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 DEPARTMENT OF THE 
 
 BUREAU OF EDUCATIO1 
 
 V 1 *' ^ * $> 
 OF THE 
 
 TREASURE HUNTING 
 of TODAY 
 
 AND 
 
 CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS 
 
 By ROBERT E. ROSE 
 
 FORMERLY ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY 
 UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON 
 
Treasure Hunting of Today 
 
 Every one, every man and every woman, every boy and every girl, 
 has let his or her fancy stray at times and wished for power over the 
 matter of the world ; has wished for a magic wand that would transform 
 one thing into another; for the philosopher's stone which would turn 
 the common metals into gold; for the subtle elixir by which life could 
 be prolonged as perpetual youth. 
 
 The pleasure of reading the wonderful stories of the Arabian Nights 
 is in large part the result of the stimulation that comes to the imagina- 
 tion and leaves us trying to picture what we would do had we Alad- 
 din's lamp or did we know the magic password to hiding places of un- 
 told treasures, gold, sapphires, pearls and rubies. 
 
 In the same way the stories of the blood-thirsty buccaneers of the 
 Spanish Main leave, beside their interest as yarns of breathless action, 
 a haunting feeling that there must be treasure to be found and that 
 this possibility lends a certain excitement to life's chances. 
 
 Of course this feeling, which is so strong upon us when we finish 
 reading one of these tales of adventure in the quiet of the evening, is apt 
 to fade after a sleep, and in the light of the morning the romance seems 
 to vanish ; but down in our hearts we always have with us that longing 
 that makes us treasure-hunters. 
 
 While all mankind has always longed for such powers, a few have 
 gone treasure-hunting. They have sought to read the riddle of the 
 code, to learn which has meant controlling the forces of nature. They 
 have worked for treasure, but not treasure of gold and jewels; they 
 have sought real knowledge, believing that to know anything for cer- 
 tain which no one knew before and to tell others of it, is one of the 
 best ways to serve the world; wisdom to them has been the supreme 
 treasure. 
 
 These men, and women, too, have to those who wished to be up and 
 doing seemed to be wasting their time. 
 
 A Captain Kidd could see no earthly use in trying to find out the 
 real nature of a drop of water. Are not the oceans full of water, 
 billions upon billions of drops? But rubies are scarce and they can be 
 stolen. Now the time has come when the men who studied the drop of 
 water can laugh at the Captain Kidds because by their studies they 
 have learned to make real rubies, and sapphires, and emeralds. 
 
 Those who have learned the secret of the transformation of matter 
 and energy, who have done in very fact those things which the 
 
 [31 
 
 444095 
 
TREASURE HUNTING OF TODAY 
 
 
 alchemists and : the- magicians of old hoped to do, and in addition a great 
 many things which the wise men of the past never dreamed of those 
 men and women have been so busy that they have only had time to tell 
 each other of their results in order to push ahead more quickly into the 
 darkness of the cavern of the many treasures. They have had to make 
 a language to describe the things they have discovered, and they have 
 not taken time to tell everybody what their words mean. 
 
 Thus it comes about that humanity has learned to share in the 
 treasures without understanding where they came from or to whose 
 efforts they were due. Still less is there any understanding of the magic 
 transformations and the fact that they are magical in results only, the 
 methods being an open book. 
 
 The hiding-places of modern treasures are so strange that they can 
 not be found by chance : 
 
 Silk hidden in the fibre of the cotton; exquisite dyes and 
 perfumes in a pot of tar; bright metal in common clay; the 
 strength of the volcano in saltpetre; silver in lead; deadly 
 poisons and healing medicines in a lump of coal ; food in the air. 
 
 It is worth while to learn a little of the way in which the seekers 
 after knowledge have come to gain this power over matter; it is worth 
 while because it helps us to appreciate what the mind can do, and it 
 also is worth while because the treasures discovered are outnumbered 
 by those still hidden, and some of us may be able to take a share in 
 adding to man's power over matter. It is impossible to say where next 
 the treasure may be found: A heap of sawdust; is it merely so much 
 rubbish, or is there hidden in the little fragments of wood something of 
 very real use, to find which would bring honor and wealth besides 
 aiding all mankind ? 
 
