has shown 
 that it is difficult to define the exact nature of 
 research. 
 
 It has been defined as a " wrestling with nature, 
 a striving towards a Umit of attainable knowledge." 
 In putting forward this definition, Gore held that it 
 consisted of observation, study, and experiment, 
 in varied proportions. 
 
 Discovery has generally been defined as " a passing 
 from the known to the unknown." It is considered 
 that this result is achieved in the following" 
 instances : — 
 
 (i) When we perceive a new impression. 
 
 (2) When we observe a new fact. 
 
 (3) When we compare two ideas and observe a 
 
 new similarity, or difference. 
 {4) When we compare two propositions, and per- 
 ceiving a similarity, or difference, infer a new 
 truth. 
 
 (5) When we divide, or analyse, a compound idea, 
 
 and perceive a new, or more elementary one. 
 
 (6) When we combine two or more ideas together 
 
 by an act of imagination and perceive a new 
 combination. 
 
 (7) When we permutate, or alter, the order of a 
 
 series of ideas, and perceive a new order. 
 When an attempt is made to define the exact 
 relation between observation and research it is 
 difficult to arrive at a satisfactory result. The 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW 27 
 
 following definition, recently set up to meet special 
 conditions, suggests, by inference, the nature of such 
 differences : — 
 It is considered necessary that : — 
 (i) Research as the result of observation, or 
 experiment, must result in the collection of 
 new facts. 
 (2) It must involve an examination of the facts 
 collected or phenomena observed, and their 
 reduction to a form in which they constitute 
 an addition to knowledge. 
 W. M. Gardner has defined research as " a logical 
 and original investigation inspired by imagination 
 and directed by special knowledge." 
 
 Chemical research has been divided into two 
 distinct branches, which deal respectively with 
 investigation, which has theoretical or practical 
 significance. Sir WilHam Tilden has summarised 
 these respective spheres in the following terms : — 
 (i) The worker watches the operations of Nature 
 and puts questions in the form of experi- 
 ments solely- with the desire to find out her 
 ways. 
 (2) Attention is given only to those laws, facts, and 
 phenomena which can be made serviceable 
 to man. 
 Such distinctions are difficult to maintain, and a 
 brief examination of the position will indicate that 
 it matters little whether an investigator holds his 
 work to be entirely connected with the operations 
 of Nature or not. The main consideration is whether 
 he adds to the sum of useful knowledge. Such 
 distinctions roughly followed the two main channels 
 of chemical research in the past, but they are 
 obviously artificial and have no counterpart in actual 
 experience. 
 
 A man may definitely brick up one of the windows 
 in his study wall and determine that he will restrict 
 
28 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 his view in a certain direction. This attitude is 
 pedantic, and unfortunately it is not confined to 
 any one branch of chemical activity. 
 
 If a man's work is indifferent, it will matter little 
 whether it is called practical or academic. The crux 
 is the value of the results obtained. This division 
 is unfortunate, for the reason, among others, that 
 theory, which has its origin in some practical observa- 
 tion, is valuable from this fact alone. 
 
 Again, the great advance, which has taken place 
 in tinctorial chemistry, is due to the fact that theory 
 and practice have both been involved in its develop- 
 ment. To take another example, the Haber process 
 has entailed an amount of research since its starting 
 which has greatly exceeded that connected with the 
 original discovery. This latter research has alone 
 made the process a useful one. Only by the closest 
 co-operation between the chemist and engineer has 
 economic efficiency been secured. Thus an experi- 
 ment, which might conceivably have adorned the 
 lecture table, has been developed into one of the most 
 valuable of all chemical processes. 
 
 When the respective values of static and dynamic 
 research are more fully realised and understood, such 
 old-fashioned divisions will be no longer used, and 
 the different interests will become one in intent and 
 purpose. Research in the higher branches of 
 practical investigation has already profoundly modi- 
 fied theory in many directions, and in some cases 
 have given rise to conclusions of far-reaching 
 influence. 
 
 If investigation is graded into those parts which 
 yield static or dynamic knowledge respectively the 
 unnatural divisions of the past would disappear, and 
 with this change the terms " pure " and " applied," 
 which really mean nothing in particular, would lose 
 their present significance and be replaced by others, 
 which have a truer meaning. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 OBSERVATION AND EXPERIMENT 
 
 " The true pilot is the man who navigates the bed of the ocean 
 rather than its surface. The waves of the sea are an external 
 problem." — ^Victor Hugo. 
 
 Observation and Experiment. — When it is observed 
 
 that a problem calls for experimental treatment or 
 
 investigation, it is necessary that a clear and com- 
 
 • plete record of all the facts connected with it shall 
 
 be obtained. 
 
 For this a special training is required, which is 
 as severe in its way as that demanded for actual 
 experiment. 
 
 Under the best conditions, it is difficult to make 
 certain how much of this information is gained from 
 what we perceive, and how much from what we 
 infer. For instance, if a man stands outside a cotton 
 miU, he infers that it wiU contain all the machinery 
 necessary for the operations connected with some 
 stage of cotton manufacture, but he has no actual 
 proof that such is the case. 
 
 It is unfortimately impossible to discuss this 
 important point at any length on the present occa- 
 sion, but the problem presented is one of special 
 interest to the scientific worker, who can afford to 
 take no risks in his information as to facts. It must 
 be remembered that facts, which are properly 
 recorded, depend upon the intellect, and not upon 
 feeling; also that those which are negative must 
 receive as much attention as those which are positive. 
 
30 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 Relative Value of Observation. — Observations 
 leading to new discoveries are the ones which/ do not 
 agree with accepted opinion or theory as it exists 
 for the time being. They obviously call for further 
 experiment. 
 
 When observation alone will not give the necessary 
 information as to the cause of an observed pheno- 
 menon, the active intervention of the investigator is 
 necessary. It is then that he must experiment and 
 by varying conditions determine the cause which is 
 operative in bringing about the observed effect. If 
 this variation of known conditions does not give the 
 required information, he must then search for 
 unknown ones. 
 
 In aU such investigation, it is necessary that 
 conditions or circumstances shall be varied one at a 
 time. All others must be kept constant, or confusion 
 of ideas wiU result, and incorrect conclusions drawn. 
 
 Upon this general procedure — so simple in itself 
 and so difficult to approach in practice — the fabric 
 of experimental evidence rests. It is the foundation 
 upon which the edifice of modem research is erected. 
 
 Following the collection of all facts, which seem to 
 directly or indirectly bear upon the proposed investi- 
 gation, it is necessary to clearly define the nature of 
 the research which is contemplated. Every condi- 
 tion must be set out clearly and mentally, a decision 
 must be come to as to the line of investigation which 
 seems to offer the best advantage. 
 
 Where investigation is concerned with research 
 dealing with large-scale production, this rule of pro- 
 cedure is not always an easy one to follow. This 
 is mainly due to the added difficulties which present 
 themselves when some of the conditions present are 
 still empirical. 
 
 Empiricism and Relative Knowledge. — An 
 empirical law is one which has not yet been explained. 
 
OBSERVATION AND EXPERIMENT 31 
 
 That is to say, the reason why it operates is unknown. 
 The effect is observed, but the cause still remains 
 hidden. 
 
 Such a law is regarded as a derivative, rather than 
 an ultimate one. 
 
 An empirical law is therefore an observed unifor- 
 mity, which it is presumed, can be ultimately 
 resolved into simpler laws. It is a law which awaits 
 explanation. 
 
 Past experience indicates that such laws are finally 
 resolved into a comparatively small number of 
 relative laws of causation. They exist as a result 
 of the joint action or collocation of certain other 
 laws. They are composite in their nature. The 
 investigator always regards them with uncertainty, 
 for they may only exist under the conditions 
 originally met with. 
 
 A variation from the exact conditions or circum- 
 stances under which they were observed may either 
 obscure, or nullify their action. 
 
 The presence of empirical law is often met with in 
 industrial work. This follows from the fact that 
 conditions of working are relatively complicated. 
 
 In the case of such laws, action occurs in a definite 
 way so long as conditions are kept constant, and it is 
 often the aim of the practical worker to determine 
 the conditions under which such effects can be 
 produced with reasonable certainty. 
 
 When working imder such difficult conditions, as 
 where only a part of the actions are realised or known, 
 it sometimes follows that a workman will, by what 
 is termed rule-of-thumb, succeed in controlling 
 operations more successfully than the experienced 
 investigator. By repeated observation the workman 
 has learned the Hmits of successful working, and by 
 following a path pointed out by past experience he is 
 able to control operations to better advantage than 
 the scientific investigator. The latter has to face 
 
32 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 too many unknown conditions. He is] misled at 
 every step by conditions which vary through 
 unknown causes. 
 
 The presence of so many unknown conditions 
 will greatly try the young chemist, who has been 
 accustomed to work with pure chemicals and to 
 confine his work to directions, which are relatively 
 under control. As a rule, his past experience can 
 neither teU him much about his work, nor lead him 
 by direct paths to a realisation of the methods he 
 must perforce adopt, to gain an advantage imder such 
 different conditions of working. 
 
 To be successful, he must be prepared to utilise 
 every method of investigation, which seems to offer 
 any advantage, temporary or otherwise. A process 
 of manufacture is, at any time, made up of a number 
 of known and unknown conditions. Even the laws 
 governing the known conditions may be mainly 
 empirical. It may be acknowledged that only when 
 empirical practice is resolved into exact method, 
 based upon scientific knowledge, can the best results 
 be achieved. A knowledge of the exact causes, which 
 bring about observed changes, is a necessary pre- 
 liminary to perfect conditions of working. 
 
 When it is not possible to eliminate unknown and 
 disturbing influences, they must be met and con- 
 trolled empirically, if they cannot be dealt with 
 on strictly scientific Unes. The position cannot be 
 sterilised from objectionable and disturbing influ- 
 ences by a preliminary purification of raw materials. 
 The young chemist must learn to work in their 
 presence and by a general study of conditions, to 
 reduce their adverse action to a minimum. 
 
 Judged from a standpoint of practice, experi- 
 mental work must supplement observation and 
 empirical methods of working wherever this is 
 possible. There is the same difference between 
 working in the college laboratory and the works. 
 
OBSERVATION AND EXPERIMENT 33 
 
 that the soldier meets with when he goes from the 
 parade ground to the battlefield. 
 
 In new industries, which have been based upon 
 research, it might be expected that the conditions of 
 working will be less empirical, and the system of 
 control more scientific. This is the case in some 
 instances, and not so in others. The so-called trade 
 secret is nothing more than a partially observed 
 fact, conditions being improved by taking advantage 
 of information gained by observation. Better condi- 
 tions of workmg have been observed, which are 
 not understood, but merely followed. The disad- 
 vantage of such methods is that control is easily 
 upset and no longer operative. 
 
 Such " mixed reactions " are difficult to control 
 on account of their complexity. The temporary 
 superiority of rule-of-thumb is real while it lasts, 
 and the young chemist will do well to give it all the 
 respect it deserves. Otherwise he may attempt to 
 substitute an efficient method by another, which 
 may be more scientific, but less useful. As a matter 
 of experience, the operations of rule-of-thumb are 
 very difiicult to replace. Their superiority will only 
 give way before the best endeavours of the experi- 
 enced investigator. In some cases, years pass before 
 this stage can be achieved. 
 
 Where the laboratory chemist does not possess a 
 wide experience of manufacturing operations he is 
 advised to go slowly, when he comes up against 
 rule-of-thumb, especially if he does not possess the 
 " works-sense," and the power of translating labora- 
 tory work into works practice. 
 
 There are so many points to consider, which are 
 absent in laboratory research, that the very strange- 
 ness of his surroundings may confuse him. His 
 ultimate position will largely depend upon not making 
 any glaring misteike in his early years of learning. 
 He must be prepared to walk slowly, and to make 
 
 C.R. 3 
 
34 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 doubly certain of every step he takes, because he 
 lacks experience. 
 
 Nature of Empirical Knowledge. — It is incorrect to 
 regard empirical knowledge as beneath the considera- 
 tion of the scientific worker, or that it can be classi- 
 fied under a general term like empiricism, without 
 fvirther reference to its quality. The latter may be 
 estimated on a basis of practical utiHty or on one 
 calculating the skill required to secure it. It is 
 frequently referred to by those who do not realise 
 its importance as " guess-work," or " rule-of- 
 thumb," but it includes knowledge obtained by 
 experiment, when this remains unclassified, or 
 when it cannot be referred to in terms of exact 
 science. 
 
 That part of knowledge obtained by the experi- 
 mental method, which is regarded as practical, 
 because it is still considered as non-scientific, is 
 strangely like the higher kinds of empirical know- 
 ledge. In fact, they are seemingly identical. It is 
 difficult to determine whether the value of empirical 
 knowledge is more truly arrived at on a basis of the 
 skill exercised in obtaining it, or by its usefulness. 
 
 Four classes of empiricism can be recognised with 
 Uttle difficulty, and others will, no doubt, suggest 
 themselves. The former are as follows : — 
 
 (i) Mere guess-work, which is subsequently utilised 
 in the arts. 
 
 (2) Knowledge gained by the accidental interven- 
 
 tion of new conditions, when this is utilised 
 by repetition. 
 
 (3) Knowledge gained by close observation based 
 
 upon extended experience. 
 
 (4) Knowledge obtained by experiment, which is 
 
 of practical value but not yet scientific. 
 It is generally a feature of empirical knowledge 
 that it is essentially dynamic. 
 
OBSERVATION AND EXPERIMENT 35 
 
 Relative Significance of Observation and Experi- 
 ment. — Observation is defined as a mere recording 
 of phenomena as they occur in the ordinary course 
 of nature. 
 
 When this course is changed by the personal 
 intervention of the observer, he is said to experiment. 
 
 These two stages in experience have been defined 
 by Herschell as "passive" and "active" respec- 
 tively. 
 
 An experiment therefore differs from an observa- 
 tion in the fact that specially introduced conditions 
 influence the result in the former case. It is in this 
 direction that the power of the investigator is tested, 
 both in the methods adopted and the inferences 
 made. 
 
 The relative value of observation and experiment 
 cannot be determined with any accuracy. It varies in 
 different sciences. The former has not the same value 
 in chemistry as in medicine. Its value is possibly 
 greater in practical than in academic research. 
 Correct observation of course plays a part in experi- 
 mental investigation. The element of specialised 
 control is the one which distinguishes experiment 
 from observation. 
 
 The practical chemist makes great use of observa- 
 tion. By its aid he collects his subject-matter for 
 experimental investigation. The more experienced 
 a worker the greater use will he make of this aid to 
 progress. 
 
 It represents a preliminary step in the process of 
 investigation, which is amplified by experiment in 
 all its stages. 
 
 Where procedure is governed by observation 
 alone it is caUed empirical. Long before the experi- 
 mental method was adopted, industries were firmly 
 established. The tanning of leather, the dyeing of 
 fabrics with natural dyes and pigments, the smelting 
 of metals, were all practised with great success. 
 
 3— a 
 
36 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 With all our experimenting how much is really known 
 of the first two processes to-day ? The reactions 
 involved still defy the investigator's skill, and the 
 actual operations are even now largely empirical. 
 
 Empiricism. — The practical investigator, therefore, 
 guards against adverse criticism in the presence of 
 such conditions. He extracts every ounce of 
 practical advantage from available knowledge, pre- 
 ferring that which is relative rather than empirical, 
 but accepting the latter in all cases where it is more 
 satisfactory. The greater value of knowledge 
 obtained by the experimental method is allowed, but 
 it is recognised that the time has not arrived when 
 empirical methods can be dispensed with, without 
 a direct loss in efficiency. 
 
 It may again be pointed out to those who object 
 on principle to empirical knowledge, that a large 
 proportion of the data obtained by experiment is 
 still unclassified ; quantitative, but still to be 
 brought into fine with theory, and therefore 
 still unscientific. 
 
 How far these unclassified facts differ from those 
 of empiricism it is difficult to say. It might be 
 argued that the one is to enquiry what the other is 
 to economic production. 
 
 Intermediate Stage of Knowledge and Experience. — 
 There is an intermediate stage in the full develop- 
 ment of scientific knowledge where action is alone 
 possible, when partially known and unclassified data 
 are utilised. 
 
 In Faraday's words, " Ideas which may have a 
 provisional basis of experiment are often the shades 
 of a speculation — impressions on the mind which are 
 allowable for the time as guides to thought and re- 
 search," although " their apparent fitness and beauty 
 vanish before the progress of real natural truth." 
 
 The practical investigator appUes thought and 
 
OBSERVATION AND EXPERIMENT 37 
 
 knowledge until success is achieved. In his progress 
 along lines of least resistance he rejects the image of 
 past definitions as to what knowledge should be, 
 and utilises every source of information, which 
 common sense indicates will aid him in his search. 
 
 In the days when processes are springing up on 
 all sides, which owe their origin to the experimental 
 method, it is only right that we should not lose sight 
 of the real position of our present knowledge. The 
 modem method has introduced industries and 
 processes, which could not have been controlled or 
 thought of had observation alone been utilised. 
 
 The experimental method has partially replaced 
 the older one, and in time it may be that it alone 
 will survive, but the great part played by those who 
 achieved so much with such a slender guide as 
 observation can never be passed over. Their 
 memory will remain fresh until the last of the 
 industrial processes surrenders to scientific law. 
 
 It is certain that the future belongs to the experi- 
 mentalist. It is right to emphasise this in every way, 
 but the constant and real aid given by observation 
 to the scientific investigator must also be fully 
 recognised. Observation rightly carried out will 
 ever iUumine the work of the investigator. 
 
 Branches of Chemical Activity. — Under modern 
 conditions, chemical activity may be divided into 
 three main sections : — 
 
 (i) Research, static or dynamic. 
 
 {2) Development and control of economic 
 processes. 
 
 (3) Instruction of students, including post- 
 graduate work. 
 
 In past years, the greatest investigators were' 
 practically forced to work in colleges. To-day this 
 condition no longer applies. Laboratories have 
 sprung up in all directions, and many industrial 
 
38 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 corporations rely upon their own endeavours to 
 keep them abreast of the times. Nor is the research 
 conducted in these institutions always of a practical 
 nature, and even when this is so, it is as scientific in 
 its construction as that known in the past as " pure " 
 research. Under the classification now proposed 
 investigation is regarded as static and dynamic, as 
 it respectively supplies general or useful information, 
 and knowledge obtained through experimental evi- 
 dence takes an added significance. 
 
 The Personal Factor. — One of the most difficult 
 problems is to decide how far a trained investigator 
 is capable of carrying out original research. Under 
 modern conditions, many enter the chemical depart- 
 ment who would under the older regime have 
 remained outside. In the early days no one who 
 had not a decided bent in the direction of experi- 
 mental science would have thought of engaging in 
 research. To-day all this is altered, and it is 
 sufficient that a youth shall be able to pass his 
 entrance examinations for him to embark upon a 
 scientific career. This matter is discussed at 
 further length elsewhere. 
 
 Even when a student shows great promise and 
 possesses those qualifications which are known to 
 be advantageous in such work, it will still be found 
 that he may be successful in one section of chemical 
 activity and fail in others. It is generally observed 
 that a man, who does not possess what the writer 
 would term " the works sense," is comparatively 
 useless in large scale production. While he may be 
 most successful when working in test tubes and 
 beakers, he fails when he has to face the conditions 
 which govern economic production. 
 
 His mental equipment and balance are not of the 
 order necessary for him to succeed in this extended 
 experience. 
 
OBSERVATION AND EXPERIMENT 39 
 
 It is somewhat fortunate that generally the 
 " works sense " is either fuUy developed or absent. 
 With experience, one may even form an opinion as 
 to whether a man possesses this larger sense by merely 
 watching how he looks at a piece of complicated 
 chemical plant. An indifferent worker may be 
 present in a laboratory without doing much harm, 
 but this is not so in the works. 
 
 Many can criticise the work of others, and success- 
 fully point out where it is defective or incomplete, 
 and yet be quite unable to engage successfully on 
 such work themselves. They lack manipulative skill 
 and a sense of proportion, although they possess other 
 faculties to a marked extent, including the creative 
 power, which gives rise to important suggestions. 
 
 Provisionally chemists may be classified as 
 follows : — 
 
 (i) Those who can successfully impart acquired 
 knowledge to others, and therefore act 
 successfully as teachers. 
 
 {2) Those who, in addition, have manipulative 
 skill, and a sense of order. 
 
 (3) Those who also possess originality of thought, 
 
 and the power of appl5dng this to scientific 
 investigation. 
 
 (4) Those who, in addition, possess " the works 
 
 sense " and can carry out large scale opera- 
 tions, and direct others in the same. 
 Men of the first class should confine their 
 attention to teaching. Those of the second class 
 may, with advantage, be teachers, or work in a 
 laboratory. The third class should be engaged on 
 research, and the fourth should utilise their powers 
 in practical research and economic production. 
 While no hard and fast distinctions are possible, it 
 is easy to recognise the above special qualifications 
 in different workers. 
 
 It is not suggested that a man in class (3) should 
 
40 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 never teach He may make an ideal teacher, for 
 he possesses experience as well, as knowledge, but 
 he should be regarded primarily as an investigator, 
 who may, or may not, teach others the methods of 
 actual practice. While members of the latter 
 , classes may take up duties in the earlier ones, the 
 reverse cannot be so successfully accomplished. 
 
 An investigation may be brilhantly conceived, but 
 indifferently executed. The vision may be clear, 
 but the task imperfectly carried out. It does not 
 follow that a man with keen imagination also 
 possesses those quaUties which bring success in 
 chemical investigation. His mind may work too 
 swiftly, ideas following ideas so rapidly that action 
 is deferred, or when followed up, incomplete. 
 
 Research on Practical Lines. — When the chemist 
 enters a works, he observes a strangely new world 
 of running machinery, steaming vats, and processes 
 working on a vast scale in closed vessels instead of in 
 the easily examined laboratory ones. 
 
 He must, as rapidly as possible, take stock of 
 his new surroundings, and reahse the altered condi- 
 tions under which he will work in the future. 
 
 In time he wiU gain confidence, this being 
 secured when he reaUses that large scale operations 
 are carried out with a surprising regularity in the 
 works, and that this will evidently afford him a 
 foothold and allow of further advance as a result of 
 experiment. 
 
 He will observe that unrestricted experimental 
 work on a large scale is impossible for financial 
 reasons. Any change which ends in failure may 
 entail serious loss, He will do well to remember 
 that adverse results have a way of developing after 
 comparatively long intervals, and that failure may 
 result from secondary changes, which subsequently 
 come into operation. 
 
OBSERVATION AND EXPERIMENT 41 
 
 For instance, a new process of vulcanisation may, 
 on the face of things, seem to introduce an improve- 
 ment, yet it may be that the finished material will 
 suffer from secondary changes on keeping. 
 
 In the laboratory an unsuccessful experiment may 
 be poured down the sink and forgotten, but in the 
 works a considerable stock of the final product may 
 remain to draw attention to an ill-considered effect. 
 The added responsibility which follows when produc- 
 tion takes place on a larger scale is very real. 
 
 The chemist has already fought half his battle 
 when he realises that he is good at his work. This 
 knowledge, as it is gained by experience, acts as an 
 incentive, when thmgs seem all awry and progress 
 is loncertain. 
 
 The value of failure must be realised ; the conditions 
 which give rise to it must be fuUy considered. The 
 young worker must set up a mental court of enquiry, 
 and examine the position from all directions. He 
 must endeavour to find out whether failure was 
 inevitable, or due to lack of attention to detail, 
 want of care, or the absence of concentration on the 
 work in hand. Upon a correct answer much may 
 depend. 
 
 Success comes to a worker in practical science on 
 his own initiative or through his own capability. 
 He may gain considerable advantage from a training 
 which puts before him the essential features of his 
 science. He may gain knowledge by close personal 
 contact with those who are engaged on research, 
 and are masters of their craft. But the time will 
 come when he must choose his own path and follow 
 it steadily to the end. 
 
 He wiU fail in originality when he merely extends 
 the work of others without adding anything in 
 method or practice. A slavish following of such a 
 programme will never bring real recognition. It 
 represents research at its ebb. 
 
42 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 His work will only keep its interest while it 
 remains useful. When the flood of experience 
 advances beyond it, it will merely make history at 
 the best, or be forgotten at the worst — a stepping 
 stone when it has proved useful, which the flood has 
 swept away, or in the alternative, it is buried 
 beneath the surface and lost to sight. 
 
 Theory and Practice.— The chemist when entering 
 a works must remember that he starts where 
 others have left off. When examining the results 
 previously obtained, he may well remember that 
 the second successful climber of Mont Blanc was 
 the savant Saussure, the first was the goatherd 
 Balmat. Also that " when ignorance becomes 
 daring, she has sometimes a sort of compass within 
 herself — the intuition of a truth clearer oftentimes 
 in a simple mind than in a learned brain." When all 
 the chances of success seem to be against the experi- 
 enced investigator he may sometimes still succeed by 
 making certain that all the precautions are on his side. 
 
 When starting an investigation an opinion will 
 naturally be formed as to the probable nature of the 
 difficulties to be met with. Every beginning is 
 a struggle against resistance. To commence an 
 investigation is to find oneself surrounded by 
 difficulties which stand as obstacles to progress. It 
 is with the overcoming of these that practical 
 research is mainly concerned. The rest is technique, 
 known to many. 
 
 Fragments of fact and past experience float before 
 the mind, to be utihsed or discarded as instinct or past 
 experience may suggest. Method governs scientific 
 investigation, as the compass does the mariner's 
 progress when it leads into previously undiscovered 
 ways. 
 
 The chemist may possibly start his investigations 
 in the works by detecting and examining some 
 
OBSERVATION AND EXPERIMENT 43 
 
 abnormal occurrence, which, as recognised, either 
 leads to loss, or more favourable results. In the 
 latter case his aim will be to extend this into 
 general practice. The discovery of such a condition 
 is always followed up by the experienced investigator, 
 and every possible effort is made to trace it to its 
 source of origin, no stone being left unturned in the 
 search. 
 
 To follow up such occurrences is one of the surest 
 means to progress. Such an experience is of great 
 value to the young investigator. It is one which 
 allows of a full play of intellect and knowledge. 
 From a practical point of view, such an experience 
 converts the novice into a seer. 
 
 The knowledge of theory and practice possessed 
 by the new arrival in a works will be mainly restricted 
 to what has been termed the first stage of discovery. 
 Almost at once he may have to virtually discard this 
 as a means to progress, and remembering the prin- 
 ciples which underlie scientific investigation he will 
 work on lines similar to these, and experiment in 
 what are to him entirely new directions. 
 
 He will have a great deal to learn. Ideas will 
 crowd upon him from an entirely different point of 
 view to that he has been accustomed to, where his 
 experience has been made comparatively easy by 
 the presence of pure material and easy conditions 
 of working. Investigation is set upon a different 
 stage, yet the underlying principles remain the same. 
 
 In time he will come to regard practice as compara- 
 tively stable beside theory, and will more and more 
 rely upon past experience as a guide. Before many 
 years have passed he will probably observe that much 
 of the theory of his college days has already become 
 obsolete, and no longer tenable as a guide to progress. 
 He will remember that somehow this is not his 
 experience in practical research. Here his methods 
 have changed, but the older ones afe still there if 
 
44 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 they are required. Temporarily or permanently, 
 they have passed out of experience, but under the 
 older conditions they still remain as useful as ever. 
 They have a permanent value, for what it is, and are 
 capable of re-use should the occasion demand. 
 
 The practical investigator therefore holds on to 
 past experience as to a rock. In time theory 
 becomes to him an assertion, practice a fact. 
 
 The main advantage which scientific investigation 
 brings with it is the certainty which accompanies 
 it in its successfiil phases. Empirical methods are 
 apt to fail at an important jimcture, so do the others, 
 but here there is a greater chance of re-estabhshing 
 normal conditions by a better understanding and 
 a more perfect control. 
 
 Time will teach another lesson. A process which 
 yields to a simple control and gives relatively uniform 
 results is always the better one. Of fifty processes, 
 which seem on general lines to offer advantages, 
 possibly only one is utilised in the works. The 
 others may, on paper, offer advantages in certain 
 ways, but the experienced investigator will in- 
 stinctively know that they are too complicated for 
 works practice; that control upon control will be 
 required and that more will be lost than gained if. 
 such methods are adopted in works practice where 
 they are not absolutely essential. 
 
 The beginner wiU do well to reconsider his activi- 
 ties when these seemingly lead to more complicated 
 methods of working, for the latter may be outside 
 the safe limits of working in economic production. 
 This fact, self-evident as it is to the practical man, 
 is often overlooked by those, who have a more 
 limited experience. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 PRELIMINARY SURVEY AND SELECTION OF 
 SUBJECT-MATTER 
 
 " Zeal without knowledge is like expedition to a man in the 
 dark. " — ^Newton. 
 
 Survey of Past Knowledge. — ^The selection of a 
 definite line for investigation wiU depend upon many 
 factors. In early days, the work of others will often 
 indicate where further knowledge is desirable, and 
 gradually a man's personal outlook, mental qualifica- 
 tions and instinct wiU select some suitable direction 
 for further research. A natural inclination to work 
 in a special direction should always be allowed full 
 play. 
 
 In many cases the nature of investigation will be 
 determined by surrotmding circumstances over which 
 little control can be effected. Thus a chemist in a 
 rubber works will naturally confine his main atten- 
 tion to investigation connected with this industry. 
 
 In any event success will come to the ordinary 
 investigator as he becomes acquainted with the pro- 
 cedure of research and as he possesses a knowledge 
 of the main principles which govern its practice. 
 
 When investigation comes through personal 
 thought, every care should be taken to fulfil the 
 condition that the results expected will be of 
 immediate utility. 
 
 If the chemist has decided that his mental qualifi- 
 cations and training indicate that he will do better in 
 academic than practical research, his selection wiU 
 probably be connected with the study of a known 
 
46 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 reaction working under new conditions, the confirma- 
 tion of some law, which seems to be empirical, and 
 the search for a new one if this is found to be the 
 case. 
 
 A mere hunt for new compounds on a plan equiva- 
 lent to an addition, or subtraction, sum is of little 
 value. This simple stage of research, coupled with 
 the recognition of the new substances produced, 
 represents investigation in its lowest form. Of a 
 hundred such new substances not one may have more 
 than passing interest. As a training in manipulation 
 and skill in selection, research of this kind may have 
 some value, but it is far better that a selection be 
 made where a definite advantage may be gained in 
 the successful completion of the research. Every 
 attempt should be made to escape from a position 
 where no apparent advantage will be gained, other 
 than a knowledge of how such operations are carried 
 out. This knowledge should be secured by other 
 means. 
 
