Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-15
CHEMISTRY ANOFOODPRODUCTS
DIR. WILEY DISCUSSES WORK OF
LONDON CONGRESS.
Comment on Themes Discussed and
Interest Manifested-United
States Ahead.

1.-The discourses on public hygiene. agri'
cultural chemistry and food preservatives
the subjects which / am naturally IN
terested in because Of my. position In this
country-were most thorough and inter
esting and showed the deep interest the
civilized nations of the earth are taking
in these matters. ! found many of these
countries took a decided stand against
preservatives in food This is what DIR
w. II. Wiley, head of the chemistry bu-
reau. said last night in lecture on the
seventh international congress of applied
chemistry, which was held in London the
| latter part Of last May. DR.. Wiley was
one of the delegates to the congress from
the United States and took a prominent
part in the proceedings. His lecture was
given in the lecture hall of George Wash
ingtOn University before a large au
dience of local scientists.
In the matter of personalities in fooC
DR.. Wiley sad the countries most inter
ested in the subject in addition to the
United states, were Great Britain, Bel
GUM, France. Germany and Italy. Bel
GUM, France and Germany were opposed
to the use of preservatives Italy appeared
to be neutral on the subject, while severa
British delegates seemed to favor theil
use.
Tendency Toward federation.
There appeared to be tendency
| toward liberation in some things" DIR
Wiley said. among the delegates OF
the three first mentioned countries. This
tendency seemed to reduce the ideal OF
| food purity as compared to that held ir
some directions in this country How
ever their stand was emphatic in the gen.
eral and prOmiscuOuS use OF preserva-
tives.''
In speaking of the discussions on public
. hygiene DR.. Wiley said there were q
number of highly instructive papers read
by different delegates on the subject OF
sewerage,
In agricultural chemistry, the speaker
said. there seemed to lie less interest
among delegates from several of the for
eign countries than would naturally be
expected. The American Department OF
Agriculture, he said, appeared to be head
and shoulders above those of Europe
Great Britain especially, in the amount OF
practical scientific work accomplished.
Probably the most interesting thing OF
the congress- DR.. Wiley said, was the
public chemical experiment by the Nor
wegians In deriving nitric acid from the
air. The experiment was performed In
improvised laboratory in large lee
ture hall at the London University
An Unpleasant Incident.
The only unpleasant feature OF the CON
gress from the American standpoint was
the RELOCATION Of the American delegates
to second gallery seats while number
of empty seats were to be found in the
platform and first floor at the opening
session.
Il presume 1t was an accident the
speaker remarked, but it did seem lit
tie out of place to be sitting up two
flights in the gallery while less active
delegates from smaller nations were seat
ed downstairs. Nevertheless, we were Law
ishy entertained by our English cousins
and they succeeded in making the con.
gress a pronounced success
The next congress will be held in this
country in 1912, probably in the spring
of the year. DIR. Wiley said the govern
ment was taking d deep interest in bring
ing the congress to America, and indica
tons pointed toward renewal of the
success in London.