CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF Robert Horn Cornell university Library ID 13861921 , and addresses at the a^^^^^^ PROCEEDINGS AND ADDRESSES AT; "THE LAYING O^^HECOI^NER aXONE LABORATORY OF GIIEMISIFRY ;0OT:OBE:lli^Q, .^^'^s ITHAC#, NE% YORK PUBLISHED BY^HE UNIVERSITY Cornell University Library The original of this bool< is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924010260184 All books are subject to recall after two weeks Olin/Kroch Library DATE DUE JJUSU I** 1 1906 "*' 1 \l VV-'-^ ^"W^MWiM • GAYLORD PRINTED IN U.S.A. PROCEEDINGS AND ADDRESSES AT THE LAYING OF THE CORNER STONE OF THE CORNELL UNIVERSITY LABORATORY OF CHEMISTRY OCTOBER 20, 1921 ITHACA, NEW YORK PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY 1921 CONTENTS Introduction 7 President Rush Rhees's Invocation 9 Professor Edward L. Nichols's Address ... id Dr. Edgar Fahs Smith's Address 14 Charles M. Schwab's Address 22 Professor Louis Munroe Dennis's Statement 29 George Fisher Baker Lays the Stone .... 30 INTRODUCTION GEORGE Fisher Baker of New York laid the corner stone of the Laboratory of Chemistry on Thursday afternoon, Octo- ber 20, 1 92 1; he had given Cornell University one million five hundred thousand dollars for the construction of the building and its equipment. In making his gift, Mr. Baker had been prompted by a gen- erous wish to relieve the University from the embarrassment caused by the loss of Morse Hall, which had contained the lab- oratories of the department of chemistry and which had been destroyed by fire on February 13, 1916. The Trustees had de- termined to build a new laboratory as soon as funds could be obtained for the purpose. Mr. Baker's gift was announced to the Board of Trustees by President Schurman in June, 1919. The fact that he was the donor was kept secret, at Mr. Baker's own request, until the day when he laid the corner stone. The persons chiefly engaged in the planning of the building were Professor Louis Munroe Dennis, head of the department, who had for years been studying problems of design and equip- ment with the purpose of perfecting a laboratory of chemistry which should be suited to the work of a university; Messrs. Arthur N. Gibb and Oman H. Waltz of Ithaca, the architects; Mr. Charles Z. Klauder (practicing under the firm name Day & Klauder) of Philadelphia, who was employed as associate archi- tect by Messrs. Gibb and Waltz; and the Committee on Build- ings and Grounds of the Board of Trustees, namely, James H. Edwards, Chairman; J. G. Schurman, John C. Westervelt, Henry W. Sackett, Charles H. Blood, J. Du Pratt White, and Walter P. Cooke. A period of high costs immediately after the World War delayed the beginning of the building, but contracts were awarded early in July, 1921, and ground was broken in the same month. PROCEEDINGS AND ADDRESSES 'T^HE exercises attending the laying of the corner stone took -■- place in Bailey Hall and at the site of the laboratory. Among those present were the delegates who had represented other uni- versities and colleges at President Farrand's inauguration a few hours before. President Farrand presided. Mr. Baker was seated at his right hand. The Rev. President Rush Rhees of the University of Rochester pronounced the invocation: ETERNAL God, who art the founder of life and light, we give Thee reverent thanks for the ways in which, by the guidance of Thy Spirit, the mind of man has penetrated the secrets of nature, and for the devotion of time and life which men have dedicated unto the search for truth. For all the advancement of human power in consequence of that search we render Thee our thanks and acknowledgment, and we pray that, in the building we are now gathered to start for its great service in the cause of truth, men skilled may be found who will be willing to sacrifice all, that truth may be more perfectly known, and who will be eager in the finding of truth to find also the ways in which it conserves the peace, the happiness, and the prosperity of mankind; and here at this hour we also render unto Thee our reverent petition that in all our getting we may get wisdom, and with the ever increasing knowledge of the things which are seen and temporal, we may grow also in the knowledge of the things which are unseen and eternal, to the end that Thy children may grow lo Laying of the Corner Stone ever more into conformity with Thy holy will, and may be able by their united efforts to bring in the triumph of the Kingdom in which Thy will shall be done upon earth as it is done in Heaven. Amen. President Farrand presented Dr. Edward L. Nichols, Pro- fessor of Physics, Emeritus. ADDRESS OF PROFESSOR NICHOLS THE great chemical laboratory, the corner stone of which we lay today, will not be without its effect upon the life of the University. Its influence may be good or it may be bad. It is sure to be profound. " Chemistry has many aspects. Sordidly treated, as a mere bread-and-butter subject, it might conceivably tend to degrade our teaching to a low, materialistic