 The powers of imagination, foresight, and successful 
 attack will be best developed when there is a definite 
 end in view. 
 
 In early days, research should not be attempted, 
 which is obviously beyond the powers of the investi- 
 gator, otherwise his efforts wiU be strained, and his 
 attention may wander from the main issue. One 
 should have knowledge of one's powers before 
 navigating the rapids of a dangerous river. 
 
 Above everything, the research should promise a 
 practical advantage. The latter condition alone 
 wiU prevent a man's work leading him into a rut. 
 The results of imitative research will be of little 
 value to any one, and least of all to the investigator. 
 
 Simplicity a Main Factor to Success. — In academic 
 work, as in practical investigation, results will be of 
 value in proportion to their usefulness and apparent 
 
SELECTION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 47 
 
 simplicity. The value of original investigation is 
 far-reaching, while research which merely follows on 
 some one else's footsteps, may only call for 
 observation and an extension of routine practice. 
 
 The methods employed by great investigators, 
 apart from the precautions taken, are always simple. 
 Far-reaching conclusions are mainly arrived at when 
 the experienced investigator uses his natural abilities 
 to their full extent. Thus Greiss laid the foundation 
 for immense developments in organic chemistry when 
 he discovered the diazo reaction. Its general 
 applicability depends greatly upon its simplicity. 
 
 When the field of modern investigation is carefully 
 reviewed there should be no difficulty in selecting a 
 line of research which is practical, non-imitative, 
 and which does not call for any great elaboration of 
 apparatus or of materials only to be obtained with 
 difficulty. 
 
 The worker, who starts investigation on industrial 
 lines, will have to exert special care that he does not 
 select for investigation a problem, which is compli- 
 cated by the presence of conditions playing at 
 cross purposes with the line of his advance. He 
 may have to trace out a very narrow course in a 
 wide and uncharted sea, if success is to come his 
 way, and this experience will be found to present 
 many difficulties over those met with in ordinary 
 research. It is a mistake to imagine that practical 
 investigation is more easily carried out than academic 
 research. The contrary is often the case. 
 
 In academic research the principle that all dis- 
 turbing influences shall be eliminated is always 
 followed, and the materials used are pure. In 
 industrial research these simple conditions are 
 rarely present, and experience has to be gained in 
 working under conditions, which would be considered 
 hopeless in the college laboratory. This explains 
 why many academic workers fail when they engage 
 
48 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 upon industrial problems, where unknown conditions 
 have to be faced. Conclusions have to be arrived at 
 when nothing but past experience can act as a guide. 
 In the past this duality of interests has kept the 
 majority of academic workers experimenting along 
 lines of httle interest, whereas they might have 
 devoted their attention to investigation, which would 
 have played a double part, and secured for their 
 endeavours results of immediate value. 
 
 While the practical investigator welcomes diffi- 
 culties which add zest to his search, another class, 
 with a different mentality, will falter in the presence 
 of unknown conditions, and will return to the straight 
 road and a clear run for their activities. 
 
 While it is certain that the same conditions must 
 apply to academic and practical investigation, yet 
 there are added responsibihties and increased diffi- 
 culties to be met with in the latter, owing to the 
 fact that the course of progress is rendered less clear 
 by interfering circumstances. 
 
 In any case a man must be in love with his work. 
 He must be so absorbed in it that temporary failure 
 but adds zest to his search. Though the fabric of past 
 knowledge and theor}^ seem to fall about his ears, he 
 must still work steamly on regardless of extraneous 
 conditions, and only intent Upon the ultimate success 
 of his endeavours. If he feels this, he will succeed in 
 practical investigation, if not, he wiU probably fail, 
 and he had better return to work which eliminates 
 such difficulties, and where research runs a more 
 even, but possibly uneventful course. 
 
 Confidence in one's powers and the presence of a 
 quest will often end in the overcoming of extra- 
 ordinary difficulties. The man who deliberately sets 
 out to win generally succeeds. The one who stops to 
 consider the work of others at every stage, and looks 
 to their results instead of his own endeavoiu's to carry 
 him to success, wiU at best produce imitative work 
 
SELECTION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 49 
 
 He will look for chance discoveries when he should 
 be steadily working on original lines. 
 
 The one t5^e of worker faces nature unaided; 
 except that he has regard for certain conditions, which 
 can -alone bring success. The other type seems to 
 always require crutches to walk with, and conse- 
 quently the higher passes are closed against him 
 before he starts. The worker, who has a constant 
 succession of fresh ideas and the power to choose 
 from these and give to them a corporate existence 
 in fact, succeeds. The task must follow the vision 
 and investigation be completed. Resolute deter- 
 mination and stubbornness of purpose succeed in 
 the long run, and the usefulness of the results 
 obtained will follow when the difficulties, met with 
 on the way, are utilised and brought into line with 
 the general advance. They in their turn are 
 compelled to give their aid, to be incorporated in 
 the research, and become part of it. 
 
 Absence of a Common Expression m Research. — 
 With the rapid advance, which has taken place in 
 physical science of late years, a corresponding 
 difficulty has arisen. The study of subjects like the 
 physical conditions associated with chemical reac- 
 tions, the advance in molecular physics, the recogni- 
 tion of the importance of residual affinity, and the 
 extraordinary differences introduced by varying 
 stages of aggregation (colloidal state, etc.), have 
 greatly complicated our knowledge of the influence 
 of physical properties of matter in its relation to 
 chemical action. 
 
 This difficulty has not been lessened by the 
 different outlook of the numerous workers who 
 now follow up such investigations. The training 
 of the physicist has given him a different idea and 
 way of looking at things to that of the chemist 
 proper. 
 
 CR. 4 
 
50 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 The reconciling of these varying differences is not 
 yet complete any more than the conflicting aims of 
 chennistty and engineering have been settled in the 
 works. In the one case, the so-called physical 
 chemist fills the breach for the time being, in the 
 other, the chemical engineer. It is interesting to 
 note that both these stop-gaps have originated with 
 the chemist. 
 
 Sooner or later these respective workers will 
 realise the aims and objects of those working on the 
 same problems from different directions, but until 
 the mass of undigested data, which is pouring out 
 from the different centres of research, is co-ordinated 
 the present somewhat uncertain position must 
 continue. 
 
 It is possible that some new discovery may make 
 all clear, and reduce to order a position which is 
 somewhat chaotic. The constantly changing views 
 on theory, and the scrappy nature of much of our 
 modern research, renders it absolutely necessary 
 that some such examination of varjdng views shall 
 be achieved. 
 
 At present the vision is clouded, and many of the 
 so- called facts are surrounded by entanglements, 
 unshattered by the high explosives of the old-time 
 chemist. 
 
 The chemist fails to reconcile the physicist's many 
 formulae and mathematical expressions with the 
 clear results, he has laboriously obtained by direct 
 experiment. The picture seems out of focus. But 
 some day, no doubt, a turn of the screW^U make all 
 clear. With a common mode of exj^ssion, the 
 inevitable understanding will follow. "^^ 
 
 The chemist still desires to set his pictures on the 
 older stage, while the physicist, cinema-ltke, reels 
 off a series of apparently disconnected pictures, with 
 bewildering effect. 
 
 Just as the dividing line between engineering and 
 
SELECTION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 51 
 
 chemistry is imperfectly served by the engineer- 
 chemist, so the present fine of demarcation between 
 the work of the chemist and physicist is incompletely 
 bridged by the so-called physical chemist. The 
 ever-accumulating mass of crude knowledge accen- 
 tuates this disquieting position, but eventually some 
 great master will take things in hand, separating the 
 grain from the chaff, and allocating to their correct 
 positions the remaining values and facts. 
 
 Residual Phenomena. — ^The importance of what 
 are termed residual phenomena should be fully 
 recognised by the young worker. Crookes pointed 
 out their supreme importance and that they " may 
 lead a man of disciphned mind and finished manipu- 
 lative skiU to the cUscovery of new elements, or new 
 laws, or even new forces." It is interesting to note 
 that he also considered that " upon undrilled men 
 these possibilities are simply thrown away. They 
 are of the highest moment to the student." 
 
 Investigators who undertake work of this nature 
 are always careful to distinguish phenomena, which 
 only seem to point to apparent laws. Where these 
 are present they make certain that general con- 
 clusions are not drawn from them. 
 
 At the same time a real exception may overturn 
 the strongest generahsation ; but interfering circum- 
 stances must be specially searched for, when observa- 
 tions of this nature are under review. 
 
 The work of leading investigators should be 
 watched carefully, as they deal with problems of this 
 nature. 
 
 When the young chemist realises that discovery 
 is the result of a definite search, where negative 
 evidence is as important as positive fact, the realisa- 
 tion must come that the value of the simplest piece 
 of research, correctly carried out, is fundamental. 
 It is self-evident that work of this nature may be 
 
 4 — 2 
 
52 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 regarded as of special value as a training for the 
 student. 
 
 The investigator, as time goes on, wiU be particu- 
 larly impressed by the progressive nature of his 
 work. He wiU realise the value of some simple fact 
 besides a mass of empirical data, even if the latter 
 be expressed by a complicated mathematical expres- 
 sion ; a sure sign, if past evidence counts for anything, 
 that he is faced by a distorted or one-sided view of 
 what may be in reality a simple expression. 
 
 Preliminary Search for Past Records.— -This is an 
 important part of any research. It should be under- 
 taken in detail before actual investigation is 
 commenced. 
 
 The student must be quite certain that he has 
 definite knowledge of any work, which may bear 
 directly or indirectly upon the investigation he 
 proposes to undertake. In practical research the 
 survey must also be extended to cover past experience. 
 
 The source of published information may be 
 divided into four main sections : — 
 
 (i) Text-books, Dictionaries, and Monographs. 
 
 (2) Journals of Chemical and other Societies. 
 
 (3) Technical and Semi-Technical Journals. 
 
 (4) Patent Literature. 
 
 Text-books are more useful for general work and 
 in the preliminary stage of research. There is a 
 growing tendency for these to be devoted to special 
 work, and where this is the case they become of 
 corresponding importance to the investigator. 
 Abstracted information should always be supple- 
 mented by a reference to the original communi- 
 cation. The details to be found there are often 
 of first importance. They naturally cannot be 
 looked for in text-books, where the compilers have 
 not, as a rule, the same object before them as the 
 investigator. ■ 
 
SELECTION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 53 
 
 Such works as Beilstein, or Dammer in his 
 " Anorganisch Chemie und Chem. Technologic," 
 or Moissan's " Chimie Minerale " may be studied 
 with advantage. The growing tendency to give 
 reference to the original papers is a satisfactory 
 feature of modem text-books. 
 
 Reference to Journals. — It is necessary to give 
 special attention to any journals dealing with the 
 subject in hand. Many of these have come into 
 being in recent years and are confined to certain 
 branches or sub-sections of scientific enquiry. 
 
 Thus it would be necessary for an investigator 
 dealing with a research on Colloids to refer to the 
 " Zeitschrift fiir Chemie und Industrie der KoUoide," 
 and when dealing with Tannins and their action, to 
 Collegium, the " official " journal connected with 
 that branch of industrial research. In the case of 
 dyeing, the Revue Generale des Matieres Colorantes, 
 the Father Zeitung, and the Journal of the Society of 
 Dyers and Colourists might be consulted. 
 
 The International Catalogue of Science and the 
 Indexes of the Royal Society's Proceedings should 
 be carefully examined, although the latter hardly 
 touches on the technical side of chemistry. Refer- 
 ence to a certain paper or communication will often, 
 by cross references, open out a wide field of further 
 information. The student must in this way make 
 a special search for previous work. The leading 
 journals to be consulted may perhaps be taken as 
 those abstracted for the Journal of the Chemical 
 Society and for the Society of Chemical Industry 
 respectively. 
 
 Rdsumes such as the monographs in Ahren's 
 " Sammlung " are of special significance. 
 
 The preliminary search may also include the 
 annual reports issued by the Chemical Society in 
 which will be found articles covering progress in 
 
54 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 General and Physical Chemistry, Inorganic 
 Chemistry, Physiological Chemistry, Agricultm-al 
 Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Stereochemistry, 
 Analytical Chemistry, Vegetable Physiology, Minera- 
 logical Chemistry, and Radioactivity. The publica- 
 tions of the foreign chemical societies must also be 
 searched. 
 
 Besides papers appearing in the journals, abstracts 
 should be carefully considered. This search is 
 facilitated when the collected index system is 
 adopted. The system of abstracting adopted by the 
 leading journals is now so complete that it may be 
 used in the preliminary stage of an investigation with 
 increased confidence. According to the latest infor- 
 mation no fewer than one hundred and fifty journals 
 have been abstracted by the Society of Chemical 
 Industry for their journal. 
 
 Patent Literature. — In some cases an important 
 source of information will be found in the patent 
 literature of this country, Germany, France and 
 U.S.A. respectively. These may be seen at the 
 Patent Office Library in Southampton Buildings, 
 Chancery Lane, E.C., which is open daily. Many of 
 the technical journals, such as that of the Society 
 of Chemical Industry, abstract patents in increasing 
 numbers. 
 
 No likely source of information concerning past 
 investigation should be overlooked. This search 
 may be regarded as part of the research, and the 
 beginner must pay special attention to it, as it is 
 of first importance. It will reduce the possibility 
 of an investigation being merely a repetition of 
 previously published work. The present advanced 
 state of chemical investigation increases the value 
 and need of this preHminary work. 
 
 When once the nature or directipn of the research 
 is settled, any references obtained to similar work 
 
SELECTION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 55 
 
 should be carefully indexed^ and a short abstract 
 prepared dealing with their influence on the work in 
 hand. 
 
 The search, which follows the selection of subject- 
 matter, may be regarded as the first step in the 
 normal path of an investigation. The importance 
 of method must be fully realised at this stage, and 
 should never be lost sight of until the research is 
 completed and recorded in full detail. 
 
 Early Research. — ^The beginner wiU naturally 
 start work on a modest scale. The results to be 
 looked for are personal experience, training in actual 
 manipulation, and an insight into the work of others 
 observed in actual practice. Attention to such detail 
 will establish method. The simplest piece of original 
 investigation successfully carried out will bring with 
 it confidence, and give increasing value to such work. 
 
 Faraday was extremely critical of his own efforts. 
 In reviewing his work up to the year 1832, he divided 
 it into three classes, good, moderate, and bad. He 
 regarded this examination as of great benefit to 
 himself " because of the utiUty they (results) have 
 been to me, and none more than the bad, in pointing 
 out the faults it became me to avoid." The chemist 
 cannot do better than follow this example and at 
 stated intervals review his past work and form an 
 opinion of its value, and observe where it can be 
 improved. This mental stock-taking and critical 
 survey will prevent a man becoming too self-centred 
 and satisfied with his work — a fatal bar to further 
 progress. 
 
 Nor need he be discouraged if this is seemingly 
 slow. Faraday considered that " it required twenty 
 years to make a man in physical science, the previous 
 period being one of infancy." It is possible that 
 under modern conditions, this period may be 
 reduced by one half. The " fifteen golden years " 
 
56 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 between twenty-five and forty should carry a man 
 far if he has the natural power and instinct, which, 
 with energy and perseverance, brings experience, the 
 greatest of acquired gifts. 
 
 When investigation is based upon sound lines, its 
 importance develops in a natural way, and its 
 usefulness grows. Under proper conditions the 
 simplest investigation may lead to important results. 
 This gradual increase of power may convert a worker 
 into a great experimentalist. It has been well said 
 " that the value of experience is not in seeing much 
 but in seeing wisely." 
 
 Personal Qualifications. — These necessarily vary 
 greatly in their nature. It is not easy to define their 
 nature in words. The powers which make a Chopin 
 are not those which make a Kelvin. It is certain 
 that the scientific worker must possess curiosity, 
 patience, critical comparison, and the power of 
 seeing behind external fact and realising the true 
 importance of things. Imagination plays a great 
 part, it may make or mar progress, just as it is 
 practical or the reverse. Properly controlled and 
 directed into useful channels, it builds new worlds. 
 
 How far the qualifications necessary to successful 
 investigation can be created by training, when the 
 right instinct is present, is a matter for argument ; 
 but it is evident that actual experience has led 
 Faraday, and many other great thinkers and experi- 
 mentalists, to believe that when present they must be 
 fully developed by training. 
 
 It is generally allowed that the power of observa- 
 tion can be largely developed by practice, and 
 directed into new lines by convincing argument. 
 Experience can also be continually increased by 
 further contact with operations which come within 
 its sphere of activity. 
 
 It has been said that " every fact and every 
 
SELECTION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 57 
 
 discovery casts a light beyond itself, and the extent 
 to which this light is perceived depends upon the 
 man." In addition to the powers of imagination 
 and keen observation, a certain shrewdness or fore- 
 sight is always observed in the successful worker. 
 When he confines his attention to the main thorough- 
 fares of progress he engages upon work of deter- 
 mining influence. When his activities branch out 
 into new directions, he seems to make a subject 
 his own. He leaves research of minor importance 
 to others. 
 
 Such original workers make no reservations of 
 knowledge, yet their imrivalled technique and past 
 experience may practically give them a monopoly 
 in such work. Such a worker " possesses the secret 
 of novel and unsuspected solutions ; what were 
 fixed and unsurmountable barriers to trained investi- 
 gators 3deld to his gift of magic enquiry " (H. G. 
 WeUs). It is impossible to place barriers round a 
 bom investigator or pre-determine the direction of 
 his superiority, yet it is certain that even his work 
 can be rendered more efficient when he possesses a 
 thorough knowledge of the principles which have 
 guided others when they have faced similar 
 conditions. 
 
 Half the mistakes a man makes in the early years 
 of his work can be prevented if he possesses a 
 knowledge of the essential principles to success. 
 While a bom worker instinctively knows when he 
 has departed from the trae path of progress, yet the 
 average one wiU often proceed, unconscious of such 
 errors unless these are reviewed in the light of the 
 experience of others. 
 
 Manipulative Skill. — Only extended practice can 
 develop skiU to its fuU measure of usefulness. It is 
 evident that much can be achieved in this direction 
 during the period of college training. Manipulative 
 
58 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 skill is always of more value than an elaboration of 
 apparatus. 
 
 Cavendish, in a simple way, obtained results 
 indicating the proportion of oxygen in the air. 
 These were practically identical with those subse- 
 quently obtained by Bunsen and Regnault, who 
 worked with a greatly developed elaboration of 
 apparatus. Yet there were natural limits to both 
 these methods of working, and neither led to the 
 isolation of the rarer constituents now known to be 
 present in the air, although Cavendish's work 
 undoubtedly pointed to their existence. 
 
 The extreme care exercised in detail by a great 
 investigator is also illustrated in the work of Caven- 
 dish. He never conducted the simplest operations 
 on any but a quantitative basis. He never prepared 
 hydrogen without recording the amount of iron or 
 zinc taken, and the volume of gas generated. He 
 seems to have had the fine sense for detail which 
 was so evident in the work of Faraday. The latter 
 always repeated the experiments of others. " I am 
 never able to make a fact my own," said he, " with- 
 out seeing it." He also stated that " he could trust 
 a fact, but always cross-examined an assertion." 
 Sure of every step, trusting to no one's conclusions, 
 but bringing every fact within their own experience, 
 these great English investigators made their name 
 known to the scientific world and placed their 
 country's fame in the forefront of those who followed 
 in Boyle's footsteps, accepting his views and 
 honouring his conclusions. 
 
 A Mental Survey of Action. — Many investigators 
 find it advantageous to visuahse the different stages 
 of their investigations. They are curious enough 
 to form a mental picture of the reactions they are 
 employing. This plan is undoubtedly a useful one. 
 It often precedes the discovery of theoretical con- 
 
SELECTION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 59 
 
 elusions and generalisations as these are founded 
 upon experimental enquiry. 
 
 While this power of picture-making may obviously 
 be misused, yet it has been a direct aid to progress. 
 While it must never be allowed to become the 
 beginning and end of things, it will always remain 
 part of the imaginative instinct, as this leads to 
 progress in the absence of fact. It indicates the 
 limitations of our power of direct thought and action. 
 Its presence is a sign that knowledge is passing from 
 fact to imagination. 
 
 As in learning a language, it is necessary to think 
 in the same before any progress can be achieved, so in 
 research, a similar condition is called for. These 
 sjmibols of thought, crude as they may be, have 
 proved their value by their utility. 
 
 The non-successful issue to an investigation may 
 only indicate that the limits of fact and ordinary ex- 
 perience have been arrived at. If a further advance 
 can be secured by the imagination, which for the 
 time being enables a man to travel further along 
 the road of progress, such an aid should not be 
 rejected. 
 
 Just as in ordinary investigation it has been claimed 
 that it is impossible to separate the observer from 
 the theorist, a questioning temper and the busy 
 suggestive mind being required at every stage, so this 
 additional aid to experience must be received and 
 welcomed. When it is practised by those who have 
 past experience, and possess a regulated mind, results 
 have been secured which have withstood the experi- 
 ence of fresh discovery. 
 
 Introduction of Instruments of Precision. — -Since 
 Lavoisier made use of the balance in 1778 thereby 
 exploding the phlogiston theory, the working out 
 of some new instrument of precision has always been 
 welcomed and critically examined. 
 
6o CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 The invention of a new apparatus may precede 
 or follow the discovery of a new fact. That is to 
 say, it may either lead up to the latter or be the result 
 of it. 
 
 The invention of the spectroscope or the ultra- 
 microscope have practically founded new sciences 
 and extended our knowledge to the heavenly bodies 
 on the one hand or to molecular formation on the 
 other. Thus such a discovery may be regarded as 
 the equivalent of an extension of our senses. 
 
 To-day, the number of these aids to progress is 
 large, and investigation is often facilitated, or even 
 made possible, by them. The investigator therefore 
 makes full use of these and takes every care that he 
 is acquainted with them, and the limits within which 
 their usefulness can be employed. 
 
 Cost of Experimenting.— -The compilation by the 
 Royal Society of the more important scientific 
 investigations up to the year 1879 amounted to 
 £10,000. It was considered that the cost of these 
 researches must have run into several miUions, and 
 that there were made entirely at the expense of the 
 investigators themselves " nearly all of whom were 
 men of limited means." 
 
 Of the sum expended on modem research by 
 industrial corporations little need be said. The 
 experiments on the production of synthetic indigo 
 have been stated to run to a million sterling before 
 a pound of the material was marketed. 
 
 The results obtained by the experimental methods 
 in the practical sciences have still further increased 
 the interest which is taken in science. In the arts 
 of peace and war the combined efforts of the chemist, 
 physicist and engineer determine progress. 
 
 Many of the larger industrial laboratories are 
 equipped in a very elaborate manner. A certain 
 chemical combination in Germany employed not less 
 
SELECTION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 6i 
 
 than a thousand chemists just prior to the war. 
 This policy was dictated by purely industrial aims, 
 past experience having proved the extreme import- 
 ance of research when organised on efficient lines. 
 
 The carrying out of this work offers unexampled 
 opportunities to the chemist who is qualified both 
 by training and natural ability. He must have his 
 mind stored with the chief facts and principles of 
 science and he " must be able to imagine, invent, 
 manipulate, observe, compare, and reason." In the 
 ever-widening field of practical science the chemist 
 must always occupy a prominent position. From 
 a national point of view his responsibility is immense. 
 Each day it is more evident that the nation, which 
 pays attention to the training of its chemists and 
 determines that they shall receive unstinted recogni- 
 tion, wiU be the one who will go furthest in the 
 direction of security and the building up of an 
 industrial system which will offer the best working 
 conditions for labour, and the greatest efficiency in 
 the use of raw material. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 METHODS OF INVESTIGATION 
 
 " No scientific discovery can with any justice be considered 
 as due to accident." — Gore. 
 
 General Procedure. — It is seldom that the original 
 course of a research is followed in every particular. 
 During the whole experimental period, the investi- 
 gator is constantly on the look out for better ways 
 of reaching the desired goal, and in many instances 
 alternate methods have to be examined in order 
 that it may be known whether they give better 
 results than the original one. In a process of reduc- 
 tion possibly only one of the available reagents may 
 give the desired result. In other directions this same 
 phenomenon wiU be observed. 
 
 It therefore happens that a research seldom 
 finishes up on the exact Hnes proposed. In extreme 
 cases the original scheme of working may have to be 
 entirely replaced by another, and different methods 
 adopted in order that the desired result may be 
 obtained. 
 
 Such changes test the skiU of the chemist to the 
 uttermost, and the overcoming of them becomes the 
 chief matter of the research. 
 
 When research is carried out under industrial 
 conditions many additional difficulties are met with, 
 and in some cases these are so numerous that the 
 research has to be abandoned for the time being. 
 At this stage the experienced worker will sometimes 
 carry on the investigation on more or less empirical 
 Unes, and thus industrial operations will be carried 
 
METHODS OF INVESTIGATION 63 
 
 out under a control, which is partly scientific and 
 partly empirical. 
 
 While such conditions cotdd not be countenanced 
 in academic research, they give satisfactory results 
 in practice. They represent a first step towards a 
 scientific control, with the alternative that large scale 
 operations must be left entirely in the hands of 
 non-scientific workers. 
 
 As a temporary guide to progress such methods 
 are often of great value, especially when they are 
 utilised by those who have a sound knowledge of the 
 ways of industrial processes. 
 
 It must be fuUy realised that in the majority of 
 cases the only way of securing a scientific control is 
 to advance by slow stages. In some cases the 
 position seems to be so hopeless when it is compared 
 with available knowledge that all that is possible is the 
 setting up of improved methods of empirical control. 
 
 The work of the chemist during the intermediate 
 stage of semi-scientific control is always difficult. 
 Before a scientific control is possible, everything 
 must be known about a process. The discovery of 
 the remaining difficulties will generally lead to a 
 further application of scientific knowledge and by 
 such means, and generally in slow stages, the ultimate 
 goal will be reached. 
 
 Working Conditions. — There is no advantage in a 
 student rushing into an elaborate research. He may 
 gain what he requires by easier methods, where 
 comparatively simple manipulation is called for. 
 
 Research may be roughly divided into two classes. 
 In the first, investigation is concerned with known 
 or general reactions, extended to cover new sub- 
 stances, or where information is obtained mainly 
 through the aid of some already available instrument 
 of precision, which enables further data to be gained 
 by its use. 
 
64 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 In the second division, original investigation is 
 called for, and the mental powers which are associated 
 with such discoveries. New reactions and methods 
 of working are discovered, and possibly means have 
 to be devised in order that the results arising out of 
 the research can be recognised and recorded. 
 
 The investigations of the second order attract 
 from their novelty, and the investigator himself 
 gains great advantage by securing a first-hand 
 knowledge of previously unrecognised fact, and 
 finding himself in the position of being able to suggest 
 a possible explanation of the same. 
 
 The first class of investigation is obviously more 
 suited to the requirements of the student, and there 
 is a greater advantage in carrying this out unaided 
 than in engaging in a compUcated research where 
 the ideas and progress are entirely controlled by 
 one with more experience. The mental training 
 is less satisfactory in the latter case, although the 
 experience gained in manipulation is possibly 
 greater. 
 
 There is no reason why he should not go to a more 
 experienced worker, and discuss the different points 
 with him as they arise, or that he should not accept 
 hints where his own knowledge fails to supply him 
 with points of detail, which must be settled before 
 he can continue his work with advantage. 
 
 If the results obtained are not worthy of pubUca- 
 tion, he will have taken the first step and gained 
 personal knowledge of research conditions. He will 
 have the experience of bringing to light for the first 
 time fresh fact. He will also learn that a mere 
 mechanical following out of certain reactions must 
 be supplemented by a process of thought, possibly 
 combined with any past experience he can gather from 
 those who have greater experience. The experience 
 he gains in the plains will, in time, enable him to 
 climb the hills. 
 
METHODS OF INVESTIGATION 65 
 
 A^Tien research is started in the college it is natural 
 that it should be of a nature, which can be success- 
 fully negotiated on a laboratory scale. 
 
 The development of our knowledge of organic 
 chemistry owes much to the fact that it can be 
 successfidly carried to an issue on a laboratory scale. 
 From this, and the fact that the selection of subject- 
 matter is less difficult, this branch of chemistry has 
 received great attention. 
 
 Inorganic research has been correspondingly neg- 
 lected, except on the physical side, although there 
 still remain problems of great importance. But 
 these are not so easily recognised, nor can main 
 reactions in this branch of chemistry be followed up 
 almost to infinity as in organic work. The clue that 
 further work is needed in organic chemistry is often 
 only recognised in the works. 
 
 Vast through it is, the field of " organic " research has 
 been so exploited, that it no longer offers the same 
 advantage to the investigator in the college. Impor- 
 tant conclusions are only arrived at with increasing 
 difficulty. The fashion is therefore running in new 
 directions, and bio-chemistry, electro-chemistry, 
 catalysis, physical chemistry, colloidal chemistry, 
 all compete for recognition, and gain it in increasing 
 volmne. 
 
 The Time Factor in Experimental Science. — 
 Chemistry is favoured, as a rule, by the fact that the 
 time of reaction is relatively short. In geology, the 
 other extreme is reached, and observation cannot be 
 verified by experiment. 
 
 Even in some cases, hke that of the formation of 
 coal, the chemist can a,pparently hasten the natural 
 process by artificial means. Great pressure at 
 temperatures in the neighbourhood of 100° C. has 
 given changes in wood, which seem equivalent to the 
 slower processes of nature. 
 
 C.R. ^ 
 
66 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 In practical research industrial operations often 
 have to be observed over long periods before the 
 exact conditions sought for can be recognised. A 
 patience almost equal to that of a Darwin is some- 
 times necessary. 
 
 In cases where a change is very slow in taking 
 place, useful knowledge may be obtained by observ- 
 ing what happens over a comparatively shorter 
 period, and from this forming an opinion of the greater 
 effect which may be anticipated. 
 
 Methods of Research. — When once the direction of 
 an investigation has been settled, and a rSsume of all 
 previous knowledge on the subject prepared, there is 
 nothing left but to get on with the research itself. 
 In ways the nature of expected results will already 
 have been thought out. 
 
