Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-01-26

/
Here we have, then. library of over a
million volumes selected by the foremost
specialists in every field, easily accessible.
maintained, enlarged. and administered with
out any cost to the proposed university. and
ready for its work at the moment of its organi-
cation. All that would be needed by such an
institution would be a small library for refer
ence, similar to that admirably planned
for Johns Hopkins university by President Gill
man.
Next, to laboratories. For chemical
work the government has at least
eight: The laboratories of the United States geo.
logical survey, of the agricultural department
of the surgeon-generals office, of the Navy de-
partment of the museum of hygiene, of the
internal-revenue bureau of the mint bureau
| and of the District chemist There is also a
small chemical laboratory in the Smithsonian
Institution, which was originally organized for
work connected with the fish commission
| Most OF these are organized for special work
in testing materials or supplies, but the lab era
| tories OF the geological survey and of the
| agricultural department are necessarily SO car
| RED on that large amount of work is also done
in the line of purely scientific investigation In
the laboratory of the geological survey the
| work mainly relates to the chemistry of the
mineral kingdom, while in the laboratory of the
| agricultural department investigations are I'M
| dertaken relative to agricultural problems and
to various authorizations of articles of food. In
| both, much research is conducted which re-
!
In the physical laboratory of the geological snr-
vey, which is Immediately connected with the
| chemical laboratory forming part of the same
/ division. physical investigations relating to
geological problems are actively carried for
ward; Tor example, the physical constants of
rocks are determined, and investigations have
been made upon sedimentation. Here too re-
| searches have been made on the physical prop
critics OF iron and Steel ON the formation of
| alloys, and ON methods of measuring high tenn
| nprntnrQs These dIfaranf CHI IaIa
! tories of the government, including the force
of chemists in the patent Office, represent at
| least forty skilled men actively engaged in
| chemical work
Besides this, within an hours distance north
ward are the chemical, physical and biological
laboratories of Johns Hopkins university. in
| which advanced students could make frequent
observations, or even take steady work. A
| little more distant southwark is the university
| of Virginia, which could easily be brought into
relations with the proposed institution in a
manner profitable to both; and at various
| points more or less remote are institutions
which would doubtless afford some supplement
| tary facilities, and among them is the naval
academy at Annapolis.
Here, then. are laboratories affording the
most admirable opportunities for just
| those kinds OF advanced investigations
| methods, and processes with which a univer-
sity, as distinguished from an intermediate col.
lege, has to do. The proposed university
should indeed have large general laboratories
and probably some special laboratories of its
own, over which it could have complete con-
troll; but these outlying special laboratories, in
which the most advanced work is constantly
conducted by leading specialists would give q
university character to the work such as could
hardly be attained at any other point in the
country.
l come next to illustrative collections. The
chief OF these are to be found in the national
museum; and these, already great, and in some
respects unequaled in the world, are steadily
increasing. They embrace the results of man.
activity in almost in every form in which such
results admit Of representative exhibition. Tc
kenumerate them would be impossible in any
space which could claim, and useless in view
OF their rapid increase. Under the existing
laws the collections made by the geological
and other surveys are deposited in the national
museum after they have been used by the or.
CARNATIONS collecting them. This has beer
the practice for years, so that there are already
gathered a number Of very valuable special
collections, such % those Of the fortieth psral