level. Idealistically treated, as becomes a great funda- mental science, it will promote the noblest purposes in education. Are we out of touch with life? Chemistry has the most varied and intimate contacts with life of any of the sciences. Do we wish to inspire, in our teaching, a passion for truth? The pursuit of science is an un- ending quest for truth. Are we inclined to shun specialization lest we lose a certain breadth of training for our students ? Let us remember that to really know something of any one of the many branches of a science like chemistry one must use several languages, must be something of a mathematician and physicist and must be acquainted with many allied subjects. There are few things so broad as a narrow specialty — if you follow it down to the ends of its wide-spreading roots ! Laboratory of Chemistry 1 1 As for the training of the imagination and the build- ing of character, is it not inspiring to turn from the pitiful struggles of the human race as depicted in a world's history whose every page drips with blood and filth, to the contemplation of the intimate structure of God's universe, perfect, complete; equally majestic whether we view it as a whole or in its minutest parts ? It is indeed healthful for the imagination and for the character to delve now and then into those unseen realms of nature through which wanders in speculative mood the spirit of modern science. All of these things: the keeping in touch with life, the love of truth, the breadth of culture, the training of the imagination, the building of character, are peda- gogical considerations. But they are so important that the favorable influence of the new laboratory upon them would in itself make that great gift well worth while. Its real purpose, however, is much more momentous. The new laboratory will be a center of research from the start. Of that we may be sure, knowing who are to occupy it. By its very completeness and adequacy, assured by years of careful and intelligent planning, it will challenge our chemists to redoubled activity. En- thusiasm and the true spirit of investigation are sure to prevail and notable results may be counted upon. If the chemists and students of chemistry who are to work in this building attain only an average output as measured by the performances of university laboratories in the past, the donor may count on returns from his invest- ment such as no commercial enterprise has ever paid. Nearly every fundamental discovery has originated in the universities, and these discoveries have literally transformed the conditions of life upon our planet. In I 2 Laying of the Corner Stone this transformation chemistry has had a great part. The cost in money of these first essential steps toward progress has been but trifling. The price of a single battleship would build twenty such great laboratories; that of a modern battle fleet, destined to the scrap heap within ten years, would amply endow all the universities in the land. We cannot remind ourselves too often of all this, because these basic things which must precede all in- vention and industrial development are not ushered into the world with acclamation. Yesterday, so to speak, a quiet, shy little man in a university laboratory studied the emission of electrons from a hot body, described the phenomenon, wrote out the equations and went his way. Today, as a consequence, you or I may speak to a friend in San Francisco. Tomorrow, perhaps, we may be able to call up a man in any part of the world and hear his living voice: and very, very few will realize that Richardson made that miracle possible! This is but one instance, and not from the domain of chemistry; were I a chemist, and did time permit, I could doubtless cite a hundred equally striking cases. It is obviously difficult to estimate just what credit in the development of modern civilization is to be assigned to the workers in pure science, but theirs is clearly an essential part. But for the new knowledge furnished by them, modern civilization would not have come into being. It may be thought that this is an evil day in which to boast of the triumphs of our civilization and that it were well if we could return to the primitive conditions of ancient Greece. I prefer, however, to regard the terrible upheaval which the human race has gone Laboratory of Chemistry i 3 through as a violent attack of indigestion, due to having taken too rapidly into an unaccustomed system the rich new diet proffered by science. Let us hope for the ultimate recovery of the patient. Measured according to that ultimate standard, which does not fluctuate with the abundance or scar- city of gold, i. e., the happiness of the human race, I believe that the research man, academic trifler, theorist, dreamer, dabbler in things trivial, as he seems to the man of affairs, will be found, like that other idle ne'er- do-well, the artist, to be among the most supremely productive of all the world's workers. Speaking more intimately and personally, we may expect that the