 When the ordinary apparatus of the laboratory 
 is sufficient no advantage wiU be gained by using 
 more elaborate means. In advanced research 
 specially devised apparatus is often necessary. For 
 example, it is impossible to carry out an investi- 
 gation, which requires high temperature conditions, 
 without an electric furnace, fitted with aU the 
 necessary instruments for recording actual tempera- 
 tures, etc. Without the electrical furnace Moissan 
 could never have carried out his classic work on 
 high temperature reactions. Without the vacuum- 
 lined vessel many experiments in low temperature 
 reactions would have been equally impossible. A 
 piece of apparatus or an instrument of precision 
 may be an essential factor in investigations of this 
 order. 
 
 Research will therefore involve the use of : — 
 (i) The ordinary apparatus of the laboratory. 
 
 (2) Special, but already described apparatus. 
 
 (3) Apparatus which has to be specially devised or 
 
 invented. 
 
METHODS OF INVESTIGATION 67 
 
 Great practical skill and power of manipulation 
 must be present in the last case, and the invention 
 of the apparatus itself may be the chief part of the 
 research, the subsequent recording of results being 
 of secondary importance. Should the chance present 
 itself such an investigation should be closely followed 
 by the young chemist. He will then follow in detail 
 the stages of development as they occur when an 
 experienced investigator is at work. 
 
 A study of the apparatus used by the great workers 
 in the past will impress the student with the advisa- 
 bility of keeping this as simple as circumstances will 
 admit. By such means the experimental error is 
 reduced to smaller proportions and conditions of 
 working are likely to remain more constant, both 
 of these being vital to success. 
 
 The yoimg chemist, who is determined to succeed, 
 and feels that he is qualified to imdertake original 
 investigation, should start this work while theory 
 is still well in hand. If this is not possible, the 
 student should leave with a detennination viltimately 
 to engage in such work. In the latter case, much 
 valuable time may be lost in obtaining the necessary 
 experience in after life. The importance of obtain- 
 ing a working knowledge of the principles, which 
 underlie scientific investigation during the college 
 period, caimot be too clearly emphasised. 
 
 Aids to Research. — Familiarity with these condi- 
 tions is essential at an early stage. This is a certain 
 aid to future success. Beside the fact that this 
 knowledge is at the base of aU works experience, a 
 state of mind is engendered, which persists. 
 
 Another factor, which operates strongly in the 
 same direction, is observed in many cases. In certain 
 institutions an enthusiasm has been engendered by 
 teachers inspiring their students with similar ideals 
 to those held by themselves. By imparting their 
 
68 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 special methods of investigation to the students and 
 thus giving a direction to their future work, certain 
 " schools " have been formed. These have carried 
 investigation to further limits than could otherwise 
 be expected. 
 
 Another influence, not so generally understood, is 
 frequently present, and is hardly less far-reaching 
 in its effects, although it is of an impersonal 
 nature. 
 
 It is felt by those who are constantly in contact 
 with operations proceeding on a large scale. Its 
 influence is difficult to define, but those under it are 
 known as possessing a practical turn of mind. They 
 have the " works sense " highly developed, and secure 
 practical results. 
 
 By intuition, they possess a power of initiation, 
 which is seldom met with in others. 
 
 This experience confers the quality of caution and 
 foresight and leads its possessors to work in practical 
 and useful directions. Such qualifications frequently 
 enable a man to outclass another, who has a more 
 widely set knowledge of general fact and theoretical 
 attainment. 
 
 There is no real significance in reactions conducted 
 on a lo-gramme basis, which is not equally present 
 when operations proceed on a scale measured in tons. 
 Nor is there any special magic, beyond that of 
 convenience, in the glass beaker or the platinum 
 boat, which is not equally present in the salt pan 
 or the blast furnace. Rather is there an added 
 responsibility when operations are conducted on 
 this extensive scale. 
 
 The chemist must aim at a wide experience and 
 knowledge of a general order. He must prepare 
 himself to be equally at home in all branches of 
 chemical research. Such a mental outfit can alone 
 make him a successful investigator in the works. 
 He must take a wide view of his subject and be 
 
METHODS OF INVESTIGATION 69 
 
 prepared to follow up his investigations in whatever 
 direction they may lead. 
 
 This is a task of considerable magnitude, but it 
 must be faced by all desiring to make their mark 
 in that branch of science concerned with production 
 on an economic scale. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 PHILOSOPHY AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE 
 
 " His work he knew, hut the agitation which surrounded him 
 far and wide at all times perplexed him with its eternal 
 questionings. " — ^Victor Hugo. 
 
 Value of Theory. — In the practical sciences theory 
 is of little account unless it is based upon, or sup- 
 ported by, experimental fact. When this condition 
 is complied with the influence of theory on practice 
 is legitimate, and in many cases its use leads to a 
 direct advance in progress. 
 
 The value of theory founded entirely upon the 
 imagination is always uncertain. It must be ever 
 received with caution, and only used in a temporary 
 way when all other aids fail. However convincing 
 it may seem to the intellect, it must never be received 
 in preference to fact. 
 
 In past years, there was a tendency to regard 
 research, which is not concerned with some point 
 in theory, as standing on a lower plane. This view 
 is no longer accepted, results being compared for 
 their usefulness rather than their ingenuity. It 
 would be better, for instance, to secure by research 
 the conditions necessary for the production of 
 synthetic rubber, than to be able to write a disserta- 
 tion proving that this operation was not an impossible 
 one. The former would be useful, the latter would 
 lead to nowhere in particular. 
 
 Little real loss follows the acceptance of the 
 statement that theory must either fall into line with 
 
EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE 71 
 
 practice or be discarded for some other theory that 
 does. This Umits false claims, and gives theory its 
 true meaning and an outstanding value. When 
 theory overloads practice its usefulness diminishes. 
 The normal state is reached when practice advances 
 with the full support of theory. 
 
 Philosophy and Science. — -The relationship between 
 philosophy and the practical sciences has been 
 revised of recent years. Before the connection 
 between these branches of mental activity can be 
 understood, it is necessary that their aims and objects 
 shall be correctly defined. 
 
 An attempt has been made to raise the former on 
 to a higher plane than experimental science, philo- 
 sophy claiming the right critically to examine the 
 hypothesis and conclusions of the investigator. 
 Herbert Spencer considered that the truths of 
 philosophy bear the same relation to the higher 
 scientific truths that these in their turn bear to the 
 lower scientific ones. By this further process he 
 held that the generalisations of the philosopher 
 comprehend and consolidate the widest generalisa- 
 tions of science. The student, who is interested in 
 this subject, may consult Sidgwick's " Philosophy." 
 
 Of metaphysics the ordinary individual takes a 
 lesser interest, accepting the statement that it ends 
 in " reducing self-deception to a fine art." The 
 practical investigator has Httle time to waste over 
 such matters, and he will do well to ignore theoretical 
 speculations, which are so far removed from a basis 
 of fact. The statement by James that before such 
 speculations the " intellect comes to rest in a state 
 of admiring contemplation " sufficiently sums up 
 the opinion of most practical workers on the theories 
 put forward by metaphysicians. 
 
 Rather wiU the student turn to Faraday, who, in 
 his practical way, defined the philosopher in terms 
 
72 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 which lead one into fresh air. " The philosopher," 
 said he, " should be a man wilUng to listen to every 
 suggestion, but determined to judge for himself. 
 To be of no school, and in doctrine have no master. 
 He should not be a respecter of persons, but of things. 
 Truth should be his primary object. If to these 
 qualities be added industry, he may, indeed, hope 
 to walk within the veil of the temple of nature." 
 When a scientific worker's aims fall in with these he 
 will come to appreciate the work of others, who are 
 travelling along the same road. He will welcome 
 advance from whatever quarter it may come, and 
 will gradually gain a position where he can carry on 
 his labours without finding it necessary to behttle 
 the results obtained by others. Surrounded by such 
 natural conditions, he wiU work with redoubled 
 energy and goodwill. 
 
 Value of Results. — It is incorrect for the practical 
 worker to assume that static knowledge has no 
 interest for him. He must have a generalknowledge 
 of fact and theory, but it is allowable that he should 
 examine this from his own point of view. Theory 
 is often modified in the Hght of this wider and more 
 practical experience. 
 
 Outside its practical use, theory is of httle import- 
 ance. Its value lies in the use the practical investi- 
 gator can make of it. Just so far as it is an aid to 
 progress he welcomes it. The value of theory rests 
 entirely in its utility. It is judged by its influence 
 rather than its ingenuity. 
 
 The importance of disinterested investigation is 
 beyond question. When such static knowledge 
 becomes dynamic it is a sign that its usefulness 
 has been demonstrated. 
 
 The ultimate value of theory as this is used at 
 any period is not evident. The great conception of 
 the benzene ring may have less real significance 
 
EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE 73 
 
 than a daisy chain, but it has brought about an 
 extraordinary advance in practice. Speculations 
 as to space formulae and the relative positions of the 
 atonis in a molecule may be equally wide of the mark. 
 They may belong to the period of childhood of 
 science, but their value has been demonstrated by 
 the advance in practice which has followed their 
 consideration. 
 
 The ever-changing form of theory, which some- 
 times leads to a complete reversal of previously held 
 ideas, keeps present fact from becoming too impor- 
 tant when the rate of progress slows down inordi- 
 nately or becomes restricted in its direction. 
 
 Chemistry and the other Practical Sciences. — ^Where 
 an efficient exchange of ideas is secured between the 
 different branches of experimental science, the results 
 obtained in one section are often seen to greatly 
 influence those of other branches. The progress of 
 knowledge now covers such a wide area, that the 
 significance of an advance in one direction may be 
 unrealised in others. 
 
 The presence of a new fact, when it is determining 
 in its influence over the comparatively narrow front 
 occupied by the workers, who are immediately con- 
 cerned with it, cannot fail in effect to influence 4;he 
 whole Une of advance. By close investigation other 
 sections of workers may arrive at decisions of almost 
 equal importance, as these concern their own 
 particular subjects. 
 
 Unexpected light may thus be thrown upon 
 problems, which, from their outward guise, seem to 
 be little related to the original facts. The rapid 
 accumulation of fact in the experimental sciences 
 almost compels investigators to speciahse, and this 
 leads a man gradually to overlook the fact that the 
 results obtained by others may be of the greatest 
 importance to him in his special work. 
 
74 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 Approaching natural law from different directions 
 the roads seem to be entirely disconnected. Yet a 
 survey of the whole position must lead to the con- 
 clusion that differences are due more to a restricted 
 view of things than to actual fact. 
 
 The molecule of the chemist is the same one that 
 the physicist is so busy tracking down. The play 
 of the atoms is the same in all cases, and now it 
 would seem that the action of electrons is to become 
 a matter of peculiar interest to the chemist, their 
 direct effect in cases of catalysis "being strongly 
 suspected. In this, and possibly many other 
 directions the key to previously unexplained re- 
 actions may lie. Such developments caU for an ever- 
 increasing exchange of ideas and data. 
 
 The broadest possible grasp of general scientific 
 knowledge will always remain the chief asset of the 
 student. Specialisation is the opportunity of the 
 experienced investigator. A certain class of investi- 
 gator already makes this cross-reference his chief 
 weapon, striving to secure for himself the advantage, 
 which others have gained when working in different 
 directions. 
 
 It is obvious that the ultimate results obtained 
 in one section of science wiU have to be sanctioned 
 by the others. They will then be more generally 
 useful owing to their greater certainty. A \rader 
 outlook leads to conclusions, which are more 
 correct, because they have been considered from a 
 higher standpoint. The exchange value of facts 
 and theory will thus gradually increase, and the 
 correlation of interests wiU lead to a final state of 
 knowledge where the workers engaged will close up 
 their ranks and advance together instead of by 
 separate units. 
 
 The investigator wiU welcome the ever-growing list 
 of reference books devoted to special subjects. In 
 many cases, these afford a ready means of reference 
 
EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE 75 
 
 to the salient points in theory and practice. This 
 new development widens out the horizon for the 
 worker by increasing the means by which such 
 information may be obtained. 
 
 Future Developments. — 'A few examples may be 
 cojnsidered which suggest themselves as having 
 reference to this special development. 
 
 The first one chosen is bio-chemical. Meldola 
 pointed out (" Chemical Synthesis of Vital Products," 
 1904) that even if we have in the field of carbon 
 chemistry produced thousands of compounds which 
 do not, and probably never wiU be found to exist 
 in Uving organisms, there is no justification in 
 assmning that we have reached a stage where it is 
 unimportant whether an organic compound is 
 producible by vital chemistry, or that the known 
 laboratory methods are equivalents of the unknown 
 vital ones. 
 
 A simple case wiU illustrate this. " The funda- 
 mental synthesis par excellence, in which carbon 
 dioxide is absorbed by an organised compound and 
 the product, or products, decomposed with the 
 liberation of oxygen, is as yet without a laboratory 
 parallel." In a similar way it may be claimed that 
 although enzyme action may be imitated in the 
 laboratory, no hydrolysing agent of the nature of an 
 enzyme has ever been synthetised. 
 
 Until such vital points as this one are settled one 
 way or the other it is essential that the chemist and 
 physiologist should co-operate bn the closest hues. 
 Relative dependence must be the watchword of 
 modem investigation in this direction in order that 
 the future of bio-chemistry may be assured, and this 
 science established on a satisfactory basis. The 
 subject is a fascinating one, and one to which the 
 student in search of matter for further investigation 
 should pay special attention. 
 
76 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 In a similar way the proteins offer an ever- widening 
 field for research. Here the conditions are exceed- 
 ingly complex, and an almost unexplored region has 
 yet to be investigated. Future developments cannot 
 fail to be of a startling nature, and of equal interest 
 to the physiologist as the chemist. 
 
 The subject of the alkaloids offers another field 
 which must peld results of great practical and 
 theoretical importance. A reference to Vegetable 
 Alkaloids by Pictet and Biddle, or to a series of 
 volumes published in 1900, 1905, and 1908 respec- 
 tively, under the title " Die Alkaloidchemie," will 
 give the student some indication of the scope of this 
 branch of chemistry, and its present position. 
 
 It is difficult to over-estimate the opportunity 
 which catalysis, and the general reactions classified 
 under this heading, offers to the investigator, 
 especially when the recent developments in this 
 direction are considered. In its modern phrase, 
 it has been extended to organic chemistry. As 
 practised at high temperatures by Sabatier and 
 Sanderens and others, it can be utilised in many 
 ways, in processes involving reduction, hydration, 
 oxidation, and elimination of halogen hydride, etc. 
 On the industrial side, practical use of this action 
 has been made»in the manufacture of nitric acid. 
 Its use in the manufacture of sulphuric acid is 
 common knowledge. These processes are being 
 extended industrially in many directions and deve- 
 lopments of an increasingly important nature must 
 be expected. 
 
 Scope and Nature of Application. — The successful 
 application of these methods generally turn upon 
 attention to minute detail; systematic research is 
 the only instrument which can advance our know- 
 ledge in this direction, especially as many of these 
 reactions are reversible. The theory is undeveloped. 
 
EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE 77 
 
 and the practical side may be regarded as almost 
 virgin ground. The influence of third substances 
 in minute quantity may alter the normal direction 
 of the reaction, or may determine by their presence, 
 or absence, the success of these processes from an 
 industrial point of view. 
 
 In recent annual reports of the Chemical Society 
 a general summary of results obtained in the domain 
 of organic chemistry will be found. 
 
 " Unsaturation " offers a wide field for research. 
 Also the relation between colour and constitution, 
 which may throw Hght upon many other problems, 
 and has helped to explain the mechanism of chemical 
 change — a matter of the first importance. 
 
 Physical chemistry and such subjects as the 
 solution state, molecular weight, thermodynamics, 
 chemical dynamics of homogeneous and hetero- 
 geneous systems, chemical equilibrium, and many 
 other sinular subjects has under modern enquiry 
 developed to an amazing experience, but such 
 investigation demands considerable knowledge and 
 the use of special apparatus if research is to be under- 
 taken with any certainty. 
 
 Stereo-chemistry, dealing as it does with space 
 — as distinct from structural — formulae, has given 
 rise to speculations of an advanced character. Some 
 idea of its present scope may be gained by reference 
 to " Stereo-chemistry," by A. W. Stewart, where 
 the phenomena of steric hindrance, relation between 
 space formulae and chemical properties, substitution 
 and stability, and other equally important questions 
 are discussed. 
 
 The present position of organic chemistry is 
 exceedingly complex. In " Die Synthetisch organ- 
 ische Chemie der Neuzeit " Schmidt deals with the 
 advance in synthetic organic chemistry. If the 
 student will refer to Cohn's " Algemeine Gesicht- 
 spunkte der organischen Chemie," he will find many 
 
78 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 hints which will be invaluable in the conduct of 
 research of this nature. Beilstein's " Handbuch 
 der organischen Chemie " and Richter's " Lexicon 
 der Kohenstoffverbindungen " are indispensable 
 reference books. 
 
 Fischer's work has been reprinted in a series of 
 publications dealing with the sugars, purines, and 
 polypeptides respectively, and a study of his work 
 and methods, somewhat elaborate, is particularly 
 interesting. 
 
 Enough has perhaps been said as to the importance 
 of research in connection with theory and the 
 practical results which have followed such investi- 
 gations. Whether by such means we shall ever 
 arrive at the goal which has been defined by Freer 
 as a " perfect human knowledge by which from . 
 any given premiss the logical conclusion may be 
 drawn with unerring accuracy," it is impossible to 
 surmise. 
 
 Modern Research. — The student may regard with 
 a sense of awe the increase in the number of important 
 sub-sections into which chemical research has been 
 divided. He may trace the rise of stereo-chemistry 
 to the recorded results connected with optical 
 activity, and a determined and definite search for an 
 optically active compound, owing its asymmetry to 
 the molecule alone, and not to an asymmetric carbon 
 atom. The relation between stereo-chemistry and 
 physiolo^ well illustrates the inter-relationship of 
 the experimental sciences. 
 
 The study of enzyme action is entering into a new 
 phase with the suggestion that radiation plays a part 
 in the action of these obscure bodies. 
 
 Recent developments indicate a rich harvest of 
 fact in the future. This cannot fail to create within 
 the student's mind a deeper enthusiasm, especially 
 when the vast area of unexplored ground is realised. 
 
EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE 79 
 
 There is hardly a science, art or industry which 
 can escape the influence of the chemist. The part 
 played by the latter is yet unrealised. For instance, 
 physical science is but a latter-day development of 
 chemistry, and Professor Rutherford claimed some 
 time ago that the physical men were the pioneers in 
 electrical engineering. 
 
 New sciences spring up and seemingly develop on 
 individual lines, only to be . subsequently inter- 
 related and closely woven into the general fabric of 
 scientific activity, which, erected on a sure basis of 
 research as set out by Robert Boyle, is determining 
 the physical destiny of man. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 CHEMICAL RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY 
 
 " He that will not apply new remedies must expect nejv evils. 
 They that reverence too much the old are but a scorn to the 
 new." — Francis Bacon. 
 
 Science and Industry. — The success of chemistry 
 as a science, and its obvious connection with large- 
 scale manufacture, led to a close examination into 
 its possible utility as a guide to progress. So intimate 
 has this connection become that in many industries 
 the control of operations has passed into the hands 
 of chemists. It is evident, that this co-operation 
 must increase in the future until the timfe when 
 industry will become a branch of science, and its 
 control win pass to those who possess the scientific 
 instinct, and the power of investigation. 
 
 It would be difficult to call to mind any industry, 
 which will not benefit when the control of manu- 
 facturing operations passes to science. In the 
 preparation of raw materials, and in all the opera- 
 tions of large-scale production of manufactured 
 material, the chemist can influence progress by 
 increasing efficiency and obtaining better residts, 
 with a less expenditure of labour. 
 
 It does not follow that such an influence can be 
 directly seen in the final product. In many cases 
 this is not obvious even to the experienced. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to set out a hst of all the 
 industries, which are controlled or influenced by the 
 chemist's work, but a reference to the headings of 
 abstracts in the Journal of the Society of Chemical 
 
CHEMICAL RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY 8i 
 
 Industry will give the uninitiated an idea as to the 
 immense scope of this influence. The following 
 headings from this source may be set down here 
 for the sake of ready reference : General Plant, 
 Machinery, Fuel, Gas, Mineral Oils, Waxes, Destruc- 
 tive Distillation, Heating, Lighting; Tar and Tar 
 Products ; Colouring Matters and Dyes ; Fibres, 
 Textiles, Cellulose, Paper ; Bleaching, Dyeing, 
 Printing, Fmishing; Acids, Alkahs, Salts; Non- 
 Metallic Elements ; Glass, Ceramics ; Building 
 Materials ; Metals, Metalliirgy ; Electro-MetaUurgy ; 
 Electro-Chemistry ; Fats, Oils, Waxes ; Paints, 
 Pigments, Varnishes, Resins ; India-rubber, Gutta- 
 percha ; Leather, Bone, Glue ; Soils, Fertilisers ; 
 Sugars, Starches, Germs, Fermentation ; Foods ; 
 Water Purification, Sanitation ; Organic Products ; 
 Medicinal Substances, Essential Oils ; Photographic 
 Materials and Processes ; Explosives, Matches. 
 These divisions indicate the main branches of 
 industry which entail chemical research, and investi- 
 gation, in their development. 
 
 In addition to this influence on established 
 industries, many new ones have been called into 
 existence, as the result of chemical research. Some 
 of these are firmly established, and of great import- 
 ance. That dealing with the fixation of atmospheric 
 nitrogen already supplies certain countries with 
 cheap nitric acid, ammonia, nitrates and cyanides, 
 urea, etc., as it has supplied most of the nitric acid 
 used during the war. The artificial silk industry has 
 already supplied the markets with a cheap and 
 efficient substitute for real silk. The artificial 
 alizarin and indigo industries have reached a stage 
 of fearless activity, and have profoundly affected the 
 position of the corresponding natural products, 
 having to an extent replaced them. 
 
 In all such cases the conditions of investigation 
 and development may differ from those which are 
 
 CR. 6 
 
82 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 concerned with " constant speculation on the lines of 
 a more rational theory," but the general principles 
 underlying the two branches of research are identical. 
 The differences, which exist, are confined to detail, 
 and are in many cases mainly due to the relative 
 scale of working adopted. 
 
 Thus an ideal training is one which enables the 
 chemist to work in theoretical or economic chemistry. 
 This can only be secured when it includes a know- 
 ledge of the principles and practice, of research, as 
 they are common to both. 
 
 Utility of Economic Research. — The advantage of 
 a correct solution to these investigations must in 
 some way be clearly indicated. The probable 
 restdt of a successful issue can often be con- 
 sidered before the research is undertaken. Thus, 
 the utihty of a process for producing synthetic rubber 
 at a cheap rate is self-evident. Such problems have 
 therefore an economic interest. They are often 
 considered from this standpoint by associations, 
 individuals, or private firms. 
 
 Under modem conditions the success met with in 
 many directions has been substantial. In the much 
 advertised case of the aniline dye industry it has been 
 found possible to establish laboratories in which a 
 large staff of chemists are employed on research, 
 from which important developments have resulted. 
 Scientific investigation has proved to be in this, as 
 it should in other cases, an essential factor to indus- 
 trial success. 
 
 Connection between Theory and Practice. — An 
 industrial application often follows naturally on an 
 investigation, which, in its inception and character- 
 istics, is only of theoretical importance. The develop- 
 ment of the Mond nickel process from the original 
 investigation of carbonyls is a case in point. The 
 systematic study of the general properties of colloids. 
 
CHEMICAL RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY 83 
 
 and their reactions, is known to have exercised a 
 profotmd influence on certain industries. Another 
 example, which might be mentioned, is the influence 
 of the metallographic study of alloys and metals 
 on the metal industry generally : Auer von 
 Welsbach's work on rare earths in connection with 
 the incandescent mantle industry may also be cited. 
 
 The development of the Mond process to its 
 present commanding position in the industrial 
 extraction of nickel is known to have presented 
 immense difficulties, which were at one time looked 
 upon as almost insurmountable. Its successful 
 manipulation on the large scale is one of the triumphs 
 of engineering chemistry. 
 
 The connection between investigation undertaken 
 in connection with theory, and that of industrial 
 investigation conducted on scientific Unes is too 
 evident to require further comment. The former 
 has occupied a definite and commanding position ; 
 owing to the fact that it has mainly been conducted 
 in coUege laboratories, where the authors have had 
 for years a monopoly of pubhcation so far as restdts 
 are concerned. 
 
 The ultimate fusion of the respective interests of 
 theory and practice, which must follow as a direct 
 result of a closer relationship between the two sec- 
 tions, wiU naturally lead to fresh developments. 
 With this will come a further advance in the influ- 
 ence which science exercises over industry. Its 
 influence in this direction is to-day self-evident. AU 
 that remains, is to develop its latent-power to the 
 greatest extent. 
 
 Aims of the Practical Investigator. — ^The present 
 development of the gold industry of the Transvaal 
 has been only possible through investigations con- 
 ducted on the action of cyanides on metallic gold. 
 Equally important developments in the textile 
 
 6—2 
 
84 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 industry have followed the study of the action of 
 caustic soda on cellulose under varjdng conditions 
 of physical strain. 
 
 In both cases, however, the working out of detail 
 was the important factor. The solubihty of gold 
 in cyanide solution, and the action of caustic soda 
 on cotton were both known for years before any 
 important practical application resulted. The 
 extreme importance of an investigation being 
 carried out scientifically, and to its full Hmit, is being 
 constantly demonstrated. It is beyond dispute that 
 the Transvaal gold industry owes its existence to-day 
 to the cyanide process, and that without this hardly 
 a mine could work at a profit. 
 
 The object before the practical investigator (so 
 far as the utilisation of the results of theory is con- 
 cerned) is to reduce the period between discovery 
 and its industrial use to a minimum. The aim 
 of the chemist is to achieve this in the shortest 
 possible time, and secure the full advantage of such 
 investigation. Many cases might be quoted where 
 the direct influence of theory has alone given a clue 
 to the solution of important problems in industry. 
 
 The general statement that aU scientific know- 
 ledge will at some time be utilised, and have an 
 influence on industrial developments, may be 
 regarded as correct in its widest sense, when it is 
 remembered that evidence of a negative character is 
 sometimes almost as valuable as positive information. 
 In industrial research it is often as useful to know 
 what not to do, as the reverse. 
 
 It is obviously impossible to predict how soon 
 knowledge may be usef uUy applied, and therefore with 
 a view to reducing this inevitable delay, any unnatural 
 division between academic and industrial research 
 should be reduced to its narrowest limit. This con- 
 dition may best be met by the practical investigator 
 having a sound working knowledge of theory. 
 
CHEMICAL RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY 85 
 
 Scale of Working. — It is sometimes very difficult 
 to decide the scale upon which the investigation 
 shall be conducted. This is an important point, 
 and one which will largely depend upon the 
 possible aims and developments looked for. It is 
 generally found that processes worked out in the 
 laboratory, with a view to their ultimate use on an 
 economic scale, have to be subsequently modified 
 in many ways. In industrial research other con- 
 ditions apply to those observed when working in 
 a laboratory, where results are obtained which are 
 complete in themselves. In the face of this con- 
 dition, the past experience and working conditions 
 of the investigator will mainly determine the actual 
 scale on which the research is conducted. 
 
 The industrial chemist must have knowledge of 
 the general conditions involved, when laboratory 
 investigation has to be extended to practice on 
 the larger scale. Subsequent difficulties may often 
 be obviated by working under correct conditions 
 in the laboratory in the first place ; and it is in 
 determining these that practical experience plays 
 an important part. 
 
 Experimental Works. — 'The natural difficulties met 
 with in this transition stage may be lessened in 
 many cases by the establishment of experimental 
 work, operating on an intermediate scale, which can 
 be regarded as the equivalent of full-scale condi- 
 tions. In this way the ultimate cost of production, 
 and methods of procedure, may be more accurately 
 estimated and ascertained. 
 
 Experimental works dealing with processes con- 
 nected with the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen 
 have been set up in Norway. A similar one existed 
 at Spandau for the purpose of establishing the value 
 of processes, which have for their object the manu- 
 facture of the industrial scale of nitrogen products 
 
86 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 from cyanamide. Many other cases may be brought 
 to mind. 
 
 Where economic value cannot be accurately 
 estimated, this procedure should be followed. 
 Under modern conditions of manufacture, new 
 reactions are generally dealt with on an inter- 
 mediate scale, especially when the conditions 
 are exceptional, or novel, in their nature. This 
 course is always a safe one to follow under any 
 circumstances, and is to be generally recommended. 
 
 It is not possible on the present occasion to con- 
 sider such matters in detail ; or to do more than touch 
 upon examples in such procedure ; but a few cases 
 may be conveniently selected to give the student 
 some indication as to their general nature. 
 
 A useful example is perhaps that of the manu- 
 facture of hydrogen for commercial purposes. Pre- 
 paration by the action of zinc has no longer any 
 special interest. During the Boer war it is said that 
 this gas was prepared for balloon purposes from 
 the action of concentrated caustic soda on 
 aluminium shavings. Another process, which has 
 possibilities, and has been made use of, is the 
 decomposition of calcium hydride. Hydrogen gas 
 is passed into molten calcium in its preparation. 
 Frank has proposed the method of passing water 
 gas over calcium carbide with subsequent removal 
 of oxides of carbon. Another method of preparation 
 seems to be the electric one, but the action of steam 
 on iron fiUngs is said to have a future before it, 
 especially when the resulting oxide is subsequently 
 reduced by means of water gas, etc., and the process 
 made a continuous one. 
 
 The difficulties of working these processes on a 
 large scale cannot always be overcome in practice, 
 and it is in such work that modern engineering 
 chemistry plays such an important part. 
 
 This example illustrates in a simple way the position 
 
CHEMICAL RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY 87 
 
 a problem of this character may occupy during 
 any intermediate stage in its development, when the 
 relative values of the different processes are difl&cult 
 to determine, and where past experience is practically 
 the only guide of any value, and also when the 
 investigation is finally completed, but commercial 
 data is not yet available. 
 
 Treatment of Ores. — ^The work done at Mansfeld, 
 in Germany, in the direction of the treatment of 
 copper ores may also be taken as a typical example. 
 Augustin, working some sixty years ago, found that 
 when finely crushed copper mattes were leached with 
 sodium chloride the silver present was converted 
 into chloride, and that this could be removed by 
 solution in hot brine. Ziervogel subsequently found 
 that by careful washing, coupled with a control of 
 the temperature of the furnace, the silver could be 
 converted into silver sulphate, which could then be 
 washed out and recovered by precipitation on copper 
 by the Augustin process. This process met with 
 great success in Colorado, 2,770 tons of silver 
 sulphate being recovered by this means at Argo 
 alone. Another recent . introduction at Mansfeld 
 is the successful production of sulphuric acid from 
 the converter gases produced in smelting the copper 
 ore. 
 
