Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1874-08-19
Correspondence.

TBy the Kindness Of Harmon Morse, Esq, Of
Cambridge, we are permitted TO make the FOL
/ lowing extracts from letter recently received
| from his son in Goettngen. Germany. where he
Is periecing his education in the science Of chem
istry. We think il very interesting reading.l
The professors of chemistry have in
formed me that had better stop my reg
ular analytical work, and after the vaca-
ton from March to the middle Of April
begin my investigations for my doctors
dissertation. l am not quite decided as
to what particular course of Investigation
shall take up, but shall settle the mat
ter in the course of the next six weeks.
Two things are necessary in this work; it
must be original. and there must be some-
thing of value to the science discovered.
| expect my work will take me about a
year, but it may take less. | hope, and
think, my chance for it very good. to have
my work aud examinations all finished
within year. After that | want to go
to Leipsic for six months for the purpose
of carrying the study Of Geology some
what further, aud for the purpose of CIV
ing special attention to chemistry as ap.
piled 10 manufacturing and agriculture.
These two last branches are not at all
neglected here, but if one wants to give
them very particular attention Leipsie is
somewhat better than Goettingen, but in
other departments of chemistry not so
good. After this I'm coming home to go
work. | have just received information
that lam candidate for the professorship
of chemistry in Oberlin College. But l
have no expectations of going there, as |
co not think they would want to wait TIL
| am through with my studies here, be.
fore filling the place, even if | felt like
accepting the place. A chemist can near.
ly always get, besides his salary, plenty
of analytical work to do, and such work
is quite profitable. The prices range very
high 10 America, because :here are so few
chemists, and they agree by common con-
sent that their labor is of that skillfll sort,
that it deserves good remuneration In
this | think they are right, though | would
naturally be subject to some prejudice in
the premises. But then it seems just that
they should DO well paid for their work,
when | think of the years of hard study
and work. and great deal of money just
to prepare them for this work, and ir this
We take no account of the cost Of the study
necessary as foundation for professional
study. But chemists do not ask for more
than they earn. When one thinks of con-
densed milk, condensed beef, cheap sale
ratus. and all the best dyeing materials,
and successful processes for the cheap
manufacture of ice in hot countries, and
multitude Of other things that are iDdis-
pensible, and for one ard all of which the
world is indebted to the investigations of
chemists one thinks of all these,
one must confess that chemist is really
a profitable thing Ito have round" One
chemist went smelling around vinegar
mandatory seven or eight years ago, and
began to suspect that there was agreat loss
through an escape of some of the substance
which n the course of the vinegar process
came into volatile state, and, sure
enough, on investigation he found the fact,
and the reason for it, and then he set
ABOUT, as he could now do intelligently, to
modify the process. And he did modify
the process in such way that the twenty
per cent of the whole, which had been lost
before, was saved, and the cost of vinegar
manufacturing, and consequently the cost
to consumers, went down just one-fifth.
Well, this laborer was worthy of his hire,
but the truth is he didn't get any patent.
An association of European vinegar max
ers paid him reasonable sum for the time
he spent in his Investigations, and that's
all he got. 1t is estimated that the con.
euo ption IF p,otar;ol in po,rpc,ot,,,
taken all in all, has been reduced one.
third by the labor of chemists in discover
ing the true nature Of the psocesses, aud
in stopping up the leafs. And so far as
| can see, this estimate is not an exagge-
ration, and this does not estimate at all
the new things that this class Of men has
originated out Of 'whole cloth, but only
the methods devised for stopping up old
leaks. No one here thinks of conducting
mandatory without the aid OF COM
potent chemist--that is, where the nature
Of the work is such that there can posi-.
bly, be large waste of material. They
find q chemist the most indispensable and
economical Of furniture. Our manutac-
turing in America is not conducted with
any such economy, as general thing. In
fact we let enough 60 to waste, to support
a moderate sized nation. Still to some
extent we compete with the old countries
In hnma c0nsumntinn hut that onlu nc.