renewed activity of our chemists will react upon other departments. There will be joint projects for carrying on extended researches made possible by the new equipment. Thus we may soon hope to enter upon what is perhaps the most promising next step in the development of the sciences, namely, co-operative undertakings on a large scale involving chemistry-physics, chemistry-engineering, chemistry- geology, chemistry-biology, and the like. Many of the pressing problems of the immediate future are too large for any individual or for any single department. In this way, on its scientific side, the university may best serve the community. Thus it may better perform the prime function of every true university — the advancement of knowledge. President Farrand presented Dr. Edgar Fahs Smith, former Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, and President of the American Chemical Society. 14 Laying of the Corner Stone DR. SMITH'S ADDRESS Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, and members of the great family of Cornell: WHEN speaking of a laboratory, the chemist natur- ally thinks of the workshop in which those of the guild to which he swears allegiance carry forward their inquiries into the nature of the content of the storehouses of the universe. There was a time when chemists universally entertained this thought, but at the present they are obliged, reluctantly it is true, to share the laboratory with their colleagues in many fields of human endeavor. The chemist's laboratory witnessed the unveiling of so many wonderful results that the devotees of other sciences began speaking of their laboratories. Not to be outdone, schools of law en- thusiastically adopted the case system of the laboratory in their instructional and research work. Schools of commerce quite appropriated the term "laboratory," saying that the factories and the huge manufacturing plants were their laboratory. Not content with this, their technical language had in it such terms as "re- action," intending to convey the meaning given it by chemists, "dissociation," "internal rearrangements," all expressions once peculiar to the chemist and his laboratory. But in all this, you say, there is evident a note of jealousy. I frankly confess that often there has come to me this feeling of jealousy, seeing all that belonged to our laboratory so boldly appropriated by advocates of subjects which apparently had little visible con- nection with the real laboratory of the chemist, in which he lives and moves, and which he loves, and to which he Laboratory of Chemistry 1 5 gladly welcomes all who desire to examine it. For, as the world knows, the chemist's laboratory dominates everything. From it go out invisible chords, leading to wealth, to health, to comfort, to happiness, and even to destruction and utter annihilation. In my office hangs a small engraving representing a chemical laboratory of the year 1821. It is a simple structure, one story in height, richly illuminated from above. The abundance of apparatus suspended on the walls and standing in cases indicates a refreshing gen- erosity on the part of those who were responsible for its equipment. Despite all this one recognizes that these utensils were adapted mainly to distillation and fusion processes alone. Furnaces of every conceivable type are to be seen. Study of the picture impresses one with the idea that the lines of research popular then were not numerous. At that period, of course, there were comparatively few laboratories of conse- quence, but in some of them work of fundamental im- portance was prosecuted; indeed, in many instances the results of those pioneer efforts will be transmitted from generation to generation through all time. The genuine working laboratory in earliest times was usually the property of an enthusiast in chemistry. Toward the close of the eighteenth century these bright spots loomed up all over the civilized world, even in our own infant republic. Prior to their advent, the majority of chemists were, in the language of the immortal Lavoisier, philosophical chemists, supporters of the doctrine of just four elements, earth, air, fire, and water, which by the variety of their proportions composed all the known substances in nature. This was a mere hypothesis, and it vanished with the appearance of the 1 6 Laying of the Corner Stone facts disclosed in the work of the laboratory, so that the dreamer or speculator was compelled to gradually admit the existence of still other elements than earth, air, fire, and water. Hence, it is not surprising to hear Lavoisier say: "All that can be said upon the number and nature of elements is, in my opinion, confined to discussions entirely of a metaphysical nature." In this remark may be seen the quiet intrusion of new thoughts, as a consequence of laboratory study, into the mind of the farmer-general who gave to the world the law of the indestructibility of matter, and from whom also came the following: "If by the term 'ele- ments' we mean to express those simple