 Again, in America, a few years ago, the Tennessee 
 Copper Company were making 200,000 tons of tower 
 acid per annum from the waste sulphur, while the 
 Washoe Works of the Anaconda Company were still 
 discharging enough sulphur into the air to make 
 ];,4oo,ooo tons of acid per annum. 
 
 Metallurgical operations are essentially chemical 
 in their nature. Many of the most important 
 operations have to be conducted under supervision 
 of trained chemists. It may be taken for granted, 
 however, th^t in most ca,ses of the trea,tment of ores, 
 
88 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 where any special difficulty is met with, that a very 
 active co-operation of the chemist, miner, and 
 metallurgist, is essential to success. Ores can then 
 be worked, and give satisfactory profit, which would 
 be " impossibles " in the absence of this mutual 
 understanding and support. 
 
 The Practical Man. — In the past, many of the most 
 promising processes connected with metallurgy were 
 invented by " practical men," and subsequently 
 chemists were occupied in determining their nature 
 and control. The chemist has now, however, estab- 
 lished a more definite position, and from the com- 
 mencement assumes the direction of affairs in such 
 investigations. Thus we see the gradual supplant- 
 ing of the empirical method by that of experiment. 
 This is inevitable in the case of a long continued 
 development in any industry working under modem 
 conditions. 
 
 The part played by chemistry in connection with 
 metallurgy has been of recent years a determining 
 one. The processes of reduction and oxidation, 
 selective solution, and many others of equal import- 
 ance, all demand a definite knowledge of chemical 
 procedure. In fact, the processes themselves are 
 strictly chemical ones. The results sometimes 
 obtained are astonishing. In the case of the extrac- 
 tion of gold from its ores by cyanide solution, a 
 saving of a penny per lb. in the price of cyanide means 
 a further reduction in working expenses of ;f7o,ooo in 
 the Johannesburg district alone. 
 
 The treatment of silver ores by this process also 
 offers possibilities. The bi-sulphite treatment for 
 zinc ores also suggests important developments. 
 Many other examples wiU occur to the student. 
 Among these, the results obtained from the study 
 of the properties of metals and alloys suggest that, 
 in certain directions, improvements, which can 
 
CHEMICAL RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY 89 
 
 hardly be guessed at, will be made in industrial 
 practice as a result of extended work in this 
 direction. 
 
 The financial gain offered for successful investi- 
 gation is considerable. The commercial treatment 
 of arsenic-cobalt-nickel ores, for instance, holds out 
 great possibilities. 
 
 In electro-chemistry the advance has been 
 phenomenal, and entirely new industries are being 
 evolved. The original manufacture of calcium 
 carbide has in its turn led to the production of 
 cyanamides, which apart from their direct value 
 as fertiUsers have, in their turn, given rise to the 
 manufacture of ammonia, nitric acid and cyanides 
 on an industrial scale. Developments in other 
 directions have led to the direct fixation of nitric 
 acid from the atmosphere. The production of 
 calcium and sodimn in large quantities, and many 
 other substances also, has resulted from a study 
 of the conditions of the electrical furnace which 
 afford a means of inducing chenucal action. This, 
 in its extension, has led to the reduction, on a 
 commercial scale, of metals like iron. 
 
 Catalysis. — ^The definite study of the action of 
 catalysis has led to results which are destined to 
 revolutionise many industries. Examples of this 
 are already seen in the Deacon process of manufac- 
 turing nitric acid, and the Raschig method of making 
 sulphuric acid and the hardening of fats and oils. 
 The field opened here is a wide one, and covers 
 inorganic reactions as well as organic ones. The 
 oxidation of naphthalene into phthalic acid, which 
 has played so large a part in the manufacture of 
 artificial indigo, is a case in point. "Ostwald has 
 pointed out (as quoted by Kennedy Duncan) that 
 " if one considers that the acceleration of reactions 
 by catalytic means, occurs without the expenditure 
 
go CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 of energy, and that in all technical work, including 
 chemical, time is money, it is evident that the 
 systematic use of catalysis may lead to far-reaching 
 changes in technology." It is quite impossible to 
 suggest that any bounds can be set to future develop- 
 ment in this direction, any more than in the case 
 of electro-chemistry, or many other new branches of 
 chemical industry which might be mentioned. 
 
 These few examples must serve to indicate the 
 part which chemical investigation is plapng in 
 modern industry. It is remodelling procedure in 
 industries of old standing ; and, what is more 
 important, supplying the necessary information for 
 the estabhshment of a series of new ones which owe 
 their existence to experimental investigation. In 
 many cases these introduce new products, and pro- 
 cesses, of great novelty and utihty. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 RESEARCH IN RELATION TO ANALYSIS 
 
 " Every fact and every discovery casts a light beyond itself, 
 and the extent to which this light is perceived depends upon the 
 man." — Gore. 
 
 Modern Analysis. — ^The influence of the application 
 of modem, methods to analysis has profoundly 
 modified this branch of chemistry. Until this 
 influence was directly brought to bqar, the latter 
 was incomplete, and to an extent empirical in its 
 procedure. 
 
 The presence of correct methods of analysis is so 
 essential to scientific control that the branch of 
 chemistry has taken on a new significance in works 
 practice. 
 
 Analysis was first placed upon a definite basis 
 by Gay-Lussac and Berzelius. In the early develop- 
 ment of chemistry, it played an important part. 
 Regarded in latter years as an art rather than a 
 science, it ran a more or less isolated course, having 
 Uttle in common with the general development of 
 general knowledge. Rivot, Fresenius, and Rose 
 practically Umited themselves to detail in manipu- 
 lation and the general conditions of correct working. 
 
 During more recent years this position has 
 materially changed. A detailed knowledge of the 
 underlying principles of precipitation, etc., has 
 modified the entire position, and analysis in its 
 new guise once more occupies an important place 
 in relation to general chemistry. This change has 
 been fully described by Ostwald in " Die Wissen- 
 
92 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 schaftlichen Grundlagen der Analytischen Chemie," 
 Leipzig, 1908 (translated into English as " The 
 Foundations of Analytical Chemistry," 1908). Refer- 
 ence may also be made to "Qualitative Chemical 
 Analysis," Vol. I., Theory, by J. Stieglitz (Century 
 Co., New York). 
 
 By an apphcation of the law of equilibrium to the 
 reactions involved, the conditions under Which pre- 
 cipitation may be complete or incomplete were made 
 evident, and the methods to be pursued, in order to 
 bring this operation to practical completion, were 
 indicated. This review of the question of analysis 
 in the hght of modern theory has caused it in its 
 many branches to take to itself a new significance, 
 and play a more important part in the science of 
 chemistry, supplying an efficient method of con- 
 firmation for theory, and in a way which is brought 
 to the notice of all \yorkers. 
 
 No more satisfactory example of the advantage 
 of the application of theory to practice could be 
 found. It indicates in a most d^nite manner the 
 advantage of examining processes, whether they be 
 industrial or analytical, from a standpoint of theory. 
 
 More general information may be gained on this 
 point by studying the " Theoretical Principles of the 
 Methods of Analytical Chemistry," by Chesnau 
 (translated into English by Lincoln and Carnham, 
 1910). In this work will be found indications of 
 research, which is still necessary in connection with 
 the influence of the physical state of precipitates 
 upon their purification by washing, irreversible 
 reactions, double decomposition of salts, and the 
 general study of the reactions met with considered 
 from the ionic standpoint. 
 
 Technical Analyses. — When it is impossible to 
 utilise ordinary methods, it is sometimes possible to 
 substitute for them a kind of small scale operation, 
 
RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS 93 
 
 which conforms to those utilised in large-scale work. 
 Thus results can be checked in advance, and an 
 idea obtained as to the way large scale operations 
 will proceed when the same conditions are followed. 
 In time, such methods of control become particularly 
 useful, especially when, by practice, the results 
 obtained can be interpreted correctly. 
 
 The conditions under which these empirical tests 
 are carried out become in some cases very involved. 
 This can be appreciated by comparing the standard 
 method of tannin analysis in use to-day with the 
 recognised method of twenty years ago. Also by 
 observing that the conditions set out as standard 
 in Europe are not acknowledged in America in all 
 their detail. Yet, such is the belief in the utility 
 of these methods, that thousands of tons of tannin 
 materials change hands on a basis of the results 
 obtained in the laboratory. 
 
 In empirical analysis, the results must necessarily 
 be expressed in terms of an arbitrary standard. In 
 the setting out of details for a recognised process, 
 which will be acceptable to all those interested, the 
 scientific method often plays a considerable part, and 
 chemists of high standing have not hesitated to 
 devote their time to the elaboration of conditions, 
 which are most favourable to success, although these 
 are not understood in their nature, but only in their 
 influence. 
 
 All such processes are therefore subject to improve- 
 ment by fiurther trial and expmence, by which means 
 their technical significance is increased. 
 
 When the beginner selects a process, which has not 
 hitherto given satisfactory results, he must look, in 
 the first place, for the causes which in the past have 
 led to uncertainty. He must search for influences 
 which give rise to incomplete precipitation, and try 
 and find out the action of any substances present, 
 which may interfere with the normal course of the 
 
94 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 reaction involved. The investigator must then 
 determine the exact nature of such disturbing 
 influences by direct observation or experiment, and 
 attempt either to eliminate these or to allow for their 
 action in some way or other. There are a number 
 of recognised causes, which may lead to inaccurate 
 results, and the experienced analyst wiU first make 
 certain that these are not causing irregularities before 
 he seeks for other reasons. 
 
 Work of the Analyst. — The analyst, who works 
 with his brains' as well as his hands, may reasonably 
 expect to improve processes, or even to devise new 
 ones, which his knowledge leads him to believe will 
 give better results. He finds a source of inspiration 
 in such out-of-the-way materials as flue dusts, 
 residuals, and other seemingly useless products of 
 the works. 
 
 The scientific examination oi such materials often 
 leads to important results, and it is the province of 
 the analyst to make this special kind of research his 
 own. The more general his knowledge the greater 
 chance he will have of benefiting by his research, 
 and the more valuable will his suggestions be. 
 
 When he possesses an original turn of mind and 
 works with skill and a knowledge of chemical 
 operations in general, his work will influence most 
 branches of chemical activity. 
 
 There can be Httle doubt but that the future will 
 call for an increksed efficiency in the works laboratory 
 and that analysis will become more complex and 
 difficult. While repetition work will be performed 
 by those who have little knowledge of chemistry, the 
 analyst proper will find that he is called upon to 
 perform a higher grade of work, and that he will be 
 expected to supply new methods of analysis where 
 these are imperfect and even to work out new ones 
 when the existing ones are unsatisfactory. 
 
RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS 95 
 
 The literature connected with analysis is parti- 
 cularly voluminous, widely dispersed, and somewhat 
 scrappy. A search into this wQl soon disclose some 
 point which still calls for further attention, and more 
 or less original investigation. 
 
 By comparing standard processes with others, 
 which are comparatively unknown, useful information 
 can generally be secured. * 
 
 It is often found that the use of a recognised 
 process may be extended in a new direction by the 
 introduction of modifications in detail. The Kj eldahl 
 method of estimating nitrogen is a case in point. 
 
 The young analyst shoiJd be continually on the 
 look out for improvements in existing processes, as 
 these may be suggested by his own experience. 
 This search for hidden difficulties and errors will 
 improve his general standard of working and impart 
 to it an added significance. 
 
 Defective or discarded processes may be re-exa- 
 mined with a view to their improvement, especially 
 when it is observed that they possess certain advan- 
 tages over present methods which could be utilised 
 if defects in other directions were eliminated. 
 
 Volumetric analysis, gas analysis, gravimetric 
 analysis, empirical methods like the International 
 method of analysing tannins, all call for further 
 investigation and improvements in detail. The 
 whole subject is one of special interest in the present 
 day, when works efficiency so largely depends upon 
 control, and when so many new methods of pro- 
 ducing results are constantly being introduced, each 
 calling for new conditions, which must be followed 
 in detail. 
 
 The experience gained in following up such work 
 amounts to a sound training in simple research. 
 SkiU in the laboratory means added manipulative 
 power, and an increased speed in working for 
 accurate results. 
 
PART II.— PRACTICAL RESEARCH 
 
 " Whoever could make two grains of corn, or two blades of 
 grass, to grow upon a spot where only one grew before, would do 
 more essential service to his country than the whole race of 
 politicians put together." — Swift. 
 
 c.R. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 AIMS OF PRACTICAL SCIENCE 
 
 " To spend too much time in study is sloth. . . . To use 
 them {studies) too much for ornament is affectation. To make 
 jitdgment wholly by their rules is the humour of the scholar. 
 . . . There is wisdom above them, and beyond them, won by 
 observation." — Francis Bacon. 
 
 Economic Gain. — From this chapter onward, 
 research is considered in its practical aspect. Facts 
 and theories are regarded as a kind of raw material, 
 which is utilised wherever possible. In practical 
 research, the main object aimed at is to gain economic 
 efficiency, by securing new, or better, methods of 
 working in large-scale production, or by introducing 
 new and useful products. 
 
 In works practice (for such operations are generally 
 carried out in works) past experience is first looked 
 to, as a guide. Whenever possible, this is supple- 
 mented by scientific knowkdge and investigation, 
 and then greater efficiency , from both a physical 
 and economic standpoint, can be secured. 
 
 When entirely new processes are brought into 
 operation, past experience may be of smaller account. 
 Where plant construction, and practice, are entirely 
 new, common sense must largely replace experience^ 
 and this, combined with any available data, must be 
 relied upon to bring success. 
 
 When scientific knowledge is useful, it finds its 
 true meaning. Combined with actual experience, it 
 becomes a new fact. In its absence, speculation and 
 controversy are alone possible, and works practice is 
 empirical. The important point about a scientffic 
 fact is its usefulness. 
 
 7—2 
 
100 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 Scope of Practical Research. — It has been recently 
 stated that some 400,000,000 of the world's inhabi- 
 tants spend their Hves in factories or workshops, and 
 that within a few years this number will have 
 increased to 500,000,000, mainly through industrial 
 expansion in India, China and Japan. It is there- 
 fore possible to form a rough estimate as to the 
 number of chemists, which will be required when 
 industry is organised on scientific hnes. 
 
 Assuming that only one chemist will be required 
 for every thousand workers, and for one-fifth of the 
 total number employed, there would be a call for 
 80,000 trained chemists. It is impossible to conceive 
 the changes that such a concentration of scientific 
 energy would bring about, not only in actual prac- 
 tice, but in the conditions which svirround working 
 conditions. A gain in efficiency amounting to 10 
 per cent, on the average would be equivalent to the 
 labours of an extra army of 50,000,000 workers. 
 
 By comparison with such an organisation, our 
 present efforts are of little account. A few years ago 
 the writer estimated that a body of trained chemists 
 mmibering 600, could easily be utilised in the British 
 textile industry alone {see " The Research Chemist 
 in the Works," published by the Institute of 
 Chemistry). This estimate was based upon the 
 condition that one chemist should not deal with 
 plant represented by more than £500,000 of capital. 
 Any one with practical experience will allow that 
 an even larger number could be easily absorbed, 
 provided that they were capable of original 
 work. 
 
 Results obtained in Practical Research. — ^The 
 young chemist wiU succeed in the industrial world, 
 when he improves past practice and secures better 
 conditions of working. Later on, he may turn his 
 attention to the working out of original processes. 
 
AIMS OF PRACTICAL SCIENCE loi 
 
 for which a wider, and more complete experience is 
 naturally required. 
 
 From the first he must be prepared to find his 
 results and conclusions judged from a standpoint 
 of utility and works practice. 
 
 This means that a new condition is introduced 
 into his work. The economic factor stares him in 
 the face, and demands that his results shall be 
 immediately useful. Further than this, that they 
 shall be more useful than those already practised. 
 
 The student will have been accustomed to thinking 
 in terms of static research, for he wilt, in all proba- 
 bility, have been in contact with those who regard 
 research from a purely academic (or static) point 
 of view, rel5dng upon others to complete dis- 
 covery, and extend their results to the point where 
 they become useful. 
 
 The practical investigator has no such refuge. 
 He is faced with the added responsibility of securing 
 practical results. In his new world " every hand 
 that trembles is pushed aside," and the uncertain 
 worker rapidly finds his level. 
 
 Another new condition has to be faced. The 
 publication of his results is barred, unless this takes 
 place through the Patent Office. The value of his 
 work rests in secrecy, and not, as in academic or 
 static research, in publication. 
 
 In these two important directions the work of 
 the practical investigator differs materially from 
 that of the academic one, who is rarely called upon 
 to consider the economic side of research, and whose 
 main chance of recognition rests in the widest 
 possible publication of his results. 
 
 As a matter of fact, the investigator should always 
 proceed as if his aim is a practical one, and when his 
 results are not of this order he should record them 
 for the use of others, who may complete discovery 
 by their use. 
 
102 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 Academic and Practical Workers. — When this is 
 realised, it will be seen that general efficiency is 
 clearly dependent upon co-operation between the 
 different branches of chemical activity rather than 
 in the forcing of their individual aims and ideals, 
 which are, of course, mainly determined by sur- 
 roundings and tradition. 
 
 The recent war has brought scientific workers, 
 who were living in different worlds of thought and 
 experience, into a more reasonable contact. This, 
 in its tiurn, has brought about a better understanding. 
 The college worker, has learned much of the nature 
 of industrial investigation. He has been led to the 
 conclusion that this work is often exceedingly com- 
 plex, and that the practical man has to secure 
 results under conditions of working which would be 
 considered impossible in the laboratory. 
 
 He has observed, that processes in the works are 
 often so changed in outward appearance, by design, 
 or compulsion, that they hardly seem to be of the 
 same order ; that the main difficulties met with in 
 large-scale production have no counterpart in the 
 college laboratory. On the other hand, the practical 
 investigator has gained an increased knowledge of 
 the work performed by academic workers where the 
 substances used are chemically pure, and products 
 are prepared on a basis of grammes instead of tons. 
 
 Sir J. J. Thomson recently remarked (Chemical 
 Society's Annual Dinner) that his war experience 
 had brought to his notice the fact that laboratory 
 work was only the beginning of research, and some- 
 times its least difficult phase. He had been greatly 
 impressed by the difficulties, which had to be over- 
 come before work could be undertaken on an 
 economic scale. 
 
 Only those who have had long experience in such 
 work can fully realise what these difficulties really 
 are. It will be remembered that the inventor of the 
 
AIMS OF PRACTICAL SCIENCE 103 
 
 steam turbine had hardly overcome his practical 
 difficulties before his patent expired. Still greater 
 difficulties are being overcome by those, who are 
 trying to place the gas turbine on an economic 
 basis. The added difficulties are innumerable in 
 practical research, each of which must be overcome 
 before success is achieved. In this the work of 
 every one is involved, and only by the closest 
 co-operation can success be realised within a reason- 
 able period, or with any certainty. 
 
 Practical experience alone can give an idea as to 
 the relative value of static and dynamic research. 
 The condition, which prevents pubhcation of details, 
 has left those who confine their attention to static 
 research in the dark, as to the greater portion of that, 
 which is dynamic. 
 
 Occasional visits to a works cannot give the required 
 information. An example illustrating this point 
 will be found every time an experienced and practical 
 investigator is called upon to report upon a new 
 process. In such a case, a month's personal and close 
 examination into working conditions will generally 
 be necessary, even when he is conversant with the 
 practical conditions governing the working of the 
 process in question. 
 
 When a scientific commission undertook to report 
 upon the 10,000 h.p. experimental plant erected 
 by the Badische Company to demonstrate the 
 Birkeland method of fixing nitrogen from the 
 air, it is known that they found it necessary to take 
 entire charge of the running of the plant for 9uch a 
 period, before they felt that they could claim that 
 their insight into the process was complete enough 
 for them to report. 
 
 Additional Responsibility. — The additional respon- 
 sibility involved in practical research is widely 
 observed. In a works the beginner realises almost 
 
104 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 immediately that his knowledge of chemistry, even 
 when this includes an experience in laboratory 
 research, is of small value in itself. At best, it is a 
 skeleton framework, which by laborious work he 
 has to fill in, until the structure is complete. Only 
 in its use can his knowledge be of any value to him, 
 and in this further experience many other things 
 beside chemical knowledge are necessary. 
 
 As the years roll on, and experience comes to 
 supplement knowledge, he will settle down to work 
 on general lines, making use of his chemical 
 knowledge whenever possible. 
 
 Theory and laboratory practice will in time assume 
 a modified significance brought about by their use 
 in actual practice. 
 
 When all has been achieved by chemical know- 
 ledge and the use of theory, difficulties remain, which 
 still stand in the way of progress. The chemist 
 cannot afford to relinquish his work at this stage, 
 reljdng upon others to complete it. He must face 
 the task of finding out the way to overcome these 
 remaining difficulties. This extension in practice 
 must be faced by the practical chemist who wishes 
 to succeed in his work. 
 
 " Pure " and " Applied " Research. — ^An estimate 
 of the relative value of these two branches of 
 research presents difficulties. The mere presence 
 of such terms indicates an absence of a proper 
 realisation of the value of practical research. The 
 latter is not concerned with the mere apphcation of 
 knowledge, as this is applied in the form of generali- 
 sations or data by certain workers in " pure " research. 
 Such terms may have been useful in the early days 
 of investigation, although the writer doubts this. 
 To-day, they represent an obsolete idea, better 
 forgotten. As progress widens, and action forces 
 further thought, their usefulness wanes. Already, 
 
AIMS OF PRACTICAL SCIENCE 105 
 
 in the more modern industries, such distinctions no 
 longer have a recognised meaning. 
 
 Teachings Research, and Industrial Control. — ^The 
 driving force exerted by practical science is the 
 combined effort of the teacher, laboratory worker, 
 and the chemist, who works out and controls large- 
 scale operations. 
 
 A relatively low efficiency, in any one of these 
 directions, affects the general position. If any one 
 of these activities should work in a direction, which 
 is contrary to the common good, all must suffer. 
 The complete co-operation of all the interests 
 involved must somehow be secured. 
 
 At some future time this difficulty will no longer 
 exist, and then the student will pass from the college 
 to the works without any material change in his 
 ideas, or methods. For this to happen, each section 
 must form a correct opinion of the value of the work 
 of the others, and conform to a general scheme of 
 progress. 
 
 When the young chemist can pass from one stage 
 of his experience to the other, and his trained eye 
 and reflective mind has not to consider an inter- 
 mediate one, in which, by self-instruction he must 
 readjust his ideas, a great step will be achieved. 
 
 Knowledge and the Practical Chemist. — The prac- 
 tical chemist, possibly making use of static know- 
 ledge, brings about the completion of discovery. 
 Accumulated knowledge has httle value until it is 
 utilised. 
 
 The zenith of activity is reached when a man is 
 enabled by past experience and a natural, or acquired 
 ability to make the best use of any knowledge he 
 may possess. It is then that he experiments with a 
 freedom from error, and is practical in his outlook. 
 
 The unqualified acceptance of the decisions, and 
 opinions, of a man, whose knowledge greatly exceeds 
 
io6 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 his practical experience, should always be guarded 
 against. Such decisions should always be confirmed, 
 before they are brought into large-scale practice. 
 Otherwise, ill-balanced action will result, as in the 
 case of Hamlet, of whom it was said " that he was so 
 amazingly clever that he made a mess of his own life 
 and the fives of those he loved." 
 
 The Chemist and Industry. — It is doubtful 
 whether any other worker in science has to meet 
 a more varied caU upon his services, than the 
 practical chemist. 
 
 The problems he has to face, and overcome, are 
 innumerable, and they vary in their nature to an 
 extraordinary degree. Each, and all, have to be 
 considered. Sometimes these may call for a know- 
 ledge of engineering practice, or the conditions may 
 be purely physical in their nature. Surface action, 
 absorption phenomena, and many other equally 
 obscure causes may interfere with his progress 
 and conspire singly, or collectively, to stay his hand, 
 and complicate his work. The writer remembers 
 times in his experience when it was necessary 
 to drop chemistry, and advance on lines where 
 engineering, or other outside conditions had to be 
 overcome, before any progress was possible. This 
 is probably the experience of all, who have been 
 engaged ili large-scale production. The ordinary 
 straightforward conditions, which apply in academic 
 research for the most part, must not be looked for in 
 industrial work. 
 
 In many instances the causes, which give rise to 
 results, have first to be recognised. The field of 
 industrial research resembles that of a battle rather 
 than the ordered parade ground. In the end, a 
 position will possibly arise where a process can be 
 controlled on scientific lines only in certain sections, 
 the others being controlled empirically. The latter 
 
AIMS OF PRACTICAL SCIENCE 107 
 
 methods may seem strange to a chemist, who has 
 always worked with pure chemicals and in glass 
 beakers, yet they serve their end successfully, 
 overcoming difficulties, which would otherwise be 
 fatal to progress and hold up the utilisation of that 
 part which is already nm on more certain lines, and 
 which conform to known fact and experiment. 
 As a temporary measure, their use is justified by the 
 results obtained in the past. 
 
 The experience required by the practical chemist 
 is therefore wider than that of the academic worker. 
 Quick decisions must often replace considered action, 
 as this is based upon prolonged experiment. 
 
 When a process cannot be explained by present 
 knowledge, it is quite impossible to hold it up for 
 this cause. The best must be made of empirical 
 knowledge, and with caution progress must rest on 
 such a structure until more certain information is 
 available. 
 
 Were the practical chemist to confine his attention 
 to those processes, which can be worked on strictly 
 scientific lines, half his usefulness would be lost to 
 industry. When the academic worker is faced with 
 mixed reactions he must overcome these, and resolve 
 them into their simpler factors, or throw down his 
 tools. The practical chemist has to seciire useful 
 results in the presence of many unknown conditions, 
 which are there because they have not yet been 
 reduced to order. He is a pioneer, always working in 
 advance of scientific knowledge. Like Shackleton in 
 his latest attempt to reach the South Pole, he holds 
 that " A man must shape himself to a new mark 
 directly the old one goes to ground." 
 
 Knowledge of Previous Research. — From the 
 confused mass of information published in scientific 
 and technical journals, and text-books, the practical 
 investigator must select that part, which is likely to 
 
io8 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 be useful to him, and to so arrange it, that it can be 
 referred to. 
 
 The practical chemist should not hesitate to con- 
 sult others, who have a more special knowledge. A 
 second opinion is too rarely sought in the starting up 
 of a new process. Experience should be utilised, 
 from whatever source it comes. The organisation 
 of a works is incomplete, unless every possible advan- 
 tage is taken of all available knowledge. The cost 
 of an opinion is small beside the risk of the loss, which 
 may follow the erection of an ill-considered plant. 
 
 Where operations must still be conducted on 
 empirical lines, or where success depends upon 
 questions of detail, it is especially necessary that 
 every possible aid to correct working shall be sought 
 for, and utilised. 
 
 Research and Utility. — In time, experience leads 
 an investigator to select Unes of research giving 
 useful results. Instinct and common sense lead one 
 in the same direction. 
 
 In an active centre of industry there is little time 
 to waste on research, which is undertaken with the 
 idea that " something useful may turn up." Such 
 research is too often sterile. 
 
 There is little object in an experienced investigator 
 setting out to duplicate the work of others, where 
 nothing but the recording of a few more physical 
 constants, or minor facts, can be looked for. These 
 are soon swamped in the sea of existing fact. 
 
 Changing the Process of Manufacture. — So many 
 conditions, and possibilities, have to be considered 
 before any radical change in methods can be intro-" 
 duced in large-scale production, that progress often 
 seems slow to those, who do not fully understand the 
 position which has to be faced. 
 
 It is better to work carefully, than to make a rush 
 at things, trusting that somehow, unknown condi- 
 
AIMS OF PRACTICAL SCIENCE 109 
 
 tions will not be met with, and interfere with progress. 
 The added difficulties introduced, when an improve- 
 ment is effected in two stages instead of one, should 
 stay a man's hand, and make him reconsider his 
 programme as fresh fact comes to light. 
 
 A change in method often means a temporary 
 delay over the whole plant, even when the greatest 
 care is exercised. Also when investigation is 
 successfully utilised on a section of the plant, this 
 may introduce fresh difficulties elsewhere. Work- 
 men, who have been engaged for years on a definite 
 routine, naturally hesitate when they have to perform 
 new and- strange operations, the reason of which is 
 not evident to them. 
 
 Where more than one change is introduced, it is 
 sometimes exceedingly difficult to discover which 
 improvement is responsible, when defects develop a 
 considerable time after the changes have been made. 
 The young chemist should go slowly, and not get 
 into the habit of changing methods simply for the 
 sake of doing so. Delays in manufacture caused 
 by changing methods necessarily reduce output 
 and this may outweigh any advantage gained in 
 method. 
 
 The possible after-effects of any change must 
 always be carefully considered. It is no imcommon 
 thing for an immediate result to be nullified by 
 changes which take time for their completion. It 
 is in this direction, that the inexperienced worker 
 may fail. Where it is necessary that action be 
 taken without a reasonable knowledge of the results 
 which may follow, past experience is generally the 
 only guide. Results must be watched at every stage 
 of manufacture. 
 
 The best results are only obtained, when every 
 advantage is taken of all possible sources of informa- 
 tion, be this theory, experience gained during the 
 laboratory stage, or past experience in the works. 
 
no CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 The last is often the best guide, as it naturally stands 
 closer to actual practice. 
 
 Relative Efficiency and Cost of Production. — In 
 practically all cases of large, or economic, production 
 in a chemical works, comparison can be effected by 
 the relatively simple expedient of expressing the 
 result in terms of labour. The practical investi- 
 gator is concerned with the cost of production of a 
 material. 
 
 In a wide sense, research is either concerned with 
 the production of some new material, which can 
 economically replace existing ones, or else with the 
 improvement of existing processes so that they 
 require less labour to produce the same result. 
 
 In practice, all operations can be referred to labour 
 in some shape or form and the variation in the 
 market value of skilled and unskilled labour renders 
 it imperative that these should be compared on a 
 basis of wages. This applies to each, and every stage, 
 of manufacture, from the obtaining of the primary 
 raw materials to the finished product. 
 
 The laboratory chemist may set up a basis of 
 comparison on lines of relative efficiency. Only when 
 all other factors remain constant can this be applied 
 to practical work. Where an alteration in method 
 entails changes in labour conditions, this must be 
 allowed for when efficiency is determined. 
 
