The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-10-29


credit that an unselflsh desire to en-
large the welfare of mankind has been
a powerful stimulus to the ablest men.
If I name the discoveries of anaes-
thetics and antiseptics, the evolution of
cocaine, the applications of electricity,
the improvements of photography and
In navigation, and the growth of pre-
ventiVe medicine and the science of hy-
giene, and the aleviations of surgery,
you will be reminded that science re-
pays with ample usury the advances
made to her account.
In this splendid epoch of intellectual
progress, brilliant and memorial as the
revival of letters, the early days of the
Sheffield school We're passed. An al
chemist looking on might have asked
what philosophers stone could produce
that amount of the precious metals
which would be indispensable for the
success of a school devoted to such
aims; but his brother, the astrologer,
casting the horoscope, would have re-
piled that resolution can do more than
gold, and enthusiasm than much fine
silver.
Thus we reach the conclusion that
this celebration is significant because
among the institutions created during
the last half century for the promotion
of scientific research and education, the
Sheffield Scientific school of Yale col
lege has held an honorable place. 1t is
this relation to the progress of human
development that gives Importance to
the day of small things and dignity to
f,a, ~ x,r1,i nIN hNr than
might be insignificant were they not
governed by enlightened views, so pre-
scented, advocated and maintained that
their influence has been powerful
AS proceed to speak of the orgali-
cation of this school I shall not attempt
to distribute the laures among those
who took the leading parts, but one of
them, Benjamin Silliman, long the
scientific nestor of this community, dear
"Uncle Ben" revered and honored, is
entitled to our first grateful mention,
not only because OF his power of inter-
esting the public, and his perseverance
in maintaining the American journal of
Science, but for his personal 1nstruc-
ton, during many years, of unenrolled
Young men who enjoyed the limited op-
portunities of his primitive laboratory
and the benefits of great, then I'M
rivaled, collection of minerals. Sill
man had prepared the way for the
school of applied chemistry, and Wool
sey, becoming president of the college,
fresh from studies abroad, caused the
scheme to be so broadened that it be-
came the department of philosophy and
the arts, akin in scope and spirit,
though not equal in resources to the
great foundations of Europe, like Bonn,
Gottingen and Berlin, with which he was
familiar 1t must have been a great
satisfaction to the revered eX-presi-
dent, nearly thirty years afterwards,
to utter, on a public occasion, these
words, doubly valued by his hearers,
because they came from one who knew
the circumstances and from one who
was always guarded in the bestowal of
praise From the first" he said, 'the
professors have struggled against prob
abilities. They have worked by faith.
They have aimed to have a school,
sink or swim, worthy of the science of
this country. AS result, think there
is confessedly, no other school of this
character in this country, which is on
a level with this. / would give equal
honor to the devotion of the professors
and to the munificence of the giver'
Here let me remind you of a fact
not generally known though clearly re-
corded. AS far back as 1914 resident
graduates We're enrolled as distinct
class on the Yale catalogue, and in
1919 and 1920 the numbers so enrolled
We're thirty and thirty one, This shows
that the beginning of graduate studies
in this university antedates by more
than thirty years the department of
philosophy and the arts.
In 1916. two young men, devoted to
applied science and ready for careers,
were made by Yale university profess
sors." 1t is striking coincidence, that
Harvard and Yale, generous and friend
ly aspirants for the leadership, caught
the laboratory quickstep at almost the
same time The gift of Abbott Law
renee, made in 1S47, led a, once to the
appointment of the great Agassiz and
almost Immediately to the opening OF
chemical laboratory, organized by Pro-
afessor Horsford, pupil of Liebig. One
of the young professors of New Ha-
ven having an inherent love for agri-
culture, and an excellent preparation in
Edinburgh and Utrecht, was qualified
to direct the chemical laboratory and
to give instruction in the sciences per-
tanning to agriculture. Professor John
P. Norton was fully possessed by the
spirit of modern science and soon gath
cred around him company Of young
chemists, some of whom were destined
to win the highest distinctions, three of
them still students, colleagues and
teachers, now present with US, strong
in attachments, influence and character,
stronger still in the affection Of their
pupils.
The second of the original appoint
ments was that of Benjamin Silliman,
jr., man of enthusiasm and energy,
and of boundless hospitality, intellect
ual and social, whose name and address,
quick sylnpathies and interest in APP
piled science gave great promise of
usefulness. The labors of both these
men were soon interrupted. One was
diverted to other fields of activity in
Louisville and New York: the other
died at the Threshold of his fame. 1
have often thought what a difference
it would have made If the school had
then been endowed. Norton, trying to
do double work at Albany and New
~.