and indivisible atoms of which matter is composed, it is extremely probable we know nothing at all about them, but if we apply the term 'elements' or principles of bodies to express one's idea of the last point which analysis is capable of reaching, we must admit, as all elements, substances into which we are able to reduce bodies by decomposition; not that we are entitled to affirm that those substances which we consider simple may not then be composed of two or even a greater number of very simple principles, but, since these principles cannot be separated, or rather since we have not hitherto dis- covered the means of separating them, they act with regard to us as simple substances, and we ought never to suppose them compounded until experiment and observation have proved them to be so. " The convic- tion of experiment as a finality was growing in the mind of the great exponent of a newer chemistry, all because of his laboratory experiences. Not many years later, in a little, unattractive lab- oratory in Giessen, a new line of investigation began. Laboratory of Chemistry 1 7 Its apparatus had little of the character of the primi- tive laboratory of 182 1. New devices were in evidence. The outgrowth of studies in new directions, the great field of organic chemistry, the chemistry of plants and vegetables, was now being invaded, and the laboratory with all its appliances underwent a change. A new domain had been disclosed. How it grew, expanded, and flourished overwhelms one on giving rein to mem- ory. When mauve, indigo blue, turkey red, sugar, the alkaloids, certain essences and perfumes, are mentioned, one stops. Is it really true that the wonders and mar- vels which have come from study of waste products and of discarded material have led to such precious products? In confusion and reverential awe we admit it, and the laboratory is the place where it was all accomplished. Further, many of these laboratory schemes were seized upon and industries of great magnitude and far-reaching influence were created. Governments and individuals amassed wealth; from a little acorn a mighty oak grew, yet the end is not yet. Overnight, yes, in the twinkling of an eye, from the laboratory come boons precious to humanity. In this State, at Sackett's Harbor in 1 830, in a backwoods labo- ratory, came to light that benign anaesthetic, chloroform. Along with the use of the laboratory for organic chemistry came agricultural chemistry. The discover- ies in this new field further modified the old laboratory, as did those of biochemistry and physiological chemis- try. There have been many such, each exerting its peculiar influence and commanding marked considera- tion, though none perhaps to so great a degree as has been noticed since chemistry has called to its aid its sister science of physics, and under the company name I 8 Laying of the Corner Stone of physical chemistry has vastly altered the arrange- ment of the pioneer laboratory of 1821. The chemist on the whole is ever alert, ready always to avail himself of assistance from any department of science or mathe- matics or literature or the humanities, but it would seem that in physics he has found his chief aid, so that in the laboratory of a hundred years ago one now discovers departments or sections called into being absolutely through his efforts to solve the problems presented by nature, his agents being varied also, heat, light, electricity, pressure, cold, and the like. In truth the laboratory of a century ago has been altered so amaz- ingly in external appearance and in internal arrangement that one scarce recognizes the early picture. Surprising facts developed in it have been of such a character as to command universal attention, and the science of chemistry has shown itself so human that institutions of learning of every grade now possess the laboratory, and this science has so captivated the public that every- where it is studied. An audience such as is here needs no word on this point; it is merely referred to that proper emphasis may be placed on the home of chemis- try, namely, its laboratory. It is not long since that college authorities, school boards and allied bodies, even instructional groups, were unfriendly to the chemist's laboratory. It was frowned upon. It merely trained the eye and hand. It was costly. It was wasteful. Today we find difficulty in beheving such criticisms, but he who speaks to you knows whereof he speaks. At present universal thought is most favorable to a laboratory, not only for chemis- try, but for any subject, but it was the laboratory of the chemist which blazed the way to wholesome and Laboratory of Chemistry 1 9 cordial recognition, which it was bound to win, be- cause of the welcome benefits it brought to humanity. Being the servant of the noblest and the best of the sciences it was gradually accorded many of the favors bestowed upon its mistress. In its early day were brought to human gaze most of the ninety elements of today. In it was that wealth-giving and sustaining