 The following examples wiU make this point clear. 
 In the first case, two processes for the manufacture 
 of the same final product are working side by side. 
 Different raw materials are utilised, and varjring 
 proportions of laboiu:, skilled and unskilled, are 
 needed for the working of the same. The plant in 
 the one case is simple, in the others complex. To 
 form an estimate of the comparative values of these 
 two processes it is necessary to make allowance for 
 these a:dditional factors. 
 
AIMS OF PRACTICAL SCIENCE iii 
 
 IpL the second case two processes of manufacturing 
 are available. In the laboratory the first gives an 
 efficiency of 90 per cent, on theory, and the second, 
 70 per cent. On this information alone the former 
 is the better one. In practice this order is reversed 
 because the cost of raw materials in the former case 
 exceeds that of the latter by 60 per cent. 
 
 The economic efficiency of a process is therefore 
 the real indication of its value. Equally, the 
 practical value of a mathematical expression, which 
 is utihsed, can be expressed in the same way. The 
 same may apply to a set of curves, or an academic 
 investigation. 
 
 Thought and action are, in a way, capable of 
 comparison, when their value is declared in economic 
 terms, an operation which is sound in an experimental 
 science. 
 
 There are other factors which play a part in the 
 working of a process. For instance, the life of the 
 plant is often an important item in expenditure. It 
 is obvious that if one process can be carried out in 
 such a manner, that the plant renewal account is 
 less than in another, this can be allowed for, as at 
 the end of each year a proportion of the original 
 cost of a plant must be written off and added to the 
 cost of production. This may also be expressed in 
 terms of labour. 
 
 The object in view is the same in all cases. All are 
 concerned with the obtaining of more efficient 
 methods as these are represented by labour expendi- 
 ture in its widest sense. 
 
 Thus the physical efficiency of a chemical process, 
 however satisfactory in itself, will not enable one to 
 form an opinion of its value. 
 
 Interest on capital, cost of distribution, etc., may 
 not directly concern the investigator, although they 
 may be materially modified by his endeavours. If on 
 any given plant the chemist can so modify prac- 
 
112 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 tice, that the production is doubled, this means 
 that general charges may be halved per imit of 
 production. 
 
 Research and Industrial Operations. — It will be 
 seen, that all operations connected with the economic 
 production of useful material can be reduced by such 
 means to common terms of comparison. From this 
 standpoint, the value of academic research must also 
 be expressed in terms of its utility, and in this way 
 brought into the same scheme of comparison, and 
 its value declared in equivalent terms. 
 
 It has been stated that " science is a branch of 
 industry." At some future time, a stage may be 
 reached where it will be more correct to say that 
 industry is a branch of science. 
 
 Science and Industry. — When a manufacturer 
 takes up a new process, or engages in a new manufac- 
 ture, he selects methods of production which offer 
 special advantage. This choice is primarily made 
 with the object of securing a better return upon 
 capital. The practical investigator, approaching 
 the position from the opposite direction, has the same 
 object in view. Both ultimately meet on the com- 
 mon ground of production. Both attempt to secure 
 the same result by reducing the labom- involved. 
 
 The teacher ainis at instructing his pupil so that 
 he may work with greater advantage. The 
 research chemist carries this process on a stage 
 by providing a further supply of knowledge. Others 
 then consider the problem of economic production. 
 These united endeavours give a real meaning to 
 science. These interests then join hands with those 
 who provide raw material on the one hand, and look 
 after the distribution of the final products on the 
 other. 
 
 At the heart of every completed discovery is the 
 wish that it may be useful. There is little else 
 
AIMS OF PRACTICAL SCIENCE 113 
 
 that matters. At a later stage, it will be shown 
 how the conditions which govern research may be 
 set up in the works proper, and the influence of 
 science usefully extended, a process which will not 
 stop until the whole of industry is covered. 
 
 C,R, 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 PRACTICAL INVESTIGATION AND THE 
 PERSONAL FACTOR 
 
 " Science, and the applications of science, are united together 
 as the tree and the fruit." — Pasteur. 
 
 Scientific Knowledge and Practice.- — The worker 
 in pure science claims that he is entirely concerned 
 with the discovery of new facts and generalisations ; 
 also that, in these days of specialisation, more is not 
 possible. The practical investigator takes up the 
 task where the academic worker leaves it, and 
 carries it on to its logical conclusion. That discovery 
 is mainly divided into two stages is entirely due to 
 this convenient division of labour, which depends 
 upon the fact that the human intellect is unable, 
 except in exceptional cases, to complete discovery 
 in one stage. 
 
 In the main the successful workers in pure science 
 are those who have a practical aim, for then their 
 results can be utilised without delay. When the use 
 of knowledge is delayed through the fact that it is 
 not directly connected with practice, the position of 
 a worker in pure science is less definite, and subject 
 to the verdict of future workers rather than present 
 ones. 
 
 Recognition of Research. — The application of 
 knowledge brings an instant recognition of the Value 
 of research. The knowledge that their labours may 
 have a useful ending acts as an incentive to all, who 
 realise the true aim and object of scientific 
 investigation. 
 
PRACTICAL INVESTIGATION 115 
 
 Huxley pointed this out quite clearly : "I weigh 
 my words," said he, " when I say that if the nation 
 could purchase a potential Watt, or Davy, or 
 Faraday at a cost of one hundred thousand pounds, 
 he would be dirt-cheap at the money. It is a com- 
 monplace that these men produced untold millions 
 in the narrowest economic sense of the word." 
 
 It is the fate of all research either to have its 
 worth declared in terms of direct utility, or fall into 
 the background of half-remembered fact. Faraday 
 was once described as a man who was always playing 
 with wires. Yet because his aim was practical there 
 is not a civilised race, which has not benefited from 
 the nature of his discoveries, or an investigator, 
 whose work has not been made more easy in some 
 way, or other, by his discoveries. 
 
 The Progress of Research. — The results, which 
 follow in an ordered sequence, are well illustrated 
 by the discovery of the miner's lamp. Davy first 
 observed that a hydrogen flame would not pass 
 through a long glass tube, when the bore was suf5- 
 ciently restricted. Following this, he found that a 
 shorter tube would give the same result when the 
 diameter was correspondingly restricted. By further 
 experiment it was shown that, by reducing the 
 aperture still further, the length of the tube could 
 be so reduced that a closely woven wire gauze could 
 take its place. 
 
 A man who confines his attention to academic 
 research must, in most cases, leave to others the task 
 of completing discovery. Davy was not an inves- 
 tigator of this sort. He carried his research to the 
 stage of usefulness, and as a result the miner's lamp 
 was produced. He dealt with both the first and 
 second stages of discovery, and his research was 
 of immecjiate service. His research was carried to 
 its fuU achievement. 
 
 8—2 
 
ii6 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 Both physical and logical discovery are involved 
 in general research. In cases where both cannot be 
 secured, a skilful use must be made of observed facts. 
 Reasoning must be preceded by empiricism, in order 
 that sooner, or later, the former may be brought into 
 action. A preparatory process is necessary in order 
 that the reasoning may be profitably employed. 
 
 The Practical Sense. — Many leading chemists have 
 carried their work through both stages of discovery, 
 but in such cases they have been men of command- 
 ing mentality or great experience. For instance, 
 Pasteur's work was of so practical a nature that his 
 results were immediately useful. Further than 
 this, he utilised them himself. He never stopped to 
 consider whether his work was " pure " or " applied " ; 
 probably the thought never entered his mind. 
 When he was called upon to save his country's 
 interests, and clear some great industry from its 
 disabilities, he at once placed his services at 
 the disposal of those who were in trouble. Like 
 Faraday, he refused financial reward. Ite gave 
 with both hands, and received during his lifetime a 
 recognition of the extreme value of his labours. 
 A true worker in science, he turned his attention with 
 equal success into any quarter, which seemed to 
 require his aid, seeking to place his talent and 
 ability at the service of others. 
 
 In a general way, science has been termed a branch 
 of industry. It is the work of men Uke Pasteur, 
 which has given science its true position. 
 
 The student will remember that if he desires to 
 see the results of his labours, he must work in 
 practical directions. Only when discovery is 
 dynamic is it evident that the work undertaken 
 has a real value. 
 
 Invention. — The superior value of knowledge, 
 
PRACTICAL INVESTIGATION 117 
 
 which has a practical value, is seen in our Patent 
 law, which enjoins that protection shall only be 
 granted to a discovery which can be usefully applied 
 When Victor Hugo held that " The ignorant man 
 may discover, the learned invent," he probably meant 
 the same thing. 
 
 Experience brings with it the power to work 
 in practical directions. A great deal of useful 
 research originates in the factory. Thus Carro's 
 work on the cyanamides arose out of the wish to 
 prepare cyanides on a large scale. 
 
 It is interesting to observe that Whatley, in his 
 " Elements of Logic," holds that " wherever the 
 term discovery is apphed to him who is the author 
 of it, that this is particularly deserved by those who 
 skilfuUy select g.nd combine known truths, especially 
 those which have been long and generally known, 
 and where they elicit important and hitherto 
 unthought-of conclusions." " Theirs is the master 
 mind,' ' said he. There is no need to work in fantastic 
 directions to obtain great results. Whatley also laid 
 down that " men of. inferior powers may sometimes, 
 by immediate observation, discover new facts and 
 thus be of service in furnishing materials to others, 
 to whom they stand in the same relation as the 
 bricklayer, or stone quarrier, to the architect." 
 He laid special stress upon the value of work 
 derived from " data which had been in everyone's 
 hands for centuries." 
 
 Thus such workers as Faraday or Pasteur, and 
 such thinkers as Hugo or Whatley all emphasise, 
 — the workers by their results, and the thinkers by 
 their reasoning, — the extreme importance of the 
 practical sense. Another point to be reahsed is the 
 fact that the greatest results are obtained by a 
 straightforward attack, not by philandering with 
 research, and following it into directions, which 
 seem to offer little advantage, or reward. 
 
Ii8 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 Discovery and Invention. — Practical investigation 
 calls for invention as well as discovery. As a 
 matter of fact, the inventive faculty is always 
 highly developed in the successful investigator, who 
 is concerned with the practical side of his science. 
 Invention is not always a feature of academic 
 work. This explains why so much of it is unin- 
 teresting and seemingly artificial. 
 
 This difference in mental equipment is at the 
 root of the distinctioji, which has been set up to 
 divide academic from practical research. This also 
 explains why a man may succeed, say, in academic 
 research and fail in practical investigation. He has 
 not the necessary inventive power. Either it 
 remains rudimentary, or it has been indifferently 
 developed by use. 
 
 The realities of science constantly react upon past 
 knowledge. Text-books rapidly become " out of 
 date." Theories which seemed so sure give place 
 to others, which, in their turn, are likely to 
 disappear. Processes are discontinued because they 
 are replaced by others of greater utility, but they 
 still can be utilised upon emergency if this is 
 desired. But the discarded theory has no value as 
 a guide to practice. It was shattered by some new 
 observation, and can never regain its usefulness. 
 The difference between theory and experience, or 
 fact, is thus set out. The experience of twenty 
 years ago may still be of considerable value to those 
 who possess it. A knowledge of the theory of a 
 similar period may be quite useless. 
 
 Thus the practical worker, considering things, 
 will mainly hold to his own experience, while 
 knowledge is so partial in its nature, and practically 
 non-existent in certain important directions. As our 
 knowledge increases it may be expected that the 
 term " exact science " will be discarded and the 
 term " relative knowledge " will take its place. 
 
PRACTICAL INVESTIGATION 119 
 
 Process of the Mind. — A genius is a man, who is 
 sensible to thought and action, which is not within 
 the range of the ordinary investigator. He also 
 possesses a power of concentration, and a dexterity 
 of manipulation, which are equally abnormal. 
 
 Generally his work is followed up with great 
 activity, this resulting in an inordinate output of 
 ideas, or practice. These combined qualifications 
 enable him to excel in all directions, while others 
 only succeed in a few of them. 
 
 Action having been suggested, the mind calls 
 upon its accumulated' knowledge, or past experience. 
 A natural instinct undoubtedly also plays a part. 
 Action having resulted, by "a similar process of 
 memory, the results obtained are again stored for 
 future use. 
 
 The important action of the mind is undoubtedly 
 that which brings with it utility, be this mental, 
 or physical. A mere accumulation of knowledge 
 is of little value. It is valueless unless it can be 
 utilised. 
 
 While training may sharpen the intellect, it is 
 through a man's own initiative that he will succeed 
 in practical research. He must apply knowledge 
 in a new way, or successfully add to it by his own 
 endeavours, and then utilise it. As a guide to this 
 experience, a knowledge of the difficulties which 
 others have met with in this work is of consider- 
 able value. It may even be said to be essential 
 to the majority of workers. Success will depend 
 upon the way a man utilises this knowledge, and 
 upon the power and originality he displays in this 
 process. 
 
 In the actual handling of research, the practical 
 experience of others may be a first aid to success, 
 but in the long run the original worker will supple- 
 ment this by lus own efforts, and thus give his work 
 an exceptional value. 
 
120 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 The True Investigator. — The genius is obviously 
 the true investigator. Although scientific research 
 is in ways impersonal, yet such a worker undoubtedly 
 impresses his personiality upon his work. His 
 special qualities are refliected in the results he brings 
 forward. This is certainly true in the arts. It is 
 equally so in practical science, varying in its 
 demonstration as art varies from science, and the fact 
 that the personal qualifications, which bring success 
 in the one case, are not those which bring achievement 
 in the other. To mention such nanies as Newton, 
 Darwin, Pasteur or Kelvin is to immediately recall 
 their activities. 
 
 The working of a great mind always represents a 
 mystery to those of lesser ability. It seems as if a 
 brilliant intellect were directing a searchHght down 
 the still undiscovered ways of progress, wresting 
 from Nature's half unwilling hands the secrets of 
 her innermost experience. Action of this nature 
 often leads to volcanic changes in thought and 
 practice. In other cases, the step gained is so far 
 in advance of practice, that it can only be slowly 
 assimilated and utilised. Such is investigaTtion at 
 its best. 
 
 The highly skilled investigator always seems to 
 work in practical directions. He seems to have a 
 clearly cut aim in view. An inferior mind cuts 
 through a forest of undiscovered fact without 
 having a clear idea as to where his investigations 
 may carry him. Experience has indicated, that it 
 is always advisable to work within one's powers, 
 where a tight hold can be kept on experience, and 
 results may be obtained, which can be appreciated 
 and therefore utilised. 
 
 To survey fresh ground, and when all is prepared, 
 to push experience into hitherto unknown regions, 
 is truly the romance of science. But in such an 
 adventure, the precautions to be taken, and the 
 
PRACTICAL INVESTIGATION 121 
 
 diffictilties to be overcome, must necessarily try the 
 powers of all but the most experienced. To progress 
 slowly is therefore the aim of the less experienced 
 investigator. The light of past experience must 
 never be lost sight of, or the advance will lose its 
 direction, or serve little advantage. 
 
 The Genius and the Trained Investigator. — The 
 investigator, who is merely trained, must be differen- 
 tiated from the bom investigator. In certain 
 quarters, the former has met with frank criticism. 
 
 H. G. Wells uses the following words ^ "Some 
 men are producing bulky masses of imitative research 
 and monstrous entanglements of technicality about 
 their subjects. The trained investigator is quite the 
 absurdest figure in the face of contemporary intel- 
 lectual life ; he is hke a bath-chair starting to cross 
 the Himalayas by virtue of a licence to do so. For 
 such enterprises one must have wings." 
 
 Possibly this comparison between the. trained 
 investigator and the natural worker is hardly a fair 
 one, when the investigator of ordinary intelligence 
 confines his attention to subject-matter, which is 
 within his range. There is much spadework still to 
 be accomplished, and this can certainly be carried 
 out by the so-called trained investigator if he will 
 only remember his limitations. 
 
 Otherwise it may in many cases complicate to 
 an extraordinary degree positions, which are already 
 fairly clear. The fact is, that the investigator who 
 lacks vision and inspiration is out of place in a 
 practical science, unless he confines his attention to 
 matters which are, and can be, within his scope and 
 experience. The saving clause in all such cases is 
 the practical sense, which, by instinct, can detect 
 that part of knowledge which is essentially useful, 
 and separate it from that which is not. 
 The careful working out of detail calls for a mind 
 
122 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 which is not necessarily one able to engage upon 
 highly skilled research, where the imagination plays 
 such an important part. The ordinary investigator 
 should see that his work is practical. Given this 
 necessary quaUfication, he can do much by apply- 
 ing to new problems past knowledge, and utilising 
 every bit of practical experience he possesses. 
 
 In the actual control of processes, he may play an 
 important part. His very limitations may be an 
 advantage. Much can be achieved in the direction 
 of scientific control, when every point of detail is 
 dealt with effectively. 
 
 For the highest work, inspiration, imagination, 
 vision, and a fair share of that somewhat rare 
 quality termed common sense, must be combined 
 with industry and indomitable assurance. Not 
 the assurance, which amounts to cocksureness, 
 for this is a handicap to the scientific worker, but 
 that, which comes from a belief in one's powers, as 
 these have been proved in the past. 
 
 Common Process of Research. — It has been the 
 aim of the writer to indicate that both academic, and 
 practical research are part of the same system, and 
 that equal attention must be given to each. The 
 final expression of scientific knowledge is its useful- 
 ness, and when this is not apparent, it rests with 
 the practical worker to m^e it so by further 
 discovery. 
 
 Academic research may exhibit a novelty, which 
 is startling in its imphed significance. Practical 
 research reaches out in all directions, and discovers 
 in what way static knowledge may be made d5aiamic. 
 It modifies important sections of industry in an 
 equally remarkable manner. 
 
 Of late years, academic research has overrun 
 practice. Much of it is seemingly of little importance, 
 some of it obviously still-born. A proportion of it 
 
PRACTICAL INVESTIGATION 123 
 
 possesses great significance, and this is examined 
 and re-examined by the practical chemist until its 
 full value is extracted. 
 
 Practical investigation controls action as academic 
 research controls thought. Thus, the true division 
 of research is not the college walls, or those of the 
 research laboratory. It is something different. 
 Research passes from one stage to the other when it 
 ceases to be static, and becomes dynamic. Other 
 things being equal, it is just as possible that research 
 may reach the dynamic stage in the college as in the 
 works. All that is asked is that it shall be useful, 
 otherwise it must be regarded as incomplete. 
 
 When the greatest of all questions. What is 
 Truth ? is answered, it wiU be time to classify on 
 their merits these two kinds of knowledge. 
 
 This new division cuts right through the fabric of 
 research and separates what is, for the time being, 
 useful knowledge from that, which has no practical 
 interest, as this term is used in its widest sense. 
 
 Laborato^ and the Works. — As it is necessary 
 when standing in a brilliantly Ut room, to lower the 
 lights before the outer world can be perceived 
 through the open window, so in the laboratory the 
 glare of present fact may hide the greater significance 
 of the things of the works. 
 
 The main duties of the academic worker are to 
 instil into action a better purpose by clarifying the 
 process of thought, and through this to place at the 
 disposal of others matter of wide significance. 
 Knowledge, which transcends the imagination, is of 
 little use to the practical worker, who cannot lose 
 touch with reality without endangering his whole 
 position. 
 
 At the time Lord Beatty was fighting the Dogger 
 Bank action, and the Blucher was just being sunk, 
 wireless messages were coming in fast describing 
 
124 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 the relative positions of the respective fleets. These 
 were followed, in Lord Fisher's private room at 
 the Admiralty, by those who were congregated 
 round the central table, upon which a chart was set 
 out. But Lord Fisher sat alone at his desk in one 
 corner of the room, silent, grim, with shining eyes: 
 The Blucher was being sunk to his prescription, 
 out-run, out-ranged. So. in the, struggle for indus- 
 trial supremacy, the battle is often won before it is 
 fought. 
 
 Courage and determination are qualities, which 
 bring success to the imaginative worker. When 
 these go with foresight and skill, the most determining 
 results are secured. 
 
 Nothing worth having is obtained without taking 
 risks in some shape, or form. Short of actual 
 danger, research must be pushed to its limit. By 
 such means competition may be met squarely, 
 out-run, out-ranged. 
 
 Success in Industrial Research. — In tracing the 
 cause of the relative success of some investigators 
 and the failure of others, who seem well qualified for 
 the act of investigation, and possess active minds, 
 one may divide practical research into two processes 
 — ^the first concerned with the discovery of suitable 
 subject-matter, and the second with the actual 
 carrjdng put of investigation on the same. 
 
 Thus, i't follows, that an investigator, who fails in 
 the first operation, wiU have little to occupy his 
 attention in the second. Thus it will be seen that 
 a carefully trained investigator may fail when he 
 has not the power or necessary experience to enable 
 him to work in useful directions. A realisation of 
 this fact will explain much. 
 
 An investigator may therefore be well qualified to 
 carry out research, and yet have little to occupy his 
 attention. Industrially, he may be of little account. 
 
PRACTICAL INVESTIGATION 125 
 
 He will certainly be surrounded by problems in the 
 works, some of them already recognised, some not. 
 Yet he has not the power to select those, which will 
 lead him to success, or to separate them from those 
 of lesser importance. 
 
 VVhy should one class of worker fail, and the other 
 realise the essential points of works practice ? The 
 answer lies in the fact that something more than a 
 knowledge of the methods of actual research is 
 required. • Preliminary investigation in the works 
 also calls for skill, which is of equal, if not greater 
 importance, than the investigation, which follows. 
 This preliminary work calls for different mental 
 qualifications; and many of those connected with 
 laboratory practice fail because they cannot engage 
 successfully in this work. 
 
 Originality and adaptability of thought are essen- 
 tial. The instinct, which we term common-sense, 
 must be highly developed, and the true inwardness of 
 processes must also be successfully recognised during 
 this early stage of investigation, which is of such 
 vital importance. 
 
 Actual research may therefore be the lesser 
 problem, easier because the road can be generally 
 followed by tracing the tracks left by others. Such 
 aid can rarely be met with when the actual conditions 
 of works practice are under review, which must be 
 examined by specially devised and thought out 
 means. 
 
 Life of Industrial Research. — ^The general activity 
 in the industrial world, and the greater use, which is 
 now made of the scientific method of control and 
 development, sooner or later terminate the sole use 
 of a new discovery. In a modern works, research is 
 continually in progress, in order that fresh discovery 
 may take the place of the exclusive use of important 
 facts. 
 
126 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 At the same time, it often happens that an im- 
 provement can be kept secret over long periods, 
 especially when its nature is not disclosed in the 
 finished product, or material. 
 
 The manufacturer who fails to take advantage 
 of modern research undoubtedly meets failure half 
 way. He cannot expect, in the long run, to keep 
 abreast of those who are more enterprising. Organi- 
 sation in other directions, which for the time being 
 seem to offer an easy way of meeting competition, 
 cannot give the results which modern research can 
 inevitably secure. 
 
 A searchlight must be directed into every part of 
 the works. Even the most simple, or seemingly 
 insignificant, of processes must be examined, ai^d 
 never left until it is thoroughly understood. 
 
 Any improvement effected will automatically 
 cheapen production or increase output (which is the 
 same thing) ; a more satisfactory substance will be 
 produced with the same expenditure of laboiir, or 
 greater output of material obtained with the same 
 expenditure. Improved methods generally mean 
 a longer life for the plant. This agcdn reduces the 
 amount of labour involved and leads to a lower cost 
 of production. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 LABORATORY RESEARCH AND WORKS 
 PRACTICE 
 
 " Nothiiig exists except facts, and acts alone are of any con- 
 sequence." — Marshal Foch. 
 
 Large Scale Production. — The successful application 
 of research depends upon a proper system of works 
 organisation. This point always receives considera- 
 tion where efficiency is aimed at. 
 
 Naturally the best results are secured when a 
 works is so organised that any, and every, kind of 
 research can be rapidly utilised. The additional 
 cost entailed, when such preparations are made, is 
 always repaid many times over by the results 
 obtained. When such conditions are met, the 
 management may be certain that everything has 
 been done to ensure success. 
 
 The details of a laboratory investigation nearly 
 always require amendment, before it can be 
 utilised in the works. Such modifications in proce- 
 dure are inevitable in the majority of cases, owing to 
 new difficulties, which present themselves in large 
 scale production. 
 
 The cost of large scale working is always consi- 
 derable, and it is necessary that every precaution 
 be taken to secure suitable working conditions, 
 from the first. This is of great importance. For 
 instance, it may make all the difference to the run- 
 ning of a plant, and the cost of production if the 
 plant can be so constructed, that it will last for ten 
 years instead of five. Depreciation of plant is 
 
128 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 always considered in the cost of the finished material. 
 Where plant construction is satisfactory, a great 
 saving in the cost of labour may result. In cases 
 it may be reduced by one half. 
 
 Past Experience. — When works problems are under 
 consideration, the best guide is past experience. 
 Especially is this so, when it fs connected with 
 operations of a similar nature to the one proposed. 
 Success often depends upon some small detail in 
 procedure, or a knowledge of how to overcome some 
 seemingly minor difficulty in plant construction, or 
 working conditions. ' 
 
 A previous knowledge of the way similar difficul- 
 ties have been overcome is of real importance. 
 Success depends upon a right understanding of the 
 conditions, which will ensure efficiency of working, 
 economy of production, and a satisfactory life for 
 the plant. Where past experience is not available, 
 much time may be expended in determining some 
 points of detail, and progress greatly delayed 
 thereby. 
 
 Problems of this nature belong to the works. 
 Except in very special cases they cannot be dealt 
 with in the laboratory. Many of them can only be 
 considered during the period of actual production. 
 As far as possible, every precaution should be taken 
 to make certain that actual production shall start 
 with every advantage that can be secured. This 
 preliminary study of working conditions and plant 
 construction tests the capabilities of the industrial 
 chemist to the utmost ; and the young chemist, 
 who can successfully meet conditions, which call for 
 the working of a laboratory process on a large scale, 
 may rest assured that he has made considerable 
 progress, and incidentally gained experience, which 
 ■will be of service in his future work. 
 - Past experience, as this is represented by the 
 
RESEARCH AND WORKS PRACTICE 129 
 
 stored-up knowledge of empirical or relative fact, is 
 at the base of many an epoch-making discovery. 
 
 Large Scale Experiment Plant. — In cases where 
 past experience cannot be accepted as a direct guide, 
 or where a process is so novel, that it calls for investi- 
 gation at almost every point, progress is best secured 
 by setting up a large seale experimental plant. With 
 the working of this, knowledge may be obtained on 
 points, which must determine the construction of the 
 large plant, and give information as to the difficulties 
 in the actual working. Also, it will bring to light 
 points, which have not been recognised, when working 
 on a laboratory scale. 
 
 The engineer-chemist (or chemical engineer) or 
 engineer, as the case may be, will interest himself 
 closely in the nmning of this intermediate plant. 
 Thus the process of manufacture will be considered 
 from a wider standpoint, and additional knowledge 
 and experience brought to bear upon it. 
 
 In the case of a new manufacture, it is suggested 
 that an experimental plant should always precede 
 the afctual manufacturing one. Time will be saved 
 when this course is adopted, as the experience of 
 the laboratory chemist, process chemist, and engineer 
 chemist can be utilised at a stage prior to the erection 
 of the large plant. 
 
 In many cases, processes, which seem to be satis- 
 factory in the laboratory, are either useless in the 
 works, or incapable of being applied to large scale 
 production. IJnder this scheme of development, 
 this will be recognised at this intermediate stage, 
 and failture on a large scale avoided, as a result of 
 the knowledge obtained, when working the process 
 on a large experimental scale. 
 
 Examples of such failure may be seen on every 
 side. For instance, very few of the electro-chemical 
 processes for preparing organic compounds have 
 
 C.R. 9 
 
130 , CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 been worked on a large scale, although many give 
 high yields in the laboratory. 
 
 Research and the Laboratory. — The important 
 point to remember is that research only begins in the 
 laboratory. The conditions of large scale production 
 differ so materially from those of the laboratory that 
 investigation must be extended into the works, and 
 sometimes carried on there, for long periods, before 
 success is achieved. 
 
 Where patent protection has been granted fojr 
 an entirely novel process, success is often only 
 achieved through subsequent work, as this deals 
 with details of procedure. The original patent 
 may even have lapsed before economic success is 
 secured. 
 
 Success often depends upon some minor point, 
 and the chief diflftculty to be overcome is found to be 
 connected with some small detail in manufacture, 
 which, as it stands, may completely hold up large 
 scale production. In such cases, it is observed that 
 investigation has to be extended into regions where 
 empirical working is alone possible. 
 
 It is when the practical chemist is working under 
 such conditions that his greatest triumphs are 
 secured. His skill in experimenting will often lead 
 him to make full use of observation, where this is 
 alone possible as a means of progress. The chemist 
 cannot afford to leave this aid to progress in the 
 hahds of others. He must make all use of it. 
 
 Difficulties of Large Scale Working. — When the 
 general lines of works practice have been settled, 
 and the large plant erected, many difficulties which 
 are specific to a new process have to be still con- 
 sidered. In many cases a considerable time may 
 elapse before these are even recognised as playing a 
 part in the manufacture. Years sometimes pass 
 
RESEARCH AND WORKS PRACTICE 131 
 
 before they can be tracked down by observation and 
 successfully dealt with by the experimental method. 
 Greatest care must be taken continually to watch 
 the actual operations of manufacture, and carefully 
 to investigate exceptional circumstances as they 
 occur, following these up in every case by careful 
 research. 
 
 It is of first importance that this should be realised 
 by all, who devote their attention to this branch of 
 chemical activity. 
 
 The presence of a minute quantity of an impurity 
 may put out of action a catalytic process. The 
 physiological action of an escaping compound, like 
 carbon disulphide or a volatile nickel compound, 
 may seriously delay large scale production. 
 
 The point to be emphasised, until these facts are 
 realised by all, is that the chemist's work does not 
 end in the laboratory, and that his investigations in 
 the works may often be of even greater importance, 
 and more determining in their influence. 
 
 Works Problems. — In some cases the experienced 
 investigator may prefer to work on a works scale 
 instead of on a laboratory one. Work of this nature 
 must be carried out with great care and foresight, or 
 the result may be disastrous. In exceptional cases, it 
 may be easier to alter the condition of actual working 
 rather than to start experiments in the laboratory 
 on an inadequate scale. In some cases, it is practi- 
 cally impossible to reproduce the conditions of 
 manufactiire in the laboratory, and it is then that 
 a decision may be come to, which leads to experi- 
 ment being conducted on a full manufacturing 
 scale. 
 
