The Washington herald., 1918-02-04
ASKS
CHEMISTS AID.
Holland Tells Of Important
Work Being Done by No
tables of Science. .

established as speedily as possible a
chemical unit; that Is to say. de-
paTtment in the military service whose
membership will consist Of expert and
experienced chemists, whose special
services during the time OF the war
will be occupied with amplifying, I'M
proving and perfecting the appliances
OF war which are dependent upon
chemistry.
Not many persons realize that as q
result of the offer to President Wilson
Of the services Of American chemists
after these had been organized as
members Of an association whose pur-
pose was patriotic service there came
an increase Of the membership OF the
american Chemical Society from 5000
to nearly 1900 members. No other
impulse than that occasioned by the
war and the desire to contribute such
services as science made possible
would have caused such unprecedented
"' The president o, the American
Chemical Society, Julius Stieglitz. said
recently: The chemists Of the United
States are OF one mind In ranging
themselves on the side of organized,
full-hearted and forcible support OF
the government In this war
PershIng Recognizes Aid.
Gen. Pershing long ago recog-
nized the aid which this science has
been able to give to the government
from the beginning or the war. For
instance, he knew well the great
service which DR.. w. H. Nichols.
who is chairman of the committee
on chemistry of the National De-
tense Council, rendered early in the
war and at a time when the gov
eTnment was in a somewhat des-
pCrate situation. The general had
excellent knowledge of the valua-
BILE service given by Mr.. NJ. T. Bo-
CERT. who is chairman of the chem
istry committee of the National Re-
search Council.
Now the time has come when the
wonders revealed by research and
the application of them to instru-
mentalities which will be of avail
during the war justify Gen. PERISH
ing in asking for the organization
OF a so-caIled chemical unit. 1t
has been said that but for chemistry
Germany would have been defeated
after Gen. JOffre perfected the
strategy by which the march Of the
German armies upon Paris was
stayed at the Marne, and these arm
les turned, defeated. about face.
Had it not been for the wonderful
advances made by the chemists in
Germany in various directions her
armies must by this time have be-
come disorganized and her defeat
inevitable. at least that is the opin-
ion of some of the ablest authori-
ties in the science of chemistry. As,
II \
dress delivered a few weeks ago
in Boston, stated:
In the wonderful organization OF
power in France and in England in
the midst of the war. the French
and English chemists stepped in and
brought the supplies of munitions of
every variety. OF remedies, of new
weapons of defense and Of offensive
poison gas and liquid fire up to the
point of meeting on more than equal
terms the enemy. Germany, who had
been preparing for this war for years.
Germany and Her Chemists.
In fact. but for the research work
and the utilization OF the discoveries
made by research which the German
chemists for many years have fur
nished. the German government in
all probability would not have under
taken the war.
The American chemists have almost
caught up with the achievements of
the great men of science of Ger
many. Washington authorities real
re, as Gea. Pershing does, even If
the country at large does not, that
the achievements of the American
chemists in the three years since the
Of the great marvels OF the time, but
really one of the great scientific
marvels of all time. The chemists
have made it possible to speed up
the production of hundreds of thou
sands of tons of fundamental chem
Ical products of which our allies,
as well as the United States. have
need
They have made. for instance, steel
and iron alloys of every variety of
:oughncss. hardness or elasticity.
Chemists and Copper.
\ few days ago an official report
was made that the United States had
produced in the year 1917 a little over
two billion pounds of copper. Almost
all this copper had been purified
through processes devised by American
chemists. Their work has made it
Iossible to perfect aluminium for air.
ship purposes and they have been es-
pecially successful in developing abra-
siye, which is a commodity upon which
depends the accuracy of every large
and every small gun.
They have performed wonders in the
development of sulphuric acid and
in alcohol, commodities which are
needed for explosives. In fact the
basic chemical industries of the Uni
ted States have with amazing success
proved themselves equal to the de-
mands of a situation unparalleled in
its scope and urgency.
1t Is the chemists who have shown
men OF capital how to perfect the
American dye industry so that no
longer are our manufacturers in en-
harrassment for lack of dyes but,
furthermore. We are likely to be in
dependent of Germany after the war
is ended.
NOtRbles Give Services.
OF the various bureaus of commits
sions which have been established to
facilitate the work of the war in aid
OF the Army and Navy Departments
in Washington, some of the worlds
greatest chemists, who are also Amer
lean citizens, are members. They are
giving their time, their experience and
II n ~ a N - n