gas known to us as oxygen, but the old laboratory was obliged to pass through many profound changes before it could boast of possessing liquid oxygen. The old laboratory rejoiced on observing the composition of water and that of the air we breathe, but it was only in its very modern form that it gave pause on noting the presence of nitrogen in the air in such quantities. At this moment, in your neighboring city of Syracuse, the scientists in general are astounded. It was in the old laboratory that carbonic acid was discovered, but the great role this gas has since played, in guiding the searching eye of the wide-awake chemist in bringing to light other marvelous products in which the element car- bon dominates, underwent many changes, and changes which have made it unlike its early self. We talk of proteins and albuminous substances, meaning the slimy, glutinous or gelatinous bodies forming the basis of the animal body, and which also occur in the juices of vegetation. In the old laboratory of a hundred years ago chemists had acquired some knowledge of their differences, but it has been only in comparatively recent years, in a modern laboratory, that light has been brought to bear upon this problematic and difficult field, which is slowly being clarified, in that after most trying experiences many representative principles have been actually synthesized. More than a hundred arti- 2 Laying of the Corner Stone ficial bodies of this great group have been so produced, and in the modern laboratory of chemistry there is slowly being unveiled the story of those dyes with which earth's garments of vegetation are tinted in such rich variety. Today, practically in the beginning of the twentieth century, the chemist in his workshop is learning the nature of the dyestuffs contained in the minute cellular laboratories of the plant, which prompts this observation. From remote antiquity it has been known that solar energy is at any rate a condition of our life. It must seem strange, therefore, that the agent which more than any other controls the chemical changes that result in the production of vegetable colors should be the last to engage systematic inquiry, but, in the presence of the many and most remarkable accomplishments made in the modern laboratory of chemistry, even this enigmatic problem will be in time laid bare. But I must stop. The workshop of the chemist, the laboratory, has won its place for all time. In the early days of Cornell there gathered here in Ithaca enthu- siasts in chemistry. They wrought and taught their subject with all the devotion that one could ask, and they made famous the University of their choice and love. The work of their successors, Dennis, Bancroft, OrndorfF, and their associates, has splendidly contrib- uted to the University's fame in the science of chemis- try. Their researches have gone far and wide, meeting with highest encomiums upon all sides, assuring us that in their new home, in their new laboratory, with its many added facilities for teaching and for investigation, the same spirit will prevail and that the successes they have had will be added to more than a hundredfold. Laboratory of Chemistry 2 i In their hands the laboratory which today is begun will witness greater discoveries and will send out men and women equipped and trained in that science which serves mankind everywhere and for all time. The thanks of chemists the world over go to him who so generously contributed to the making of this new laboratory, this place of endeavor and research, and congratulations are extended to the University, its board of governors, its faculties and students and de- voted friends. President Farrand said: I SUPPOSE we would all differ as to this or that par- ticular human trait which we admire most in men, but there is one to which, I think, we all pay homage. That is the somewhat rare characteristic of modesty, particularly in those who have achieved eminence. It is that trait which has characterized the donor of this great foundation the corner stone of which we are to lay this afternoon. It has prevented us, until today, from making public even his name. I am now per- mitted for the first time to announce to you that the great citizen whose farsighted conception of service and whose munificence has made possible this laboratory is Mr. George F. Baker of New York, who is here at my right. [Applause.] He has made it a condition that if his name were announced he should not be re- quired to speak to you, and to that wish we are bound to bow. Mr. Baker, I hardly know whether to congratulate you, sir, upon your conception of public duty and upon your opportunity, or to express to you in the name, not only of Cornell, but of American science, its 2 2 Laying of the Corner Stone appreciation of this great gift which you have made. I can only assure you, sir, and I know that I speak for every one of my colleagues, that Cornell will leave no stone unturned worthily to carry the trust which you have placed in her charge. Mr. Baker has a