 It is not possible even to indicate the difficulties, 
 which have to be -met when this decision is made, 
 and this always greatly increases the responsibility 
 of the chemist 
 
 9—2 
 
132 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 Where difficulties are observed to exist on the 
 plant there is a direct call for further investigation. 
 Only by such means, can the best conditions of 
 manufacture be secured. It often happens that the 
 difference between satisfactory working conditions 
 and the reverse is the difference between economic 
 success and failure. The margin, under which 
 success can be achieved, is narrowing down, as general 
 efficiency is extending. There is a definite call for 
 an examination of all the details of manufacture 
 which can influence production or efficiency. 
 
 Economy of Working. — Success depends upon the 
 joint endeavours of every member of the technical 
 staff. The laboratory chemist, process chemist, 
 engineer chemist, and works engineer all work to 
 this common end. To these may be added the 
 consulting chemist and consultiiig engineer, where 
 important matters are under consideration. Also the 
 business manager and the accountant may be called 
 into consultation with advantage, especially when 
 the question of costs is under consideration. 
 
 Nature of Progress. — It may happen that the 
 results obtained by the joint endeavours of the staff 
 may be so novel, or useful, that they practically 
 introduce a new process or material, for which 
 there is an immediate use. In such cases, it may not 
 be so essential that a high state of efficiency shall be 
 present. 
 
 Where such favourable conditions exist, it is 
 possible to work for the time being on Unes which 
 are obviously hot permanent, or which could be 
 tolerated under conditions where competition has 
 to be faced. Where this is so, further time is 
 available for the working out of details which alone 
 can give success. The advantage of being first in 
 the field is self-evident. 
 
 Such conditions, however, are rarely met with, 
 
RESEARCH AND WORKS PRACTICE 133 
 
 In the ordinary run of affairs, comparatively per- 
 fect conditions of manufacture, and efficiency of 
 production, have to be secured from the very 
 beginning. 
 
 Too much attention cannot be paid to any source 
 of additional knowledge, which can favourably 
 influence the conditions of manufacture. 
 
 Where attention is not paid to this point, it has 
 been observed that the best endeavours of the 
 laboratory chemist may come to naught, and the 
 practical application of important research may te 
 delayed, or even prevented. 
 
 In a modem works, the chemist brings his experi- 
 ence to bear upon actual conditions of manufacture, 
 and, working in conjunction with the engineer, 
 examines in detail every stage of manufacture, with 
 a view to its improvement. 
 
 Chemical Knowledge and Works Practice. — ^The 
 practical chemist must be ready to utilise his know- 
 ledge in the widest sense. Otherwise work which 
 should rightly fall to his consideration passes to the 
 engineer, or works manager. 
 
 When the chemist restricts his interest to points 
 which are distinctly chemical, and takes little interest 
 in the general affairs of the works, the influence which 
 should be rightly his, will pass to the engineer, who, 
 as a consequence, will occupy a position of greater 
 responsibility. For some mistaken reason, the 
 chemist is apt unduly to restrict his interest, with 
 the result that his influence suffers, and he only 
 secures a secondary place in the works organisation. 
 
 This often occurs where the manager of a chemical 
 works is an engineer. Although this may in some 
 cases (where the main work is connected with the 
 plant rather than with the process) be an advantage, 
 yet there are many cases where it is better that a 
 chemist should be in control. 
 
134 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 The writer does not know of a case where an 
 engineering works is managed by a chemist, but of 
 many where a chemical one is run by an engineer. 
 There is a call for the chemist to take a wider interest 
 in the affairs of the works. 
 
 He must consider such matters as cost of pro- 
 duction, and be able to understand a cost sheet. 
 He must be able to see where a further saving can 
 be effected in the cost of manufacture. But much 
 more than this is required of him, before he can 
 "efficiently take over the management of a works. 
 The chemist too seldom realises that he must be 
 prepared to undertake work in any direction where 
 his special knowledge can be utilised. 
 
 Apart from this point of a wider experience and 
 appUed application of chemical knowledge, the 
 relations, which exist between the chemist and 
 engineer in a works, are generally of a cordial nature, 
 each striving to secure the advantage to be obtained 
 from his particular knowledge and experience, and 
 then joining hands in the more general aims of 
 industrial service. 
 
 Additional Qualifications. — If the chemist is to 
 secure his right position in the works, his know- 
 ledge must be as satisfactory, from a works point 
 of view, as that of the engineer or the business 
 manager. 
 
 A man may be sure of his work in the laboratory, 
 have a sound knowledge of the principles of chemistry, 
 being fully qualified in the same by examination, 
 and yet he may be of little value in the works. This 
 is due to a want of those additional qualifications, 
 which alone enable a man to hold his own in the 
 industrial world. 
 
 Common sense and businesslike habits are neces- 
 sary to success. A man must also possess the 
 " works sense," which enables him to follow the most 
 
RESEARCH AND WORKS PRACTICE 135 
 
 complicated manufacture with comparative ease, 
 and to understand its essential importance. 
 
 The engineer receives a training in the shops, as 
 well as in the college, before he is considered to be a 
 trained man. The medical student comes into close 
 contact with the greatest of the practical surgeons 
 during his coUege course. Conciurently with his 
 lecture work, he has the opportunity of observing the 
 practice of the hospitals, as carried out by the 
 most skilful of the practical men. The chemical 
 department and the works are generally miles apart, 
 the influence of the one on the other being in many 
 cases a matter of form. 
 
 When a student enters a works with little idea of 
 the nature of the duties involved, he is in a different 
 position from the medical student, who commences 
 practice after his hospital training. 
 
 This distinction in the case of chemistry is mainly 
 due to reasoning, which has led those in authority 
 to assume that the chemistry of the works is so 
 different from that of the college that no attempt 
 can be made to train a man in the former ; and that 
 a better plan is for him to enter the works with a 
 sound knowledge of college chemistry, and then, by a 
 process of self-training, secure the further knowledge, 
 which win alone make him useful in large scale 
 production. 
 
 Where research is regarded in its widest sense 
 there is no call for this artificial distinction, but until 
 some steps are taken to bring the chemist's. training 
 more into line with that of the engineer or medical 
 man, it would seem that the present system must 
 continue, with an undoubted loss in ptactical 
 efficiency. 
 
 It should not be impossible to arrange a college 
 programme, giving the student a fair idea of the 
 conditions, which will govern his future work, though 
 this is not possible while the standard is maintained 
 
136 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 that the chemist's training should be a purely 
 laboratory one. This naturally impresses the student 
 with the idea that the chemist's work in the works 
 will be of a similar nature. There are higher and 
 more difficult duties for the chemist in the works, 
 and an attempt has been made in this work to 
 indicate their nature, and to an extent, their relative 
 importance. Only when this important fact is 
 realised in the college stage will chemistry exert its 
 full influence on industry. 
 
 At some futiu-e time a standard will undoubtedly 
 be estabUshed, which will be equally stringent on 
 both academic and practical lines. If the medical 
 men have overcome this difficulty there should be 
 no great obstacle in the way to a similar advance in 
 the chemical training of students, who are being 
 prepared for the industrial world. A little more 
 attention, to this point would improve the position 
 of the student as he enters the works, and enable 
 him to take his place beside the engineer with 
 greater advantage to himself and chemistiy in 
 general. 
 
 It is not easy to indicate in words the additional 
 qualifications, which„ must be possessed by the 
 successful industrial chemist. Success comes to the 
 man who, in addition to a sound knowledge 
 of his science, has a knowledge of affairs. This 
 must be backed up by clear thinking and high aims. 
 
 Given these, and the power of realising the con- 
 ditions, which obtain in a chemical works, the 
 chemist can enter a works with the assurance that 
 he will be well received, and that he will have a 
 reasonable chance of success. 
 
 Where he does not possess these qualifications, he 
 may expect to fail in securing for himself and his 
 work the maximum- advantage. By self-instruction 
 and by keen observation of the work of others he 
 must still gain that knowledge. 
 
RESEARCH AND WORKS PRACTICE 137 
 
 Chemical Engineering. — It is seldom that a man 
 can combine the experience and qualifications of a 
 first-class chemist and that of an engineer. Nor, is it 
 possible for a so-called chemical engineer to be equally 
 at home in the application of both these branches of 
 works experience. 
 
 By long experience, a chemist may acquire an 
 engineering knowledge, which will enable him to 
 understand and design plant, and this special know- 
 ledge may stand him in good stead in his work. 
 
 He may reach a stage where he can direct generally 
 the work of engineers ; but engineering will always 
 remain a secondary subject for him, and he may 
 more properly be described as an engineer-chemist, 
 rather than a chemical- engineer. 
 
 In ordinary cases, the most that can be expected 
 is that a chemist shall have sufficient acquired 
 knowledge of engineering to enable him to deal 
 intelligently with plant construction, when, say, a 
 new works has to be designed, and that he can 
 direct draughtsmen, and those who have a more 
 complete knowledge of engineering detail. 
 
 Where a chemist is manager of a works it is 
 advisable that the assistant manager should be an 
 engineer, or vice versa. It may be repeated that the 
 best resiilts are obtained when a chemist and engineer 
 work in the closest harmony, each reahsing the 
 strength of the other, and admitting the presence 
 of the special qualifications, which are comple- 
 mentary to his own. 
 
 Works Control. — It will be generally allowed that 
 the instinct for control has been more widely 
 developed in the engineer than the chemist ; and it 
 seems obvious that this difference is largely due to 
 education and method of instruction. 
 
 Those who take up chemistry as a profession will 
 do well to take aU precautions to overcome this 
 
138 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 narrowing influence, which somehow our chemical 
 training seems to engender. 
 
 The future investigator must take an interest in 
 general affairs, and aim at a wide outlook from the 
 day he enters the college. He must realise that if the 
 chemical industry is to be run by chemists, he must 
 be prepared when this opportunity presents itself. 
 
 The war has greatly increased the chemist's 
 influence. His services have never been so important, 
 or so generally recognised. Working with the 
 engineer, he has undoubtedly saved the country from 
 invasion. 
 
 The chemist must work for this same supremacy 
 in times of peace ; and gradually the ability to 
 engage successfully in practical work will bring with 
 it, a greater recognition of the services which he 
 can offer to industry. 
 
 Engineering has obtained its position of unrivalled 
 supremacy by the practical utility of the results 
 obtained. In the short space of a generation of 
 workers, electrical science has done the same. 
 Chemistry must follow in the same coiurse. It must 
 be revitalised. A science progresses in the ratio of 
 its general usefulness, although this is not always 
 realised by chemists. In order that chemistry may 
 become, and remain, one of the great professions, 
 it must direct its energies in every conceivable 
 manner to the improvement of the operations of 
 everyday life. 
 
 A mere manipulation of the methods of research 
 will never secure this position. Success lie in a 
 different direction. It is always practical, even its 
 theory is practical — in its effect. This quality is 
 only acquired when the investigator is prepared 
 to take a wide outlook. 
 
 Laboratory research represents the first chapter 
 in the history of an experimental science. The 
 laboratory is the cradle of ideas, which grow and 
 
RESEARCH AND WORKS PRACTICE 139 
 
 expand in the works until they become of service to 
 man. The aim of an experimental science is first 
 and foremost to secure practical knowledge. The 
 chemist must carry his work to the end of this 
 programme, otherwise his task will be unfinished and 
 his influence but incompletely established. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 WORKS ORGANISATION 
 
 "It is only by the combination of the man of thought, and 
 the man of action, of those who conceive the plans and those who 
 carry them out, that great and fruitful results can be obtained." 
 — ^Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss. 
 
 Conditions of Manufacture. — The running of a 
 successful works calls for the highest skill. It 
 demands a full use of past experience and personal 
 initiative, together with a foresight, which anticipates 
 troubles and secures the even running of plant at 
 its maximum production. 
 
 This can only be achieved in a large works by the 
 closest co-operation between the different members 
 of the technical staff. Every department must be 
 equally well organised. 
 
 The manufacturer's opinion of the scientific method 
 is usually based upon his own experience, and not 
 upon newspaper articles ; nor does he pay much 
 attention to the opinion of those who have little- 
 works experience. 
 
 The British manufacturer has undoubtedly neg- 
 lected to make full use of the aid which science can 
 bring to industry. The responsibility for this has 
 not been entirely on his shoulders. He has not 
 always been supplied with the right kind of chemist. 
 His early education or tradition has also given him 
 little incentive to experiment in this direction. The 
 most powerful weapon, which has been placed in his 
 hands, has, for a variety of reasons, not been properly 
 utilised. 
 
WORKS ORGANISATION 141 
 
 The manufacturer has been accused of doing 
 little but " manufacture millionaires and slums." 
 On the other hand, he has been represented as 
 neglecting markets and losing opportunities. The 
 fact is that a manufacturer must be able to dispose 
 of his product for a sum, which will cover the cost 
 of production, and yield a return upon the capital 
 invested. When he considers the advantage of 
 securing the aid of chemists, he must first of all 
 calculate the cost involved compared with the 
 advantage obtained. Only. where he is convinced 
 that the result wiU be satisfactory can he be expected 
 to take action. 
 
 He knows that the engineer can produce machines 
 and erect plant which will serve their purpose. He 
 knows that the architect will build a factory which 
 will reasonably cover requirements. He has no 
 direct guarantee in the case of a chemist, unless he 
 be a specialist, who has had considerable experience 
 in practical investigation. 
 
 The chemist does not offer his services in kind. 
 He does not, as a rule, suggest a better building or 
 a more efficient machine. He offers his trained 
 intellect, a knowledge of the work of others, and any 
 experience he may possess in works practice. 
 
 The chemist must convince the manufacturer that 
 it is more efficient to work scientifically ; that a 
 scientific control will give higher yields and a better 
 product. That the cost of obtaining superior results 
 is less than the value of the advantage gained. 
 Where this is proved, there is always a distinct call 
 for chemists. 
 
 Where it is observed that a manufacturer after 
 trial does not give full consideration to the claims 
 of chemistry; spme chemist is often at fault. 
 
 The latter must demonstrate in a definite way 
 that he, of all men, has the power of obtaining results 
 without a substantial call for further capital. That, 
 
142 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 by investigation in the laboratory or the works, pro- 
 cesses may often be improved by merely altering the 
 conditions of manufacture, or the raw materials used. 
 The chemist must show that he creates capital out 
 of brain power, instead of supplying new machinery 
 which will give a higher return upon capital. 
 
 The Chemist's Work. — The experimental chemist 
 is only indirectly concerned with the analysis of raw 
 materials, or the testing of finished products. His 
 aim is to improve methods of manufacture, or suggest 
 new ones ; to bring manufacturing operations more 
 under control. 
 
 The testing of raw materials and finished products 
 is essential, but the works, which confines its attention 
 to this elementary application of chemistry, loses 
 most of the advantage which chemistry can bring. 
 Analysis, in this case, is merely a utilisation of 
 chemistry, where action and procedure are mainly 
 routine, or connected with control. 
 
 Manufacturers, who have made full use of science, 
 have described their experience. Thus, at the last 
 meeting of the British Association, Sir Robert 
 Hadfield stated that in their own works they thought 
 they knew a good deal about fuel combustion, but 
 when they got real scientific men to investigate the 
 subject they had, in a couple of years saved ten times 
 over the amount expended upon the investigation 
 {Times, September 13th, 1919). 
 
 Many cases are known where equally successful 
 results have resulted from properly conducted 
 investigation. When a manufacturer realises that 
 such results can be obtained, the whole position of 
 the chemist in the works changes, but such results 
 are not obtained by the analysis of materials, but by 
 the application of scientific knowledge. 
 
 StiU many do not reahse that the results obtained 
 may be capitalised, possibly on a ten years* basis. 
 
WORKS ORGANISATION 143 
 
 The chemist creates capital, and thus reverses the 
 ordinary procedure, where interest is sought upon 
 capital invested. Thus, the goodwill of a firm 
 may be greatly extended by the aid of the chemist, 
 and the value of the undertaking correspondingly 
 increased. 
 
 When both the manufacturer and the chemist 
 realise the powerful weapon, which is forged when 
 they combine action to further industry, there wiJI 
 be a great extension in the number of chemists 
 retained in our works. 
 
 Then the manufacturer will search for the best 
 brains and for those, who have the greatest experience, 
 and will not be content with a small laboratory for 
 testing purposes. 
 
 As an alternative to scientific control, the manufac- 
 turer must advance on empirical Hues. This opera- 
 tion is always slow and uncertain. He must be 
 prepared to see his business becoming less profitable 
 and will probably look to speculation in buying and 
 selling to secure a profit, which the works can no 
 longer supply by legitimate means. In the long run, 
 other manufacturers (possibly working in distant 
 lands) will secure the trade he still holds, which could 
 have been retained had he made use of scientific 
 knowledge. 
 
 The chemical manufacturer has three courses open 
 to him. In the first, he may take full advantage 
 of the scientific research carried out in his own 
 works. In the second, he may rely upon finding 
 out the nature of improvements developed elsewhere. 
 A technical examination of the finished products 
 will often help him in this direction. In the third, he 
 must rely upon purely empirical methods, as these 
 are developed in the works by foremen, or works 
 managers. 
 
 Staff Arrangements. — Given an efficient staff, a 
 
144 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 properly organised system of working will follow. 
 Particulars set out on page 152 indicate the general 
 arrangements of a technical staff which should cover 
 requirements. Communications from, and to the 
 other works depiartments are made or received by 
 the head chemist. 
 
 The responsibilities of the heads of the different 
 departments follow their respective duties. 
 
 Each technical department is under the control 
 of a head chemist or engineer, who confers with the 
 general manager and receives his final instructions. 
 On details of routine, or for ordinary work, the heads 
 accept full responsibility, but in all cases where 
 development work is in progress, or alterations are 
 suggested in the plant or process, the final responsi- 
 bihty for action should rest with tlae general manager. 
 
 The respective heads of departments confer with 
 each other on points of detail, or when a programme 
 of extension is in progress, or alterations in plant are 
 contemplated. 
 
 Where work is continuous junior members of the 
 respective departments may confer with one another, 
 especially on night duty. A representative of the 
 engineering section should always be in the works 
 to deal with emergency work. 
 
 In some cases, night shifts are left entirely to 
 foremen, but there should always be a representative 
 of the process department in the works, who can be 
 referred to should occasion demand. In all cases, 
 a reference to matters of interest which members of 
 the staff encounter is entered in the department's 
 log-book. 
 
 Each department sends in a daily report to the 
 general manager. In this way, the manager keeps 
 in close contact with output, the condition of the 
 plant, any experimental work which is in hand, 
 labour conditions, and such other matters as concern 
 the successful working of the factory. 
 
WORKS ORGANISATION 145 
 
 Each member of the staff is made acquainted with 
 his duties by means of a written statement, and a 
 time-table in the department office indicates his 
 hours of duty. 
 
 A log is kept in the engineering and process 
 departments, which is entered up at frequent intervals 
 by the engineer, or chemist in charge. Thus an 
 account of what has happened is recorded. This 
 book is initialled by a member of the staff at the end 
 of each shift. 
 
 The log-book of one department is not generally 
 open to inspection by members of other departments. 
 
 In this way the yoimger members of the staff learn 
 to be methodical, and are kept in touch with all 
 points so far as they are concerned with the running 
 of the plant. Business habits are acquired, and 
 knowledge of how a process department is conducted 
 is secured. 
 
 From these daily reports, the general manager 
 obtains information on aU matters connected with 
 the works, and considers those, which require special 
 or collective attention. 
 
 Reports and Records. — Such information should 
 form a basis of discussion at a daily, or weekly, meet- 
 ing, when all important points of works practice are 
 discussed, futiure developments considered, and all 
 matters of general interest brought up for con- 
 sideration. 
 
 In addition to these meetings, frequent discussions 
 will take place between the general manager and the 
 respective heads of departments on purely depart- 
 mental matters, which call for examination or 
 decision. 
 
 Reports are prepared on any research, which is in 
 
 hand, or completed. Others, dealing with new 
 
 constructions, etc., are also made to the general 
 
 manager's office. The manager also examines and 
 
 CR. 10 
 
14b CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 sanctions all drawings of plant, etc., as these deal 
 with points, which are not ones of routine or repair. 
 
 In this way the general manager has an intimate 
 knowledge of all that goes on in the works, and keeps 
 a control on expenditure and procedure. 
 
 Also the different departments enter into their 
 duties with a knowledge of requirements, and keep 
 closely in touch with one another, and with the 
 general manager. The head of each department is 
 responsible for all that occurs in the same. In this 
 way, an ordered system of working is set up in the 
 works, and a high efficiency in production is sooner, 
 or later, secured. 
 
 It may not be possible in small works to institute 
 such an elaborate > system of control. But in every 
 case all steps should be taken to secure efficiency 
 and scientific control. Where the operations are 
 only partly chemical, the staff scheme, as set out, 
 must be correspondingly modified. From the 
 writer's experience, the scheme indicated will meet 
 all conditions of manufacture, where operations are 
 highly technical, and caU for scientific control. 
 
 In a later chapter, such a staff will be described 
 working out a new process of manufacture, its 
 actual procedure being given in some detail. 
 
 The particulars given should enable the student 
 to form some idea as to the actual working con- 
 ditions in a modern chemical works, especially as 
 these may influence his future work. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 EFFICIENCY AND WORKING CONDITIONS 
 
 " He never could leave an accepted formula alone. His 
 mind was like some insatiable corrosive, that ate into all the 
 hidden irregularities and plastered weaknesses of accepted 
 theories, and bit its way through every plausibility of appear- 
 ance."— H. G. Wells. 
 
 Members of Staff and General Management. — The 
 writer has successfully counteracted a tendency to 
 segregation among the members of the technical 
 staff by holding daily meetings of the heads of each 
 department (and some of the junior members of the 
 same), and making certain that all responsible 
 members shall attend these meetings. This substi- 
 tution of concerted action for individual effort 
 leads to a speeding up of the application of research, 
 as apart from a more efficient management of general 
 affairs. 
 
 Careful minutes are taken at these joint meetings, 
 and these are circulated among the different depart- 
 ments concerned. These, with a carefully thought 
 out agenda, secure a continuity of procedure, and 
 give a record of progress. 
 
 Apart from this, the manager will, of course, have 
 many consultations with individual members of the 
 staff on points of detail as apart from general policy^ 
 which for convenience will be dealt with in general 
 meeting. 
 
 In addition to these daily meetings, it is advisable 
 to hold a monthly meeting of the whole of the 
 technical staff, when progress is dealt with on more 
 general lines, 
 
 10—2 
 
148 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 By the means outlined, satisfactory progress can 
 be achieved, and the many influences at work in a 
 works may be reconciled, and utilised in the most 
 favourable manner. 
 
 The Manager of a Chemical Works. — The manager 
 should have a general knowledge of the principles 
 of science, an experience in the working out of new 
 processes, and also a knowledge of engineering 
 affkirs. 
 
 Such a man may be an engineer-chemist or a 
 chemical engineer, as the case may be. In addition, 
 he must have a knowledge of works practice, be 
 able to manage men, and be capable of working 
 out, and maintaining a system of factory routine 
 which is efficient and scientiiic. 
 
 A manager who is only a chemist, engineer or 
 business man (as this is understood in this country) 
 is apt to make mistakes, from the time when the site 
 may be selected, to the completion of the works, and 
 the running of the plant. 
 
 An error in the selection of a site may handicap 
 an industrial undertaking. Such a mistake may 
 only be rectified at prohibitive cost* Attention to 
 such details may make all the difference between 
 success and failure, and the combined experience 
 of aU is necessary, if the best result is to be secured. 
 
 The young worker, who hopes ultimately to take a 
 hand in determining the poUcy of a modern under- 
 taking, must prepare himself for such an experience, 
 and be efficient in many ways. He must use his 
 knowledge of chemistry in a general way, and as part 
 of a larger policy. 
 
 Research, or a Waiting Policy. — It has been a 
 common practice aniong British manufacturers to 
 adopt a waiting policy. This poUcy is based upon 
 the belief that it is safer to let others work out 
 improvements, and discover new products, and then 
 
WORKING CONDITIONS 149 
 
 either by royalty on patents, or at the expiry of the 
 latter, to utilise discovery in this second-hand way. 
 
 The leaving of pioneer work to others may result 
 in an immediate saving of money, but in effect this 
 leads to a state of bondage. 
 
 The effect of such a policy is deadening. To be 
 continually passed on the road is disheartening. 
 To have to pay toll to those, who are more awake, 
 encourages a state of inertia, which in time will 
 spread through the factory. 
 
 Apart from loss of prestige, which must come to 
 those who play the waiting policy, the advantage, 
 which goes with a new method of working, or a new 
 process of manufacture, passes to others. 
 
 Many examples might be given to illustrate the 
 disadvantage, which comes with delayed action.- 
 One must suffice. 
 
 Some years ago, a new dye called Rhodamine was 
 put on the market. It possessed qualities which 
 were up to that time unknown. The cost of this 
 dye was about 35s. a pound, and the world's markets 
 were secured to the inventors by patent rights. 
 •When the patent expired, the cost was reduced to 
 somewhere about 5s. a pound, at which it presumably 
 carried an ordinary manufacturing profit. 
 
 On a waiting policy the whole of this advantage 
 Would be lost. It is therefore obvious that a firm 
 starting at a late period, and making use of research 
 which has been carried out in other works, can only 
 expect to seciure ordinary manufacturing profits. 
 
 During the time when these large profits were 
 secured, ample opportunity was secured to work out 
 the best conditions of efficiency. Such work is 
 always tedious and often very expensive. At the 
 time of the expiry of the patent rights the original 
 discoverer should be in a position stiU to secure the 
 larger trade in this material, because of the greater 
 knowledge of manufacturing conditions, which was 
 
150 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 gained at a time when profits were so large, that the 
 cost of experimenting could be neglected. 
 
 The one system has proved to be sound and 
 rational, and the other inefficient, and in many cases, 
 unworkable. Given proper organisation, the cost 
 of research is trivial as compared with the results 
 obtained. The heart of a works should be found 
 somewhere near its research department. 
 
 A general manager, who has had a scientific 
 training, will always appreciate the fact, that, by 
 investing in trained investigators, he is working for 
 the creation of capital, as expressed by acquired 
 knowledge. 
 
 How this may work out in practice is instanced 
 by an English concern, which at one time made a 
 yearly profit of some £60,000 per annum by following 
 the ordinary lines of manufacture. 
 
 Subsequently, and with the same management, a 
 new process was developed. The profits increased 
 to some £3,000,000 per annum and a capital appre- 
 ciation from about £300,000 to £30,000,000. 
 
 Such cases as this one are not met with every day, 
 but they represent the high-water mark of endeavour, 
 based upon satisfactory conditions of scientific in- 
 vestigation, combined with sound business methods. 
 
 Those, who work on scientific lines, do so because 
 they have realised that it pays. They have found 
 that the discovery of a more efficient process, or 
 of a new manufacture, creates capital in a way that 
 no other means can compete with ; that when a 
 satisfactory result is obtained and the results 
 capitalised on a basis of ten years' profit, ordinary 
 procedure is reversed and the advantage gained is 
 out of all proportion to the money expended upon 
 experiment. Instead of a dividend earned upon 
 capital, capital is created through expenditure, 
 which is small as compared with the yearly profit 
 arising from the same. 
 
WORKING CONDITIONS 151 
 
 Staff of a Modem Works. — The nature of the 
 arrangements made to secure efficiency in works 
 management and control may best be realised by 
 considering the var5dng departments concerned in 
 works management and the main lines of communi- 
 cation between them. 
 
 The actual arrangements will, of course, vary in 
 different works, but those indicated maybe taken as 
 typical of what should exist in a works where 
 advantage is taken of modern methods. 
 
 It is obvious that such a staff arrangement will go 
 with a large output, and that the capital involved 
 must be on a sufficiently liberal scale to allow of 
 efficient working. It is doubtful whether fuU 
 advantage may be taken of scientific control, when 
 such conditions are absent. 
 
 This makes it difficult for small works, and no 
 satisfactory method of overcoming it has yet been 
 devised. The difficulties in the collective research, 
 as this may be arranged between a number of small 
 firms, are great, owing to the many confficting interests 
 involved. 
 
 Research in the Works. — A works must be of a 
 considerable size to justify the starting of a depart- 
 ment of research and scientific control, as this 
 is now outlined. It is doubtful whether a modern 
 chemical works should have a smaller capital than 
 £200,000. Under such conditions, and with a satis- 
 factory turnover, a works should support without 
 difficulty a technical staff similar to the one 
 to be described. 
 
 In the course of a few years the fuU benefit of such 
 an organisation will be secured. In works, which are 
 mainly kept going by research, chemists may run to 
 hundreds. But such a works is really an industrial 
 research laboratory, to which a full scale manufac- 
 turing plant is attached. 
 
152 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 That such requirements do not apply to chemical 
 works alone is seen in the statement that one of our 
 largest electrical concerns spends £65,000 per annum 
 on research. 
 
 It is impossible to formulate any set conditions, 
 which will apply to all chemical works, but generally 
 the staff arrangements mentioned are equal to the 
 requirements of any modern works. Each case must 
 be carefully considered in the light of its special 
 requirements. 
 
 Chemical Department in a Works. — ^This may 
 consist of the following sections : — 
 
 General Chemical Laboratory. 
 
 Physical Laboratory. 
 
 Research Laboratory (inorganic and organic). 
 
 Dark Room. 
 
 Technical Laboratory (small-scale production). 
 
 Stores. 
 
 The above department is, generally, adopted in a 
 works where every advantage is taken of scientific 
 investigation. In some works some of these sections 
 may be combined, where the work entailed is not 
 sufficient to justify their individual existence. 
 
 The chemical staff consists of a chief laboratory 
 chemist, assistant chemist, and from three to 
 ten or more assistants, who may be engaged on 
 testing operations or research work, as the case 
 may be. 
 
 Works, which owe their existence to research, may 
 employ a larger number of chemists. Examples 
 may be seen in the dye industry, where the chemists 
 may run to several hundreds. 
 
 The above scheme covers all the requirements of 
 an organisation suitable for chemical works. 
 
 In addition, there is the Process department, which 
 deals with the conditions of manufacture, and some- 
 times with the erection of plant. Here chemists and 
 
WORKING CONDITIONS 153 
 
 engineers work under the supervision of a process 
 manager, who should be a chemist with considerable 
 works experience. 
 
