Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-29


which were then held, and established the
were better adapted to the construction of
rails for railways than the harder steels
and than those possessing greater tensile
strength These facts were wrought out in
paper embodying the results of his in
vestigations read before the American In
stitute of Mining Engineers. in 1883. So
profound an impression was made at that
meeting that the discussion Of the sub
1ect was postponed until the members
could be prepared to take 1t up thorough
ly, and the whole of the next meeting was
devoted to papers and discussions on the
ideas advanced by DIR. Dudley. 1t has been
said that this paper and the discussions
which followed it have done more to build
up the American Institute of Mining En-
gineers than any one subject or line OF
thought that had ever been brought before
the organization. DR.. Dudley's position
was vigorously attacked by some of the
most prominent members of the institute,
but two years later his views were general
ly accepted, and from that time he has
been recognized as an authority on the
analysis and tests of iron and Steel
An Able Address.
President Dudlcys address at the annual
meeting, one year ago, in Troy, N. Y, was
upon Some Present Possibilities in the
Analysis Of Iron and Steel" 1t evinced a
depth and clearness Of penetration, COM
principles and details which are to be
found only in person of high intellectual
endowments. broad information and rare
expert attachments in the line of applied
science. 1t was listened to with most pro-
found interest and was regarded as one of
the ablest addresses ever given before the
society.
DR.. Dudley is now closing his second term
as president He was again nominated to
the position. but believing that change of
administration would be for the best inter
ests of the society, he declined the nominal
ton. withdrawing in favor of DIR. Charles
e. Munroe, dean of the Corcoran Scientific
School of Columbian University
President Dudley's administration has
been signalized by the final adoption of a
revised constitution for the society, work
upon which was begun a few years ago: NV
an enlargement of the scope of the Journal:
by an efficient management of the finances
OF the society, and by a large increase in
its membership.
Only American Honorary Member.
Oliver Wolcott Gibbs Of Newport R. L.,
Is the only American who has ever been
elected an honorary member of the Ameri-
can Chemical Society. His father George
Gibbs, celebrated mineralogist in his day,
made the most extensive and valuable COL
lection of minerals that had ever been
brought together inathis country. Through
the influence of Prof. s,lliman this collec-
ton was secured for the cabinet of Yale
College. DIR. Oliver Wolcott Gibbs was
born in New York In 1892, and was edu-
Gated at the Columbian College in
that city, from which he was graduated
In 1874. After few months spent
in the laboratory of DR.. Hare of Phila-
In 1s45 graduated from the college Of ply
sicians and surgeons. He then went abroad
and continued his scientific studies under
such men as Rammelsberg, Heinrich, Rose,
Liebig and Regnauit. Returning to this
country in 1S4S DrT Gibbs gave a short
course Of lectures atsthA~ Delaware College,
Newark, Del, and then accepted the chair
OF physics and chemistry in the college Of
the city of New York, which position he
filled from 1S49 to 1863, when he was elected
to the Rumford professorship in Harvard
University, and had charge Of the labora-
tories OF the Lawrence Scientific School.
In this position he has been the instructor
OF many OF the foremost. chemists Of this
country, all Of whom have become his
warm personal friends. DR.. Gibbs is an
honorary member of the German, London
and American Chemical societies; he was
one of the original members of the Ma
tional Academy of Sciencies and for some
time was vice president Of the American
Association for the Advancement of
Science. but on account Of poor health was
unable to be present at the meeting in De-
troit In August. DR.. Gibbs has published
very elaborate memoirs on the platinum
methods. and on many Of the most compli-
Gated compounds In inorganic chemistry.
waving lengths Of light, on vapor density
and on the theory Of the dynamo electric
machine. As an original Investigator in
the domain OF physics and chemistry dur