friend — and Cornell has a friend — who is with us this afternoon and who has consented to speak. I am not sure whether it is to be simply for Mr. Baker. I trust it is to be for Mr. Baker, for Cornell, and for himself. I have great pleasure in introducing Mr. Charles M. Schwab. MR. SCHWAB'S ADDRESS Mr. President^ Mr. Baker, Ladies and Gentlemen, Cornellians: WHEN I came here into this delightful hall this morn- ing and listened to the learned speeches, the beau- tiful addresses, I can assure you that I would have adopted Mr. Baker's resolution had I then the right to do so, rather than have appeared before this learned and distinguished audience. I shall speak, not in the man- ner that they have spoken, but in the manner customary to men like Mr. Baker and myself, whose lives have been spent in the workshops and in the counters and banks of this great country — in a plain, matter-of-fact style. While it is true that I wear the robes of learning and distinction in great universities, I feel constrained and ill at ease when in such garments, because I realize that they have been given, not for learning, but for endeavor and enterprise, and I am reminded of a story that I think is appropriate upon this occasion. A short time ago, in England, I met a man who wore many evidences Laboraiory of Chemistry 2 3 of distinction, a number of medals and decorations, and I said, "Now, that is a man whom I must know," and I went up to him and introduced myself and asked him if he would tell me why he had so many medals of distinction. He said he would do so with pleasure. He said: "This first large medal you see on my breast I received by mistake, and I got all the others because I had the first one." I am going to speak extemporaneously this afternoon, because I want to express to you, as I might express to Mr. Baker if I was alone with him, the exact feeling that is in my heart and the appreciation I have of him as a man to this great audience, and without the re- straint of formal language. I have known Mr. Baker as an intimate friend for thirty years, and I have never been associated with him except in an advisory capacity upon his part in many great business enterprises. I have never really had business relations with Mr. Baker, and the reason I never had business relations with him was perhaps twofold. One, because I did not want that splendid friendship that existed between us for so many years, that spirit of admiration which I had for him, to be in any way tarnished by a difference of opinion, even of a business character, which was bound to come up sooner or later. From a story which I tell you you can probably draw an inference as to what the sec- ond reason was. Many years ago, when I was building the great steel works at Bethlehem and needed vast sums of money, I went to one of the richest men in America, Mr. Baker, and told him that in the fall I needed money. It is never well to tell a banker you need it at once. If 24 Laying of the Corner Stone you tell him you need it in the fall or in the spring you are much more apt to get the money. Well, I told Mr. Baker I needed a large sum in the fall and I had come to see if I could get some then, "Well," he says, "Charley, you are an old friend and we will go the hmit. You may have half a million any time you like." I said: "Mr. Baker, that is no good. I must have much more than that. Mr. Stotesbury of Philadelphia does not know me and he gave me more than that. " "Well, " he said, " Charley, that is the reason he gave it to you. " Now, that is probably the second reason. Forty years of my life has been spent in the work- shop, the iron and steel industry of this country. I should have been dull indeed if, during that forty years of active life, I had not learned some great truths about men and principles and business undertakings. One of the truths I learned above all others is that the greatest quality in any man, whether he be one of the Faculty of this great University, or one of the out- standing business figures of the country, or one of the great professional men of the country, is sterling in- tegrity and uprightness of character, that everybody who knows him may admire him, and in that Mr. George Baker takes second place to no man in the United States, in my opinion. [Applause.] His great- ness is equalled only by his modest and retiring dis- position. Many of you people who are graduates of this and other great institutions of learning have not learned one great and fundamental point, and that is that education is not confined alone to chemistry or to engineering or to literature or any of the arts or sciences. One of the reasons that so many young men in the days gone by Laboratory of Chemistry 2 5 have succeeded is because they have had their education in the hard knocks of the banking counter and the workshops of the country, and the man who graduates from this great institution or any other, that goes forth with the idea that he has a different social position from the man who has had his education