 In a works, where processes are worked con- 
 tinuously, the process chemists will probably work 
 in nine hour smfts. That is to say, these men will 
 be on duty for eight hours, with an overlap of half 
 an hour at each end of this period for an informal 
 talk with the preceding or succeeding men. 
 
 In cases where two, or more, process chemists are 
 on duty at the same time one of these is generally 
 regarded as senior to the others, and in charge of the 
 shift. 
 
 In some works the process is in charge of foremen, 
 who work under direction of the works manager, or 
 head chemist ; but where the process is complicated, 
 or where many products are in course of manufacture, 
 it is thought that the former method is preferable. 
 It may be allowed, however, that this is not the 
 universal opinion of those, who might be expected 
 to form a sound opinion. 
 
 Probably the circumstances of actual manufacture 
 must determine this point. 
 
 The Starting of a New Process. — The procedure, 
 which might be followed with advantage, is outlined. 
 In this case all the resources of a modern works are 
 brought to bear upon any important problems of 
 immediate importance. 
 
 In the case selected the proposed manufacture is 
 concerned with the large scale production of an 
 organic compound, where the desired output is not 
 less than five tons per week. The works is taking 
 up its manufacture in competition with existing 
 concerns, which produce the same articles. The 
 details of manufacture are unknown, but the general 
 reactions involved have been described already in 
 text-books. 
 
154 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 Under such conditions the process of development 
 may follow the course now indicated. 
 
 The general manager, after consultation with his 
 directors, has already decided that this new product 
 should be manufactured, if the conditions, which 
 make this possible, from a commercial point of view, 
 can be discovered. 
 
 The next step taken is to call a meeting of the 
 heads of the main operating sections of the works, 
 so far as these may be concerned in this particular 
 matter. The laboratory chemist, engineer-chemist, 
 and engineer will certainly be present. The 
 proposed manufacture is then brought up for 
 consideration. 
 
 All the technical information concerned with this 
 manufacture is placed before the meeting in 
 memorandum fornr, and careful minutes of the 
 meeting are kept. Further suggestions as regards 
 alternative methods, or of any general criticism 
 are called for and carefully considered. 
 
 Following this meeting the laboratory chemist 
 will at once get to work and collect and classify 
 all additional references to the matter in hand, or 
 to similar work, which may be available from 
 private or public sources. 
 
 When this information has been digested, a pre- 
 liminary research will be undertaken on a laboratory 
 scale, in order that direct information may be 
 secured as to the working of the process selected in 
 the first place, and also to obtain additional informa- 
 tion on points, which seem to require special attention. 
 The whole process of production is then carried out 
 on a laboratory scale, and so far as this is possible 
 an idea as to its efficiency is obtained. 
 
 Laboratory Research and further Development. — 
 
 Much time is saved at this stage by a consideration 
 of any alternative methods of production, which seem 
 
WORKING CONDITIONS 153 
 
 to offer an advantage over the one originally 
 suggested. 
 
 In this direction, it must be remembered that such 
 advantage may be connected with works practice 
 rather than actual reactions. 
 
 The possibility of useful by-products being 
 obtained must also be taken into account, especially 
 when these can be utilised in some other process 
 already in operation in the works. 
 
 In many cases it is almost impossible, at this stage, 
 to decide which of two processes is the better. Local 
 conditions may greatly influence this decision. The 
 presence of a bad effluent might lead to a process 
 being abandoned. 
 
 It repeatedly happens, that a process, which gives 
 satisfactory results in the laboratory, fails on a large 
 scale. Laboratory results obtained at this early 
 stage will therefore be subject to careful re- 
 examination. 
 
 Processes, which seem to offer great possibilities 
 in the laboratory, are often turned down for reasons of 
 works practice. 
 
 One factor is ever present, or sought for. Every 
 means is taken to secure simple conditions of 
 manufacture. 
 
 Immediately it is possible to suggest a likely 
 process of manufacture, it is important that the 
 works staff shall be in a position to offer criticism 
 on the same. A further joint meeting of the staff 
 is therefore held and the different stages of research, 
 as these have been carried out, are carefully con- 
 sidered. The opinions of the process manager, or 
 chemist, and the engineer-chemist are of special 
 interest at this stage. 
 
 Relative Efficiency of Processes. — At this stage of 
 development one of the greatest difficulties is to 
 determine which of a nuiiiber of possible processes 
 
156 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 will give the best result in large scale production 
 Much depends upon a proper selection. 
 
 In most cases laboratory opinion on this matter 
 will be received with critical attention by the 
 process staff. For many processes, which can be 
 worked in glass or platinum, are not satisfactory 
 when worked in an ordinary chemical plant. 
 
 Ultimately, a time is reached when the laboratory 
 has exhausted its power of investigation, and can, 
 for the time being, make no further suggestions. 
 The process staff has also considered the proposed 
 manufacture, and made suggestions, and the engineer 
 can suggest no further modifications in plant 
 construction. 
 
 A preliminary design for a small works plant has 
 also been considered and got on the drawing-board. 
 All points in plant construction, or the working of 
 the process which seem to demand most attention, 
 have been carefully examined. 
 
 Experimental Plant. — The next step is the erection 
 of a small experimental plant, on which the process 
 can be operated on a small manufacturing scale, 
 possibly producing the final product in loo lb. 
 lots. 
 
 On points of detail, .the draughtsman may now 
 offer important suggestions, based upon his past 
 experience. 
 
 Materials used in Plant Construction. — The chemist 
 and engineer will work in the closest collaboration, 
 and many tests may have to be made on certain 
 materials, which may, or may not, be suitable for 
 plant construction. 
 
 Generally it is a matter of selecting the least 
 acted on material available for the intended purpose. 
 Upon this will depend the life of the plant, a most 
 
WORKING CONDITIONS 157 
 
 important consideration, especially where the plant 
 is expensive and complex in its nature. 
 
 This is a good example of the fact that laboratory 
 work is not the beginnmg and end of research. 
 
 If a plant cost £10,000 (which might be considered 
 a reasonable siim for one producing five to ten tons 
 of finished product per week) success may come 
 with one that has a hfe of from five to ten years, 
 and failure with one that only lasts one year. 
 
 The cost of the material produced must cover 
 renewals to plant. Thus, the amoimt to be added 
 will vary between £10,000 and £1,000 per annum, 
 as the plant lasts one year or ten. 
 
 A charge of £10,000 would amount to £50 per ton 
 in the former case, and only £5 in the latter. 
 
 The former woiild probably be prohibitive. The 
 value of past experience, which can produce a plant 
 lasting ten years instead of one, is too evident for 
 discussion. Works experience alone can, in the 
 majority of cases, enable a plant to be designed that 
 will approach the latter figure. 
 
 Results obtained on Small Manufacturing Plant. — 
 As a result of a two or three months' run on the 
 experimental plant, data will be obtained enabling 
 an estimate to be prepared covering the yield, and 
 results which should be obtained on the final and 
 large plant. Its minimum should be determined 
 with a safe degree of accuracy. 
 
 By a careful examination of the plant an estimate 
 may also be obtained as to its probable life. If the 
 estimate obtained is unsatisfactory, the process may 
 be discarded, or else further improvements sought to 
 overcome the specific difficulties observed. If neces- 
 sary, these can be tested on the same plant before 
 proceeding to the erection of the final one. 
 
 During the time of working care will be taken 
 to chedk efficiency at each stage. In this way 
 
158 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 inefficiency can be discovered, and special means 
 taken to improve those sections of the plant. 
 
 All available information must be collected as to 
 actual rvmning conditions. The plant must be 
 operated with the same care as if it were a full scale 
 one. The operations must be followed in every de- 
 tail, for it is much easier to make alterations at this 
 stage than on the large plant. 
 
 Any additional observations, which suggest that 
 further improvements can be made in plant construc- 
 tion or working conditions, must be again considered 
 when designs are prepared for the final plant. 
 
 Large Scale Operations. — ^A time will arrive when 
 it is considered that no further advantage can be 
 secured by delapng the selection of the large plant, 
 and its erection. 
 
 The flow-sheet covering the processes involved in 
 manufacture will be revised, and checked by the 
 results obtained on the experimental plant. 
 
 The information now available is based upon 
 actual experience. It will relate to the practical 
 working of the process, and plant, and suitability 
 of the materials utilised in plant construction. A 
 provisional estimate of the life of the plant will also 
 be secured. 
 
 On this information, the final designs of the plant 
 will be decided upon, and plans prepared in the 
 drawing office. These are considered by all the 
 members of the technical staff who are interested 
 in large scale production. 
 
 During the actual erection of the plant, further 
 research wiU be put in hand. By this means, time 
 is saved, and doubtful points dealt with. 
 
 The experimental plant should be kept working 
 up to the time when the large plant is in active 
 operation. It may then be used for any further 
 experimental work. 
 
WORKING CONDITIONS 159 
 
 The size of the plant unit requires special considera- 
 tion. The partial breaking down of one section of 
 the process wiU correspondingly hold up the whole 
 plant. This must be guarded against, therefore the 
 unit of actual working should not be too large in its 
 relation to the output of the section it belongs to. 
 
 It is inadvisable to reduce the number of units 
 in any section below four. Even then output may 
 be reduced by 25 per cent, when a single unit breaks 
 down. A better plan is to work with three units, 
 and have one in reserve. 
 
 Manufacturing Results. — The three, or six, months' 
 cost sheet for the experimental plant will indicate 
 how far the original estimates are confirmed on a 
 works scale, and how far works efi&ciency agrees 
 with laboratory estimates. 
 
 A careful examination of the cost sheet indicates 
 to the practical chemist, or engineer, in what direction 
 further improvements are required. The properly 
 prepared cost sheet is an important aid to progress. 
 It points out the most expensive section of the plant, 
 where efficiency is lowest, and to what extent (in 
 theory) it is possible to improve things by further 
 investigation. 
 
 This brief description of the way the writer would 
 attack the problem of large scale production must 
 suffice.. This method has given good results in the 
 past and it may be considered to be a satisfactory 
 one for general use. It is not suggested that it is 
 the only course to follow, but it is a method which 
 has brought success where it has been applied. 
 
 It is important that all the respective branches 
 of works activity should be interested when a new 
 process is being considered. In this way, every 
 department will be concerned with success or failure. 
 In the latter case, valuable lessons may be learned 
 for the future. 
 
i6o CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 It will be seen that there are many irnportant 
 
 points, which require consideration during the 
 
 period of small-scale production. 
 
 Among these may be mentioned the following : — 
 
 (i) Cost of production, as a direct measure of 
 
 efficiency. 
 
 (2) Life of the plant selected. 
 
 (3) Laboiir requirements, skilled and unskilled. 
 
 (4) Suitable plant construction. 
 
 (5) Satisfactory supply of raw materials, at a cheap 
 
 rate. 
 
 (6) Data concerning actual running experience, 
 
 as this can be obtained from the running of 
 the small plant. 
 
 (7) Utihsation, or disposal, of by-products. 
 
 In almost every case, there will be other considera- 
 tions connected with the special operations involved 
 in manufacture. These must be carefully looked for, 
 and must receive close attention and investigation. 
 
 Once more, the chemist's work never ends in the 
 laboratory, but only commences there. Laboratory 
 work, by itself, will never advance industry under 
 modern conditions. It is only the initial stage in 
 development, and that very often is the easiest of 
 all the stages of research and investigation, because 
 many factors which make research difficult in the 
 works are absent. 
 
 Conditions vary with Scale of Operation. — It is 
 obviously difficult for some to reaUse that there is 
 an extraordinary difference between laboratory and 
 works experience, and that the former may often be 
 valueless in itself. 
 
 When substances are prepared on a scale many 
 thousands of times greater than that ever attempted 
 in the laboratory, the conditions of production 
 change. These have to be modified in proportion 
 to the scale of operations, until &t last a point is 
 
WORKING CONDITIONS i6i 
 
 reached where mechanical or other difficulties 
 prevent a further extension in scale production. 
 
 In some cases, the economic limit to working is 
 reached before the physical one makes itself a 
 controlling factor. In others the reverse is the case. 
 
 C.R. 
 
 IX 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 LARGE-SCALE OPERATIONS 
 
 " The thinker wills, the dreamer is a passive instrument." 
 Victor Hugo. 
 
 Works Practice. — Although it is impossible to 
 consider all the conditions, which govern works 
 practice, yet a simple case will be taken, so that the 
 nature of the control and the requirements of large 
 scale working can be indicated. 
 
 The case selected is the manufacture of synthetic 
 phenol from benzene, the well-known " hme pro- 
 cess " being chosen. It will be remembered, that 
 when using this method benzene is first sulpho- 
 nated, the benzene sulphonic acid produced con- 
 verted into its calciimi salt, and this into the corre- 
 sponding sodium salt. This salt is then fused with 
 caustic soda, the melt containing sodium phenate 
 dissolved in water leaving sodium sulphite insoluble, 
 and phenol set free by adding sulphuric acid in excess. 
 
 A final distillation of the separated layer of phenol 
 produced completes the process of manufacture. 
 
 On a large scale many problems present themselves, 
 and demand close attention before a satisfactory 
 yield can be obtained. 
 
 The conditions of manufacture in the works call 
 for important modifications in procedure from those 
 of the laboratory. Upon the setting up of these will 
 depend the successful working of the process. 
 
 The question of the by-products produced and 
 their special treatment, as this is required to prevent 
 a loss of the products of the main reaction, calls for 
 special inquiry. 
 
LARGE-SCALE OPERATIONS 163 
 
 The matter of the size and kind of vessel required 
 in the different stages of manufacture is a deter- 
 mining one. The nature of the material used for 
 these vessels, as they may hold acid, alkali, or 
 special solutions, requires attention. The design of 
 the vessels may also influence efficiency, often in 
 quite unexpected ways. 
 
 In starting a process of this nature, it is advisable 
 to prepare a so-called flow-sheet. This indicates 
 to the experienced worker the nature of the plant 
 required and the relative volumes of the solids or 
 Uquids at each stage of manufacture. According to 
 the temperatjire of reaction in the different opera- 
 tions involved, so the design of the plant must vary. 
 Vacuum or ordinary distillation may be required. 
 The time of each operation must be determined. 
 
 All such details will have their influence on plant 
 design and working conditions. The number of 
 working units in each section of the plant must be 
 decided from a point of convenience. In a badly 
 designed plant, it may be found that when actual 
 working commences one, or more, sections of the 
 plant are inadequate for the producing capacity of 
 the others. Nothing is more annoying than this 
 and much time may be expended in correcting such 
 an error. 
 
 Design of Plant.— In many cases it is impossible 
 to design a plant from the data obtained in the 
 laboratory. Processes work so differently on a 
 large scale. Where a process may be completed in 
 a few minutes in the laboratory, it may taie hours 
 or days in the works. 
 
 Setting out the Process. — When the final flow- 
 sheet is examined it will be seen that it presents 
 a clear picture of the reqiiirements of works practice. 
 By calculation, the different sizes of vessels can be 
 determined ; the volumes of solutions to be dealt 
 
 II— a 
 
i64 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 with can be estimated. From this flow-sheet the 
 lay-out of the plant can be settled. The question 
 as to whether one or more buildings should be 
 used, and how the process can be best divided up, 
 so that a check upon production and efficiency at 
 each stage of manufacture can be accurately deter- 
 mined, must be considered. The last point is very 
 important. Without some such provisions no check 
 can be kept upon the efficiency of the process of 
 manufacture, and no steps can be taken to improve 
 this section by section. 
 
 A reference to the flow-sheet indicates in a 
 definite manner the possible somrces of direct loss. 
 It wiU be observed that at certain stages of manu- 
 facture liquors are run off, and waste materials, like 
 calcium sulphate or sodium sulphate, are thrown out 
 of the system. 
 
 Waste hquors and insoluble precipitates must 
 receive special attention, in order that no undue 
 escape of other, and more valuable, products may 
 occur. 
 
 For instance, the washed sodium sulphite, as it is 
 sent to the tip-heap may contain lo per cent, of 
 sodium phenate, if it is badly washed, and oi per 
 cent., if it is in a satisfactory condition. Of course, 
 experience and research is necessary before the 
 latter figure can be obtained, or even approached. 
 
 The calcium sulphate sludge from the filter press 
 may contain lo per cent, of calcium benzene sulpho- 
 nate, or it may, under the best conditions, contain 
 about 2 per cent. A great loss of phenol may 
 occur in the waste liquor from the vessel where the 
 phenol is " split otf " by acid if not carefiiUy 
 watched. 
 
 All such points, and many others, determine 
 collectively whether the efficiency of production is 
 40 per cent, on the one hand or 90 on the other. 
 That is to say, the process can either be worked or 
 
LARGE-SCALE OPERATIONS 165 
 
 not, according to the attention which is paid to all 
 the points involved in manufacture. Such points 
 cannot be followed up except on chemical lines in 
 the works, based upon a constant succession of 
 analyses of the different intermediate products in 
 the stage of manufacture. 
 
 The labour expended upon such control can only 
 be efficiently applied when production is carried out 
 on a large scale. 
 
 Such a control could not be easily applied to the 
 product of, say, one ton per week, but it can be 
 when this is 30 tons. This is the secret of large- 
 scale production. 
 
 The student will also realise that in a works there 
 are certain standing charges, which cannot be 
 reduced. When these are spread over a large pro- 
 duction, there is a material reduction in the over-all 
 cost of production. When the laboratory chemist 
 passes to the works and sees masses of precipitate 
 being washed as easily as he washes 10 grammes in 
 the laboratory, the difference in procedure will at 
 once become- evident. 
 
 The mechanical means required to secure such a 
 result are often complex. Success may depend 
 upon certain small points in procedure, which he 
 will fail to discover for himself, even if he watches 
 operations for days at a time. 
 
 Size and Nature of Plant. — From the flow-sheet 
 the student may try to set Out a factory to produce, 
 say, 100 tons of phenol per week. He will at 
 once discover that this is a complicated operation. 
 What boiler capacity will be required to raise steam 
 for the purpose ? Must the steam be superheated or 
 not ? What method of heating the fusion pots should 
 be adopted so that a control may be obtained within 
 a few degrees at a temperature exceeding 300° C. ? 
 
 How are the varying solutions and soUds to be 
 
i66 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 passed from one reaction vessel to the other ? ^yhat 
 kind of pumps will be required for this operation ? 
 Nimibers of such problems wUl present themselves, 
 and each one, in its way, is important and may 
 influence efficiency of production either from a 
 labour or material point of view. 
 
 AU such points must be settled by the engineer- 
 chemist. However carefully things may be thought 
 out it will always be found that fresh problems 
 present themselves during the period of actual 
 working. The chemist's work never ends. There 
 are always fresh problems to face — always fresh ideas 
 to test on a manufacturing scale. 
 
 How many students leaving a college have any 
 idea how they should proceed in setting up a plant 
 of the nature indicated ? And yet the case selected 
 is one of the simplest that could be chosen for 
 illustration purposes. If the students were asked in 
 examination to set out the conditions for an annual 
 production of i,ooo tons of phenol on a basis of an 
 85 per cent, efficiency on theory, how many of them 
 would have any idea how to proceed ? Yet this is 
 the kind of problem, which often occurs in a large 
 works manufacturing organic products. 
 
 Works Problems. — All students entering a works 
 should have some idea as to the problems they will 
 have to face, and work out. There is no reason at 
 all why the students in a chemical department 
 should not have experience in such matters. Were 
 they to work in conjunction with mechanical and 
 electrical students the experience would have a 
 greater value still. 
 
 No better training could be provided than that 
 the students should engage upon the preparation 
 of a lay-out of a factory, and a consideration of the 
 plant required^for the manufacture of a recognised 
 product, such as the one indicated- 
 
LARGE-SCALE OPERATIONS 167 
 
 If, in addition, they have a class knowledge of the 
 underlying principles of research, they will be able 
 to. take their place in the works and become useful 
 members of the staff in a shorter period. 
 
 Record of Progress on the Plant. — There are many 
 ways of keeping a strict record of the working of a 
 plant. The working of each unit should be recorded 
 hourly by the chemist in charge. In the respective 
 columns devoted to each operation or section of the 
 plant a straight line may indicate that the same is 
 out of operation, a crooked line that it is producing. 
 Where the line is straight a note is entered as to 
 the cause of the delay in operations. A blank 
 indicates that the section referred to is under repair 
 or not in use for the time being. This diagram is 
 placed in an observation oflftce centrally placed, and 
 at any time the chart may be consulted and an 
 immediate idea obtained as to the hourly working 
 of the plant as a whole, and sectionaUy. 
 
 Such a record is a necessary part of efficient 
 control, although it is often absent ; the daily sheets 
 are filed for future record and in themselves supply an 
 accurate and useful account of the progress of manu- 
 facture and the working of the plant. 
 
 From these a weekly report may be drawn up 
 with certainty, and this, with a weekly stock-taking 
 of raw materials, materials in process (calculated 
 back to raw materials on the known efficiency of 
 each section of the plant), and an account of output, 
 will give a fair idea as to the working of the plant 
 from week to week. 
 
 Where the cost of production is also required, this, 
 too, may be calculated from the above data, cost 
 of repairs and renewals being allocated to the same 
 upon a basis, which wiU vary with the nature of the 
 work, and also with the special ideas of the manager, 
 or process chemist. 
 
i68 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 The costing department, which prepares such 
 details, is a most important aid to correct and proper 
 working, and is always present, and fully utilised, 
 in a modem works. 
 
 In every case, scientific control pays for itself over 
 and over again. 
 
 The Chemist and Process Labour. — The process 
 chemist acts as a link between the management and 
 labour. In dealing with the actual manufacturing 
 operations he will come into dose contact with the 
 process hands, who carry out such manual operations 
 on the plant as are necessary to its working. 
 
 The efficient handUng of men is a matter of prime 
 importance. In the first place, the men must have 
 confidence in the leadership of the works or shift 
 chemist, and they must be treated with tact and 
 consideration. At the same time a system of dis- 
 cipline must be set up, as this is necessary to efficient 
 running. 
 
 In the development of new processes, or the running 
 of old ones, much depends upon the class of workmen 
 employed on the plant. Where they take an 
 intelligent interest in things, the work of the process 
 chemist is far less laborious. The skiU of the work- 
 man is of course primarily dependent upon his 
 education and the kind of instruction he has received 
 from those who direct his operations. The process 
 chemist, where he directs labour, must be able to 
 impart his instructions to the workmen in an 
 intelligible manner. 
 
 To a great extent, the suitability of the conditions 
 of actual working is largely in the hands of the 
 process chemist. 
 
 In a modem chemical works, the workmen, who 
 understand their duties and realise the actual part 
 p>layed by those concerned with routine work, and the 
 aidded value of the \york of those engaged in JJ^ 
 
LARGE-SCALE OPERATIONS 169 
 
 further development of industry, are the ones, who 
 are most useful. 
 
 The workmen must be made to realise that they 
 must, from a want of knowledge of the many difficult 
 problems concerned with works procedure, act under 
 mstructions of those who have such specialised know- 
 ledge. There is a distinct call for a better under- 
 standing on this point. 
 
 The way labour is utilised must also be understood 
 by all those who direct operations. Co-operation 
 in labour is known as simple, or complex. In the 
 former case a number of men help each other in the 
 same emplosmient. In the latter case they aid each 
 other in different employments. Thus one may make 
 cloth, the other grow wheat. One may direct, the 
 others carry out instructions. 
 
 In most chemical works, certain men are required 
 to carry out certain operations and to follow instruc- 
 tions in an ordered sequence. Their work wiU, 
 therefore, be valuable when the instructions issued 
 are satisfactory in their nature, and when they are 
 followed intelligently. 
 
 Much of the vrork of the process chemist is taken 
 up in controlling manufacture by directing labour. 
 The workman has, in the majority of cases, completed 
 his work when he has carried out instructions in 
 their proper order, and at the proper time. 
 
 The advance, which has taken place in our know- 
 ledge, as this has been obtained by research, has 
 placed such a gap between those who direct and 
 those who carry out operations, that the latter 
 have not the knowledge to understand the underl3nng 
 principles involved. 
 
 Labour and Improvements on the Plant. — After 
 working for some time on a process, an intelligent 
 workman will often offer suggestions concerning 
 improvements in detail. These are generally 
 
170 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 empirical, but they are often of value, the more so 
 when one remembers that they have originated 
 owing to intimate connection with the plant itself. 
 
 In dealing with labour, the process chemist or 
 manager must rely upon a sympathetic understand- 
 ing between the workmen and himself, and the 
 workman must be brought to see by actual experience 
 that the process chemist is fuUy able to carry out 
 the operations, and that he is not asking the men to 
 do something that he cannot do himself. 
 
 The great thing is to so carry out control, and 
 manufacture, that the workman is brought to an 
 understanding that control must rest with those, who 
 use their brains rather than their hands. 
 
 On the other hand, he must equally understand 
 that a great deal depends upon the way he works : 
 that by careful attention he may help to keep the 
 plant in better running order, and increase its life 
 by so doing. 
 
 When this spirit is fostered, the monotony of 
 routine work is greatly reduced. 
 
 Although such matters as these belong to the 
 works, the student will do weU to remember that 
 any information he can obtain on such matters wiU 
 be all to the good, and make his subsequent period 
 of probation in the works a shorter one. When he 
 actually enters upon his duties in the works, as a 
 process chemist, and he finds that he is gaining the 
 confidence of those he directs, he may rest assured 
 that he is travelling on the right road and that he 
 possesses the power of sympathy, as weU as control. 
 
 A sign of inefficiency at some stage of manufacture 
 often indicates a want of sympathy between the 
 workmen and the process chemist. The undue 
 presence of industrial fatigue is also a sign of ineffi- 
 ciency in control, or of a badly designed plant. 
 
 Advance often comes from working back to the 
 cwse of some defective condition in manufacture, 
 
LARGE-SCALE OPERATIONS 171 
 
 and altering existing conditions so that they more 
 readily comply with efficient working. 
 
 Thus the skill of the workman must often be 
 dependent upon the knowledge possessed by the pro- 
 cess chemist. Mill pointed out that the number of 
 persons iittedto direct and superintend any iadividual 
 enterprise, or even to execute any process, which 
 cannot be reduced almost to an affair of memory, or 
 routine, is always short of the demand ; that to this 
 is due the difference between the salaries paid to 
 such persons and the wages of ordinary labour. 
 
 Although this difference has been greatly reduced 
 by the recent advances in the rate of wages paid as 
 compared to any advance in salaries, yet the same 
 principle holds in the majority of cases. The 
 chemist must therefore realise that his superior 
 position is entirely due to his greater knowledge, 
 and that he must do all he can to apply this to some 
 useful end. 
 
 Labour's Position in the Works. — To sum up, the 
 scientific investigator is mainly occupied with opera- 
 tions which have not been established, or previously 
 suspected. Ordinary labour is concerned with the 
 carrying out of operations, which have been regu- 
 larised by experience and set out in such a manner 
 that a knowledge of their true meaning is not 
 necessary for this successful operation. The reason 
 why the operations are carried out, or their true 
 nature, may be hidden. No skill beyond that of 
 common sense is necessary. Skilled workers in the 
 factory work on empirical lines, and act under 
 instructions, or at the dictates of their own previous 
 experience. 
 
 The scientific worker, by a mental process, invents 
 new methods, or means of action. These, in their 
 turn, are followed up and operated mechanically by 
 the workers. 
 
 Science being a branch of industry, practical 
 
172 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 research is a type of pioneer and highly skilled labour, 
 where thought and action are relatively complex 
 and sustained. In time the results are incorporated 
 in works practice, becoming routine work for those 
 who operate the actual processes or aid in production 
 on a large scale. 
 
 The relative value of the brain and normal workers 
 in industry is under constant discussion. A concrete 
 case is that of an investigator who, by thought and 
 knowledge, discovers a new steel which may double 
 the output of the lathe. By such an innovation, the 
 labours of a hundred thousand mechanics may be 
 made twice as productive. That such labour should 
 be classed with that of an entirely routine worker 
 is beside the mark. Generally, the former influences, 
 from the time of the discovery, the output of 
 others. Manual labour only influences, or modifies, 
 the action of the individual himself. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE STUDENT AND HIS COURSE OF TRAINING 
 
 " The vivid and creative mind, by virtue of its qualities, is 
 a spasmodic and adventurous mind. It resents blinkers and 
 the mere implication that it can be driven in harness to the 
 unexpected." — ^H. G. Wells. 
 
 The Student's Position. — ^The combination of 
 knowledge and experience is the essence of scientific 
 endeavour. The course of instruction should there- 
 fore follow a system, which leads directly from the 
 college to the works without a break. The course 
 of instruction is a part of the life history of the 
 working chemist, and not a thing apart. 
 
 In the development of an efficient system of 
 instruction great strides have been made in this 
 country since the " eighties," but fiurther changes 
 become imperative as recognition comes of the fact 
 that the college must fall into line with general 
 practice, and that j:he training required by the stu- 
 dent shall be of a more general nature, and not 
 confined to laboratory practice, and the theory (for 
 the time being) which is supposed to describe the 
 actual working of natural processes. 
 
 In the practical course of chemical training, which 
 will completely meet the requirements of students, 
 who are to engage in chemi9al industry or investiga- 
 tion, certain very definite conditions are essential. 
 
 First, and foremost, a knowledge of the framework, 
 upon which aU research is raised, should be imparted 
 to the student at an early stage. The principles 
 enumerated in this small volume, and possibly a 
 
174 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 good deal more, should be known to all students. 
 Otherwise their training will be superficial, and not 
 based upon the actual principles of research, which 
 underlie these. The student should not be left to 
 gather these particulars for himself. They should 
 be imparted to him at the beginning of his course 
 of instruction, and he should be impressed with 
 the importance of having a satisfactory knowledge 
 of the basis of the whole fabric, upon which he will 
 work and has his scientific being. 
 
 The student generally starts practical work with 
 a fair knowledge of theory and experiment. Both 
 may be out of date before he is very much older, but 
 the principles underlying all this work and experience 
 will last. He will realise that the things which 
 matter are concerned with the framework; that 
 all the rest is merely a temporary, if prog|ressive, 
 filling, which persists and must persist until some 
 other experience, greater than observation and 
 experiment, takes its place. 
 
 The knowledge of the why and wherefore of 
 research wiU always serve and carry the student into 
 the works with a correct idea of investigation, one 
 which wiU enable him to immediately enter into his 
 work without the delay caused by a more or less 
 complete readjustment of his ideas. 
 