in the material things of this life, is making a mistake from which he will never recover. Now, Mr. Baker is not a college man any more than I am a college man. We are both of the same stamp in that particular. I am a little older than Mr. Baker and have seen a little more of certain sides of life than Mr. Baker [laughter], but I am going to speak for both of us in that particular, because we understand each other. One time I was talking to Mr. Carnegie. In his old days he liked to boast very much of the things which he had accomplished, and the older he grew the larger and greater were those accomplishments. One day he looked at me and he saw a twinkle in my eye, and he slapped me on the shoulder and said, "Well, Charley, at least we understand each other." [Laugh- ter.] Last night Mr. Baker and I discussed this ques- tion of education between ourselves. This question of education, from his own experience and my own ex- perience, has brought home to us the conviction that the young man going forth from these great halls must have within his soul the true spirit of democracy and recognize in the man by his side, however lowly his position in life may be, a man of education, if he can do something a little better than the other man can do, and vice versa. When we have learned that broad spirit of democracy we will have learned to know men, and, from the viewpoint of an industrial man, learned 2 6 Laying of the Corner Stone one of the greatest lessons and taken one of the greatest steps forward in the industry of this country. [Applause.] As I sat here today and thought back forty years ago to my life in the little towns about Pittsburgh, when I dreamed of the possibihties of the great iron and steel industry and longed for some fundamental knowledge of chemistry, which was to play such an enormous part in the industry, I thought how fortunate is the young man of today, fortunate first in having such generous men in the United States as Mr. Baker to supply those needs that I as a youth in those days would have given anything to have had even the fundamentals of. This country deserves the first place in all the countries of the world when it produces men like George F. Baker and men of such character that will follow his example in these great educational institutions. Mr. Baker, not a college man, has realized, great as he is, how much greater a man he would have been if he had possessed the soul of democracy he now possesses and the knowl- edge and education he could have had from a great in- stitution of this kind. So don't think we are decrying education in universities. We may do that when we get together and understand each other, but publicly and in our souls we feel the good that money spent in this way will do, and Mr. Baker has but started, in my opinion, to show the real good that he can do for his country. I was proud of Mr. Baker when he stood up here with tears in his eyes at the acclaim of the response to his gift that this great audience gave him. While I have seen many admirable qualities in the man in many years, there is one quality that he has always had that has stood out in my mind paramount, and that is that Laboratory of Chemistry 2 7 he has a heart and he has a soul, and with all his great accomplishments I venture the assertion that no thrill of satisfaction has come to his heart that gave him more contentment or greater happiness than the thrill he had today when he had the approval of this distin- guished audience about him. [Mr. Baker: "That is so." Applause.] Because, after all, gentlemen, there are many people that believe when men have grown as rich as Mr. Baker they continue on in their development and in their work for no other reason than a desire to acquire a larger fortune. Never was a greater mistake made. Mr. Baker continues because it keeps him in touch with the world, because he loves work, because he loves accomplishment, and because there is nothing that brings him more satisfaction than the carrying out successfully of some great undertaking. That is the true American spirit and that is what will make the true American nation. Gentlemen of Cornell, I congratulate you on having such a friend as your distinguished donor today. If he will be the friend to Cornell that he has been to me and many other men through life, then indeed has Cornell found a true friend; not only a true friend, but a true man, whom your distinguished President and Faculty may well point to as an example to the young men that come out of this great institution, a real man, with a real heart, to do real things, a real democrat, whose work has been and will be for the good of his fellow men, and a true American citizen in every fibre of his great heart and body. [Applause.] Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure to just speak of Mr. Baker, because he has never permitted me to do it before. I have seen much of him in my life, but 2 8 Laying of the Corner Stone every time I try to say these nice things to him he stops me. He cannot do it here today. [Laughter.] I have always said to the married men that if you have anything that your wife won't allow you to do, or that you want to say to her of an unpleasant character, always do it publicly, because then she can't object; so with Mr. Baker today: I have had my say. I have spoken to you in the language, as I said at the begin- ning, of the mill worker and the manufacturer; you have received it most graciously, because the subject deserved it. I congratulate Cornell on Mr. Baker, and I congratulate Mr. Baker that he has been able to link his name with this great institution. As an employer, the largest employer by individual ownership of work- men in the world, I want to say that when young men come to me and say, "I am from Cornell," they have the first place in my mind and in my heart. [Applause.] This is a happy day, happy because we have our new President here today, happy for Cornell, because we have Mr. Baker here with us today, happy for this great institution because we have such distinguished company with us today, happy because the morning of rain has turned to a day of sunshine, which is a symbol of what we may have in the future development of this great institution. President Farrand said: "There is one representative of this University who better than any other could discharge the duties of my particular office this afternoon. He can speak with author- ity. He should speak, and the proceedings would be entirely incomplete without him. I have great pleasure in introducing the head of the Department of Chemistry in your University, Professor L. M. Dennis." Laboratory of Chemistry 29 PROFESSOR Dennis read a list of the articles that were to be sealed within the corner stone, as follows: A copy of the letter from George F. Baker to the President and the Board of Trustees, under date of June 20, 191 9, in which he offers to give to Cornell $1,500,000 for the erection of a Chemical Laboratory on the Campus. A copy of the resolution of the Trustees accepting this gift and authorizing the Committee on Buildings and Grounds to proceed with the preparation of plans and specifications for the construction of the building. A statement giving the date of the laying of the corner stone, and the names of the Committee on Buildings and Grounds, the architects, the associate architects, the engineers, and the builders. A copy of the report of President Schurman for 1915-16, in which is set forth the need of a new laboratory of chemistry. A copy of the report of President Schurman for 1918-19 in which announcement is made of the gift for the construction of the laboratory. A copy of the report of the Comptroller for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1921. A copy of the Register for 1919-20. A copy of the Announcement of the College of Arts and Sciences for 1921-22. A copy of the Announcement of the Department of Chemistry for 1921-22. A copy of the Directory for the second term of 1920-21. A copy of the General Circular of Information for 1921-22. A copy of the Statutes and By-Laws of the University. The official program of the exercises in connection with the laying of the corner stone. A copy of The Cornell Chemist, volume ix, no. 4, published June, 1920. A photograph of George F. Baker. A photograph of the Faculty, taken in 1916. A photograph of the staff of instruction and students of the Department of Chemistry, taken in May, 1921. A photograph of the graduating class and visitors at the last Commencement exercises over which Dr. Schurman presided. Three different photographs of Morse Hall before it burned. A photograph of the burning of Morse Hall on February 13, 1 916. A photograph of the large lecture room in Morse Hall. 30 Laying of the Corner Stone Three different panoramic views of the Campus. A large photograph of the Quadrangle. Two views of the Campus taken from an airplane in 1919. A photograph of the site of the new laboratory from the west, taken in 1916. A photograph of the site of the new laboratory from the north, taken in 1916. A photograph of the site of the new laboraory taken on September 30, 1 92 1. Silver coins of the United States bearing the date 1 92 1. A set of the postage stamps of the United States issued in 1921. ON concluding the reading of the list. Professor Dennis said to Mr. Arthur Norman Gibb: "Mr. Architect, I now hand to you this box, to be placed in the corner stone of the Laboratory." Mr. Gibb received the box, saying: "I shall take it, Mr. Dennis, and place it in its proper place." President Farrand said: "The distinguished donor of the Laboratory has kindly consented to lay the corner stone, and to that ceremonial we shall now proceed." The President and Mr. Baker then led the company in pro- cession to the site of the Laboratory, where Mr. Gibb handed the box of records to Mr. Harold A. Ley, the builder of the Labor- atory, who deposited it within the corner stone, and Mr. Baker laid the stone. The exercises were concluded with the playing of the " Evening Song" on the Chimes.