 It is necessary for the student, in the latter part 
 of his instructions, to have personal knowledge, and 
 this is gained by direct contact with the actual 
 operations of research, or original investigation. 
 
 Knowledge as set out in the average text or 
 reference books does not pretend to convey the 
 impressions which are essential to a correct training. 
 Routine work in the laboratory, where student after 
 student repeats the same tadc, does not engender 
 the right spirit of research. It produces the kind of 
 trained investigator, on whom H. G. WeUs pours 
 such scorn and who is seen in the works, helpless 
 
STUDENTS COURSE OF TRAINING 175 
 
 and hopeless in any sustained effort, or serious work 
 where anything more than routine is required. 
 
 In many cases, the student's time is taken up 
 with study of detail where he should be dealing with 
 principles. The difference in the mental training in 
 these two cases is fundamental. The one is basic, 
 the other ephemeral. When he does not study the 
 principles of the framework and the deeper and 
 wider philosophy of his work, his training is neces- 
 sarily incomplete. Its presence keeps knowledge 
 fresh ; gives an idea of its true value ; leads 
 onwards. 
 
 On the method of imparting knowledge of the 
 princif>les of research and the technique of the same 
 there is some disagreement. Based upon a some- 
 what wide experience in works practice, the writer 
 came to the conclusion that this can be best achieved 
 by the teaching of the principles of research in class. 
 Individual research alone is, in many cases, likely to 
 lead to a restricted idea of values where a Student 
 follows the example of one man. 
 
 Physically, too, it is impossible for every student 
 to have the advantage of a close companionship with 
 an experienced investigator, let alone a great thinker. 
 
 Agajjj, in practice, it has been observed that this 
 latter process does not always give satisfactory 
 results. Students do not somehow gain the object 
 of their training by such means, as they should in 
 a more organised course of instruction, unless they 
 are in the closest touch with an original worker. 
 
 System of Instruction in Research. — It therefore 
 seems that the only sound method is that the original 
 research carried on in a chemical department should 
 be open to the personal inspection of all the students 
 of the department at some stage of their training, 
 and that they should have the opportimity of 
 following this to the best of their ability. 
 
176 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 Such a process brings the chemical department in 
 line with the medical department (so far as practical 
 research is concerned). It is submitted also that 
 this should be one of the main branches of college 
 training. 
 
 As a secondary measure, the students, in groups, 
 should repeat some classic (and easy) examples erf 
 research in all their detail. 
 
 Just as training is imparted (in the general 
 laboratory) in the ordinary methods of analysis, so 
 instruction should follow (in the research laboratory) 
 in the methods which make up and control research. 
 This course seems so essential that it is again put 
 forward as a definite aim. 
 
 Future Developments in Instruction. — When the 
 history of the last thirty years is written, great stress 
 will undoubtedly be laid upon the rise of the Heuristic 
 method of instruction, and the name of Professor 
 H. E. Armstrong will ever be closely connected with 
 this important development, which has certainly 
 made the college course a more practical one. 
 
 The next step to be taken will be (in the writer's 
 opinion) the further one of combining aU chemical 
 experience and selecting a college course of instruc- 
 tion based upon this wider knowledge. This should 
 be set out by the workers in both the college and 
 the economic world. 
 
 This should not take the shape of an extension in 
 the so-called technical course, but should foUbw the 
 course of a wider and more satisfactory general 
 course, which will make provision for the points 
 mentioned. 
 
 Professor Armstrong's advice, " Young man, 
 thiiik for yoiurself," is admirable. In the larger 
 course, it ■vnU be relative to the student obtaining a 
 satisfactory training and instruction, in the control- 
 hng principles, as these must discipline his thoughts. 
 
STUDENT'S COURSE OF TRAINING 177 
 
 Much time will be saved if information is given — as 
 it can be given — of the basic principle upon which 
 knowledge rests. 
 
 It is held, therefore, that the path of future 
 progress is best indicated by a careful consideration 
 of Qie requirements of the practical man ; that, 
 although a great step was taken when the Heuristic 
 method was put into practice, a further step is 
 necessary before the training of students can be 
 considered to be satisfactory. This step calls for 
 the considered opinion of aU those, who are engaged 
 in practical work, and the co-ordination of the whole 
 activities of chemistry. As knowledge of the things 
 of industry advances, it must be altered to meet 
 altered conditions, and correspondingly improved. 
 The student must feel that, although he is taking 
 part in a sectional activity, this is thoroughly up to 
 date ; not up to date in one direction only and 
 incomplete in others. 
 
 It is not sufficient that an observer shall have a 
 considerable knowledge of what has already been 
 learned in his special branch of science, it is neces- 
 sary that he shall have aU available information 
 about the underlying principles and methods adopted 
 when the knowledge was obtained. The latter is 
 of more importance than the former, yet in many 
 cases it is passed by with a mere reference, or else 
 disregarded. 
 
 The practice of the college must conform to and 
 agree with that of the modem works. It must not be 
 a practice, which is not met with in the works. In 
 the setting up of a somewhat false idea as to what 
 practice is, the college course has failed to give the 
 best results. The knowledge of what is practical 
 must be gained in the world of practical things. 
 
 Scheme of Training. — A scheme similar to that 
 indicated would naturaUy include a knowledge of 
 
 C.R. 12 
 
178 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 power requirements, steam consumption, water 
 supply, disposal of waste products, the selection of 
 suitable materials for plant construction, and a host 
 of other problems which may influence efficiency. 
 A knowledge of text-book chemistry is but a small 
 point in this development. It is by the things which 
 are not in text-books that efficiency is brought about 
 in the works. Only actual practice in the methods 
 of realising what these points are can sustain such 
 a training. The coUege, which neglects this larger 
 side of chemical experience, does not give a satis- 
 factory training to the student who intends to enter 
 a chemical works and does not intend to confine 
 his attention to laboratory work. It must not be 
 imagined that the practical side of works practice 
 can be imagined within the coUege walls, for then it 
 will take the form of a practice, which is based upon 
 the one-sided laboratory experience, and leave out 
 of consideration the wider and more direct methods 
 of production on a large scale, which, after aU, is 
 the main object of chemistry and the only practical 
 mainstay it possesses. 
 
 Information Required in Works Practice. — As 
 industrial science becomes more complex and working 
 conditions more difficult, the training necessary for 
 those who are to engage in such work wiU change 
 correspondingly. 
 
 Many subjects, which are not yet brought into 
 the practical course, will have to be considered. 
 Beyond everything the worker should gain some 
 experience or knowledge of works conditions while 
 his mind is in a receptive state. 
 
 This knowledge cannot be gained in the laboratory. 
 The more general part of a chemist's experience can 
 only be met with in large-scale production. But a 
 good idea of its nature can be learned during the 
 student stage. 
 
STUDENT'S COURSE OF TRAINING 179 
 
 If there were no application, knowledge would be 
 sterile. It is mainly useful as a guide to practice. 
 
 From this standpoint, it is the more essential that 
 those, who teach in our colleges, should have a 
 personal knowledge of the nature of practical work, 
 and that they should realise that even if academic 
 knowledge is ultimately found to be valueless as 
 an expression of actual fact, that it may be of 
 considerable interest and value to the practical 
 worker. 
 
 The absence of an efficient co-operation between 
 the works and the college has led to many mis- 
 understandings both in practice and training. Just 
 as it is impossible for a man to realise the nature of 
 another's work unless he inquire into its details, and 
 understands its aims and objects, so the demon- 
 strator in a college must lack a proper sense of 
 works experience unless he inquires into it, and tries 
 to understand the different attitude adopted by the 
 practical worker from that of the academic one. It 
 IS necessary for the college worker to understand 
 the point that there is a distinct difference between 
 works and college practice, that the latter is not 
 necessarily of value in the works. 
 
 Period of Instruction and Training. — This matter 
 has given rise to a good deal of discussion, and will 
 continue to do so until the different sections of 
 activity are so co-ordinated that it matters little 
 how time is divided. 
 
 Generally it is agreed that the college course 
 should not be less than four years. When such a 
 course is followed it is evident that a maximum of 
 experience and knowledge should be acquired, and 
 it would seem that the student should have plenty 
 of time during this period to obtain a clear insight 
 into principles, if not detail. The Institute of 
 Chemistry accepts this period as a satisfactory one 
 
i8o CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 when considering the qualifications of those it 
 examines, with the reservation, that, in addition, a 
 further three years shotild be spent in actual practice 
 before the Fellowship is granted. In this direction 
 it has done good service. Its insistence on a code 
 of professional conduct is also sound. 
 
 A Student's Holiday. — The student should un-- 
 doubtedly gain some experience of works practice 
 during the receptive years of his Ufe. 
 
 The college vacation is considered necessary as a 
 rest period, so far as college experience is concerned. 
 The three months' smnmer vacation is probably a 
 correct provision under existing conditions both for 
 student and teacher. 
 
 Part of this period may with great advantage be 
 spent in a works. The writer definitely promises 
 any student, who will follow this course, that he will 
 gain a distinct advantage. 
 
 It will introduce him to actual practice. Let him 
 take service as a process man if need be. Thus he 
 will gain experience in the ways of the workers he 
 must ultimately control and direct. 
 
 Post-Graduate Work.^In certain quarters it is 
 held that students should enter upon a post-graduate 
 course of research at the college. It is doubtful 
 whether this course is a good one for the chemist, 
 except in cases where he confines his attention to 
 laboratory work. In this case the further contact 
 with research conditions, as these are carried out on 
 academic Unes, may prove useful in some cases, in 
 others not. 
 
 The period between the ages of seventeen and 
 twenty-three is a critical one. During this time the 
 chemist's future will jjrobably be settled. 
 
 His brain is particularly receptive to outside 
 influence, and it is as well that he should gain an 
 insight into the conditions of practical working 
 
STUDENT'S COURSE OF TRAINING i8i 
 
 during the period. This can be achieved if he enters 
 the works during the vacation. 
 
 Later on, ideas have become stereotyped and have 
 a way of persisting through life. "Hie absence of 
 an early practical experience, in many cases, inter- 
 feres with the more practical side of work and 
 restricts development. 
 
 On the one hand the student must gain know- 
 ledge, and on the other experience. Many fail to 
 secure the full benefit of both. Far too much stress 
 has been laid upon the matter of examinations. 
 
 Preparing for these is an aid to knowledge, but 
 not experience. There is a Plimsoll line in training, 
 as there is in navigation. It is as dangerous to 
 overload a mind with detail, just as to overload a 
 vessel with cargo. 
 
 The extraordinary importance of a practical train- 
 ing therefore is seen, and the responsibility, which 
 rests upon those who determine the course of 
 instruction, cannot be over-estimated. 
 
 The very efi&ciency of a training in chemistry may 
 disguise the fact that it might be very much more 
 useful to the student if it were more embracing in its 
 aims and more practical. The last term is used in 
 its general sense rather than in that, which it is used 
 in the laboratory. 
 
 Work in the laboratory is only practical so far 
 as laboratory work is concerned. There is a wider 
 side of chemistry, which brings with it a greater 
 recognition in the industrial world. It is for this 
 that the student should be trained and prepared. 
 
 The College Staff. — It is always interesting to 
 examine a college training, which prepares a man 
 for an industrial experience. This should guard on 
 the one hand, against a merely technical training in 
 things as they are, and on the other, should impart 
 an insight into the methods, wl^ch must be adopted 
 
i82 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 when an attempt is made to apply such knowledge 
 in the works. 
 
 Just as a merely technical training will leave the 
 worker high and dry at some important stage in his 
 career, so a too theoretical one will prevent his 
 reaching this stage of useful application. 
 
 It may be agreed that such a training might 
 lengthen the coUege course. This is not material 
 if the training is really efficient in its method. Any 
 system, which does not comply with this requirement, 
 should be substituted by one that does. There is 
 only one standard for a teaching course in practical 
 science as it apphes to the ordinary student, and that 
 is its efficiency as a hnk in industrial progress. On 
 any other basis it clogs the wheels of progress. This 
 should be remembered by those who remain in the 
 college to teach succeeding generations of students. 
 
 Such men should do all they can to understand 
 and keep in touch with the requirements of the life 
 they are barred from following by their decision to 
 continue in the college. Otherwise they will soon 
 become stale and out of touch with real conditions. 
 And their students, in their turn, will have to gain 
 their experience after leaving the college. 
 
 This is a shortcoming, which should be minimised. 
 It would be better for the teacher to spend two years 
 as an interregnum in the works and thus break the 
 continuity of his college hfe. Even then, if he does 
 not keep closely in contact with industrial affairs, he 
 will soon lose touch with working conditions. 
 
 As soon as research becomes old fashioned it must 
 be replaced by more efficient methods of working, 
 and very often changes in organisation, which in 
 their turn will set up a system of new ideas and 
 methods. These are not published to the world for 
 obvious reasons. Yet somehow they must be reaUsed 
 in the college, and allowed for in the general course 
 of training. 
 
STUDENT'S COURSE OF TRAINING 183 
 
 At stated intervals, the members of the staff in 
 American Universities obtain a period of leave 
 during which they travel to European centres of 
 learning, and thus keep their minds fresh, by 
 observing the progress made in other directions. 
 If this is not possible in this country the members 
 of the staff should each keep closely in touch with 
 some particidar industry, and wherever possible visit 
 the works connected with the same, thus keeping 
 in touch with progress as it is represented in the 
 same. 
 
 The Student's Aims.— The late Sir William Osier 
 always gave his first year medical students advice, 
 which was of so practical a nature that it may be 
 repeated here : — 
 
 " The master word is work. Throw away in the 
 first place all ambition beyond that of doing a day's 
 work well. 
 
 " Take no thought for the morrow. Live neither 
 in the past nor the future, but let each day's work 
 absorb your entire energy. 
 
 " The value of experience is not in seeing much, but 
 in seeing wisely. 
 
 "The secret of successful working lies in the sys- 
 tematic arrangement of what you have to do, and 
 in the methodical performance of it. 
 
 " Do not get too deeply absorbed to the exclusion 
 of all outside interests. No matter what it is, have 
 an outside hobby." 
 
 During his early period of training, a chemist will 
 do weU to take up some hobby, Uke photography ; 
 one that will relax his thoughts, and yet bring 
 valuable experience and knowledge of general things. 
 The camera, especially if it is used in conjunction 
 with the microscope, is especially valuable. Its use 
 calls for decision, and calculation of somewhat un- 
 known conditions. An almost immediate confirma- 
 
184 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 tion is obtained as to the accuracy of the student's 
 decisions. 
 
 Every chemical student should be a capable 
 photographer. It is impossible that this will not at 
 some time prove advantageous. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 tHE GENERAL RECORDING OF RESULTS AND 
 OTHER MATTERS 
 
 " / know not what the world may think of my labours, but to 
 myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea- 
 shore, and diverting himself in now and then finding a smoother 
 pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of 
 truth lay all undiscovered before me." — ^Newton. 
 
 The field of experimental research is ever widening ; 
 each discovery is but a stepping-stone to others. 
 Single observations may (as in the past) give rise to 
 new sciences, called into existence by new facts or 
 knowledge. There is no finality to research. 
 
 The great ocean of truth as truly lies undiscovered 
 as in the day of Newton. It may always remain 
 unfathomable, and refuse to be defined in our system 
 of thought. 
 
 The natural development in the field of investiga- 
 tion is of particular importance to the student. 
 The increased tendency to subdivision and the 
 dividing up of science into a number of more or less 
 water-tight compartments (for which there is 
 obviously no counterpart in Nature), is a defect, 
 which it is impossible to ignore. Comparison of the 
 results arrived at in one section with those obtained 
 in another wiU hardly fail to indicate new lines for 
 investigation and widen knowledge. The young 
 investigator should pay special attention to this 
 point. Knowledge is extended in this way. 
 
 The application of the latest developments in 
 coUoidal chemistry to the theory and practice of 
 dyeing, brewing, filtration, and the study of 
 
i86 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 solutions and their properties, are examples of 
 this work. 
 
 The student need only remember the importance 
 of this application to the manufacture of photo- 
 graphic emulsions to appreciate this point. 
 
 In the different branches of physical chemistry 
 this inter-dependence is specially called for. 
 
 The student, anxious to reaUse the inwardness of 
 things rather than to act as a mere recorder of diverse 
 phenomena, in terms of certain set methods of 
 expression, will recognise this, and by choosing such 
 a subject for investigation may set out with reason- 
 able promise of success. 
 
 Use of Mathematics. — Research which involves a 
 mathematical treatment is a source of inspiration 
 to many, if it be a trial to others. The conditions 
 of research have been so modified of late years 
 that it is almost impossible for the investigator to 
 carry it on in a satisfactory manner without a 
 working knowledge of mathematics. This has not 
 been sufficiently recognised in the past. The 
 methods of teaching this subject also have often 
 been so academic that the student has failed to 
 appreciate the importance of its practical utiUty. 
 
 The far-reaching effect of the application of 
 mathematics to experimental sciences is seen on all 
 sides. It is impossible to consider certain branches 
 of chemistry without it. Its extended use in the 
 science of engineering, or in physics, wiU be a 
 constant reminder to the chemist of its practical 
 value when its use is kept within reasonable bounds. 
 
 The statement has been generally made that from 
 his method of thought the chemist can never be 
 a transcendental mathematician. This may or may 
 not be so, but the general investigator has no such 
 need. He may be content with a sufficient working 
 knowledge of the practical side of this secondary 
 
RECORDING OF RESULTS 187 
 
 science. The worker who has not this knowledge 
 may be referred in the first instance to a " Course 
 of Practical Mathematics," by Saxelby, or to 
 " Higher Mathematics for Chemical Students," by 
 Partington. Either of these will indicate that the 
 subject may be treated in a manner, which brings it 
 within the grasp of any chemist, and also one caimot 
 fail to gain advantage from a working knowledge of 
 this subject. 
 
 A certain want of understanding between the 
 -workers in chemistry and physics has been traced 
 to the fact that in the absence of a common use of 
 mathematics, different methods for expressing results 
 are employed. 
 
 The mathematical expression of laws, or generalisa- 
 tions are, as a rule, simple in proportion to their 
 usefulness. A simple arithmetical expression is 
 .generally basic; a complicated formula, empirical, 
 "and only useful for working purposes when conditions 
 are fairly constant. 
 
 Experience indicates that the simpler a generalisa- 
 tion the more likely is it to be a true one. An 
 arithmetical property, which depends upon a simple 
 ratio, is far more likely to survive than one which is 
 obscure in some of its factors. Such a law may be 
 expected to vary with every change in condition, 
 and to only apply over a narrow range of experience. 
 It is empirical, not relative. In ways it is equiva- 
 lent to a process in industry, where results can only 
 be repeated with any certainty so long as certain 
 unknown or empirical conditions remain constant. 
 
 In pure science, mathematics plays a very important 
 part. It is absolutely essential to our methods of 
 research. It bridges chasms, which thought alone 
 could never pass, and pushes research into regions 
 where expressions must otherwise be purely empirical 
 or conjectural. Subsequent experiment has often 
 confirmed results anticipated by mathematical means. 
 
i88 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 As a means of collecting data and arranging this 
 in terms of general expression, mathematics holds 
 the field in undisputed fashion. 
 
 It has been pointed out, that many set a low value 
 on the usefulness of mathematical knowledge, because 
 it is not realised that the mathematician rarely, or 
 never, reveals the secret whereby he discovers the 
 method by which he obtains the result ; that while 
 the problem is always solved by analysis, yet, in its 
 final expression, the result is expressed by deduction. 
 Also, that while deductive reasoning seemingly 
 appears to form the essence of mathematical expres- 
 sion, it is a mistake to imagine that the actual work 
 of the mathematician is of a deductive character. 
 
 When this important point is not realised, it would 
 seem that the work of the mathematician is simple, 
 each step following directly from the previous one, 
 so that the process seems to demand no real 
 intellectual effort. 
 
 Discovery obtained by mathematics is implied in 
 previous knowledge, since it is logically deducible 
 from the same. An exercise of judgment, as in 
 experimenting, is not called for. The degree of 
 evidence cannot be altered in mathematics, or quali- 
 jfted in any way. It is, therefore, obvious that only 
 where such results can be compared with those 
 obtained by direct measurement that there can be 
 any certainty as to the results obtained. At the 
 same time, a good deal of skill is required in the 
 selection of the premises so that unperceived, or 
 imthought-of, results may be achieved. 
 
 Mathematics sometimes confirm results obtained 
 by the practical worker in a satisfactory manner. 
 Thus it has recently been shown by R. Becker that 
 when the theory of detonation is developed mathe- 
 matically the results are of the same order as for 
 "detonation temperature " and ptessure produced 
 as those observed experimentally. 
 
RECORDING OF RESULTS 189 
 
 Methods of Recording Results. — Great importance 
 should be attached to the registration of all details 
 of past work. Nothing is more annoying than 
 the search for information the reference to which 
 has been mislaid. This record should cover as 
 extensive a field as possible, or both the theoretical 
 and practical sides. AU such references must be 
 classified, preferably by card index, rather than 
 by note-book, so that they may be kept in a con- 
 venient form for future reference. In a few years 
 this source of information becomes one of considerable 
 value. A note-book for immediate use, and such a 
 system of registration as some form of alphabetically 
 arranged record or card index, are aids to systematic 
 investigation. 
 
 AU observations, and any provisional conclusions 
 based upon them, should be immediately registered. 
 At stated intervals, the progress of the investigations 
 must be closely examined, notes written up, and the 
 influence of any further results obtained on the 
 direction of the research carefully thought over, and 
 any possible developments arising out of them noted. 
 In the long run this saves much time and secures a 
 satisfactory record of results. This is a matter of 
 importance, and a necessary condition to systematic 
 work. 
 
 It is interesting to note that Faraday, who is 
 recognised as probably the most precise investigator 
 of the nineteenth century, had (according to T57ndall) 
 a sense of order which " ran hke a luminous beam 
 through aU the transactions of Ufe." His notes 
 were foimd to be numbered, the last paragraph being 
 registered as No. 16,041. 
 
 Publication of Results. — This subject raises con- 
 siderations of great moment to the investigator. 
 When research work is conducted to a successful 
 issue in a college or university, it is nearly always 
 
igo CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 published. In other cases publication may defeat 
 the whole object of the research unless, at the same 
 time, protection by patent is obtained. 
 
 Publication may take place through the medium 
 of the recognised societies, in which case the commu- 
 nication is submitted to the secretary for considera- 
 tion by the Publication Committee. One obvious 
 advantage of this method is that the communication 
 may be read before the members and discussed. 
 
 The third method of direct publication is in the 
 form of a monograph, treatise, book, or pamphlet. 
 This is the method least often adopted in this country 
 owing to the question of personal expense and 
 distribution. 
 
 Effect of Publication. — In pure research, which 
 remains static, the only way of obtaining any advan- 
 tage is by pubUcation. The only advantage which 
 such work can bring is in its apphcation. 
 
 The assumed disadvantage of the non-publication 
 of technical research is not so great as might be 
 expected. The protection which goes with this is 
 only just. It is the equivalent of that given under 
 patent law to those who are willing to publish their 
 discoveries in return for a period of monopoly. 
 
 In many cases such a procedure is unwise. In 
 some cases the publication of results by patent set 
 others working on similar, lines. Protection is 
 rightly sought in some cases by secret working 
 instead of by patent. 
 
 No manufacturer can be expected to give to the 
 world the advantages he has secured by superior 
 enterprise and investigation. Secret working leads 
 to progress. No firm can afford to let others have 
 a monopoly of the advantages which come by 
 research. They must experiment. In the long run 
 such information as may be gained leaks out or is 
 duplicated in other works. 
 
RECORDING OF RESULTS 191 
 
 The chemist will therefore see why it is so impos- 
 sible for firms to allow the publication of results, 
 which have been secured for private ends. 
 
 It is surprising how long such an advantage 
 secured by scienti&c investigation can be preserved, 
 and to what an extent secret working will secvire an 
 advantage. 
 
 Protection by Patent. — Closely connected with the 
 question of publication is that of protection by letters 
 patent. This only applies to a matter, which has an 
 industrial application, as an abstract idea cannot be 
 protected. The only, recognition for work of a 
 theoretical nature is by publication. 
 
 The question of publication by patent, under which 
 the State grants a monopoly of user under certain 
 defined conditions, is one wMch can only be decided 
 after due consideration of all the interests involved. 
 A provisional protection may be granted for six 
 months in this coimtry for a nominal sum, and this 
 does not entail publication, if the patent is not 
 completed. 
 
 In Germany a technical commission examines all 
 patents for novelty and previous publication. In 
 this country the search is confined to English 
 patents of the last fifty years. 
 
 The stage at which a patent should be taken 
 out is a matter demanding close attention. If pro- 
 tection is obtained before the details have been 
 worked out sufficiently for the process to be a work- 
 able one, its value is correspondingly small. In this 
 respect the English Patent Office offers certain advan- 
 tages by granting provisional protection. During 
 the subsequent period of six months, the detail of 
 the invention may be embodied by a final specifi- 
 cation. The patent of addition is also a help in this 
 direction. 
 
 In modern practice it may happen that only part 
 
192 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 of the invention is patented and certain details 
 remain secret. Such a step demands special know- 
 ledge and involves questions of policy, which will be 
 found to vary in different cases. 
 
 The value of such rights to the investigator is 
 difficult to determine. This may depend- upon 
 other considerations than that of the importance 
 of the research. Utihty is a matter of chief con- 
 cern, and is a necessary quahfication from the legal 
 standpoint. 
 
 Facilities for Research in this Country. — These have 
 not been generally available in the past, and it 
 may be argued that this has greatly impeded research 
 in this country. Many of the provincial imiversities 
 now advertise facihties for research, and the Royal 
 Society and the Chemical Society have at their 
 disposal hmited funds, which they disburse by way 
 of grants, prizes, scholarships, etc. Research is also 
 . conducted at such institutions as the National 
 Physical Laboratory, the Royal Institution and 
 certain other research stations. 
 
 Some of the scientific and technical societies 
 form committees to determine certain points by 
 investigation. For instance, the Institute of Gas, 
 Engineers has appointed a Gas Heating Committee, 
 which reports from time to time (see /. Gas Lighting, 
 1910, 2, 810), and the Institute of Metals has dealt 
 with the corrosion of metals and other problems. . 
 
 The Government offices have also from time to time 
 appointed committees to deal with points, which more 
 or less involve chemical investigation (see Times 
 Eng. Sup., September 21st, 1910). The pubhcations 
 of the Bureau of Mines at Washington, U.S.A., deal- 
 ing with technical researches and progress are also 
 of considerable importance. 
 
 Since the war, many trades have considered 
 research _andJ|collectively set up central stations 
 
RECORDING OF RESULTS 193 
 
 where problems of common utility can be considered. 
 Only the future can determine the aid this will 
 bring to modem industry. 
 
 Care will have to be taken that too much rehance 
 is not placed upon these trade research stations. In 
 many directions they can never replace actual works 
 investigation ; nor is this advisable. Success will 
 still come to those concerns who are fully organised 
 on scientific lines right throi^h the works, and those 
 who supjdement central research by works research 
 will in the long run be the ones who survive. They 
 will secure the advantage of exclusive information 
 on a number of points, which in itself is a sure 
 return for any expenditure that may be made in 
 securing such information. 
 
 This movement will be carefully watched by those 
 who consider that the process of research as carried 
 out in the laboratory is only a part of the main 
 utilisation of the principles of scientific research in 
 its true or economic sense. 
 
 Such a process of collective investigation, as is 
 covered by the work at central stations, will be 
 useful, or the reverse as it is practical or not. To 
 be the former it must have its origin in the works, 
 where the necessary observations leading to such 
 work can be made. The process only can lead to 
 usefiil results when the principles of research are 
 utilised for thdr furthra: investigation. 
 
 Some of the more modem universities, as, for 
 example, that of Sheffield, deal in a similar manner 
 with investigatisoa of more or less technical import- 
 ance. Thus, in the case mentioned, the Applied 
 Science Committee has arranged that any new pro- 
 cesses brought forward may be tested in the 
 University on a manufactuimg scal^ before any 
 number of manufacturers adopt them. 
 
 When, therefore, the general question is a^ced, 
 whether it is advisable for the student or general 
 cR. 13 
 
194 CHEMICAL RESEARCH 
 
 chemist to engage in research, the answer must 
 depend upon certain conditions which cover his 
 training and knowledge of chemistry, natural adapt- 
 ability, and facility for enga:ging in such work. 
 The opportunity and time for conducting such 
 investigation may generally be met with even when 
 the operator is engaged in practical work. 
 
 The beginner must also determine how far he 
 is able to conform to certain conditions before 
 attempting such work. Given favourable circimi- 
 stances, much wiU depend upon the nature of the 
 proposed investigation. In some cases the chances 
 of success are possibly more satisfactory when this 
 work is carried out in one of the recognised colleges, 
 but (according to Gore) only if the professor is an 
 initiator, and if he can actually engage in the same 
 with the student. 
 
 On the other hand, it is certain that many success- 
 ful investigators have not worked under these 
 conditions, and evidence can be advanced which 
 indicates that, in the majority of cases, industrial 
 research can hardly be expected to originate in the 
 college, for it often owes its origin to observations 
 made under practical working conditions. 
 
 In many cases, as in the electro-chemical and 
 other modem industries, which owe their existence 
 to research, investigation has been carried oh by 
 certain industrial organisations on a scale which 
 could not be undertEdcen under our present college 
 system. The search for the main and contributory 
 causes which give rise to useful phenomena is too 
 complicated in its nature for it to be undertaken 
 away from the works. 
 
 Future of Research. — Considering the amount of 
 research that is carried out by independent investi- 
 gators, the contention that tms may be best carried 
 out in the college or university has not been proved. 
 
RECORDING OF RESULTS 195 
 
 At the same time, much research requires the aid of 
 complicated apparatus, and this may be conducted 
 at such institutions or central trade laboratories, 
 but a certain section of it must remain outside the 
 range of the college programme and altogether 
 beyond its financisd means. It may, therefore, 
 be necessary to reconsider the available facilities 
 offered for such research work in the institutions of 
 this country, and to determine their natural limita- 
 tions and scope, and possibly to secure conditions of 
 working, which will facilitate a further advance in 
 the required direction. 
 
 In the meantime it is certain that an extraordinary 
 advance has taken place during the last decade in 
 this coimtry in the facilities for research, and that 
 this is making itself felt in many of our principal 
 industries. 
 
 THE WHtTE^BtARS FR&SS, LTD., LONDOH AHD TOKBEIDCI.