 In the past it is in just such places that wonders have been found. 
 
 Play or work, real knowledge comes only of close attention, though 
 not always consciously given. When you watch a game of football or 
 baseball you do not realize that you are doing the hardest kind of 
 studying, but if you are really interested you most certainly are, and 
 only the players are studying harder. 
 
 There are many things which can not be understood unless they are 
 raken apart and each portion examined separately. In general, to study 
 an object, to be able to use every sense upon it, it is best to simplify it ; 
 10 make an engine, one must know the parts of which it is composed 
 and how they are set up; to make a dress, it is necessary to know of 
 what each part is to be made and how each piece is to be cut. Following 
 this plan, the men who have grown to be masters of human destiny have 
 never been content to take anything in hand without trying to simplify 
 
AND CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. 5 
 
 it in order to understand it. The chemist has always insisted on know- 
 ing of what things are made, and the physicist how they are constructed. 
 What is there about the structure of air that makes it act like a spring 
 in a pneumatic tire? Such a question the physicist asks. It may count 
 a small matter, but in this case to be able to answer is to know the 
 structure of all things. The chemist keeps asking: Can rust be taken 
 apart? What is it made of? Is there anything in the world that can- 
 not be made simpler? Such questions seem far from the practical 
 needs of every-day life, but by putting them and experimenting until 
 the answers were found man has learned wonders. 
 
 Draw a breath. You have inhaled 3,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 
 little particles of air, a jostling, pushing crowd of oxygen and nitrogen 
 particles so crowded that each one bumps his neighbors and is bumped 
 back five billion times every second, each trying to rush 1,500 feet in 
 that time. Exhale, and out rush an equal number of molecules, but 
 120,000,000,000,000,000,000 oxygen particles that went in do not come 
 out, while their places are taken by carbon dioxide and water that came 
 out of your body. Weigh the crowd coming out and it will be found 
 heavier than that which went in. You are losing weight with every 
 breath. Drink a glass of water and you have swallowed 1,865,000,000,- 
 000,000,000,000,000 molecules of water. Somehow, out of all the 
 myriads of molecules that you eat and breathe, you get yourself made 
 and keep your body running. 
 
 All matter is composed of such trifling particles. A ton of steel is 
 made up of fragments so minute that a thousand million million are 
 needed to form the point of a needle. But each kind of matter, if 
 different under like conditions, is composed of different molecule units. 
 Units of water, units of iron, of sugar, of salt, of diamond, of sulfur. 
 Small as these molecules are they are usually not simple but are com- 
 posed of simpler particles, the atoms. Can you imagine the physicist 
 and chemist pulling matter to pieces, nearly hopeless at the complexity, 
 but still hoping to reach an understanding? 
 
 Millions of different kinds of substances, millions of different kinds 
 of molecules, and, if these are complex, then tons of millions of dif- 
 ferent atoms. That was to be expected; but in reality it was found 
 that there are only some 80 different kinds of atoms, and that a fourth of 
 that many form the great majority of molecules. Moreover, rarely are 
 there more than three or four different kinds of atoms in any one kind 
 of molecule. 
 
 Have patience for a moment ; we are very near the secret of the trans- 
 formation of matter. 
 
 If each substance is composed of characteristic molecules, and there 
 
6 TREASURE HUNTING OF TODAY 
 
 are millions of different kinds, and if the only things in molecules are 
 atoms, and there are only 80 of these, then the difference in molecules 
 must be the outcome of either the number, arrangement, or kind, of 
 atom, and since there are so few different kinds of atoms, the number 
 and arrangement must be the chief thing. Then, and this is the great 
 secret, to learn how to rearrange atoms is to learn how to transform 
 matter. 
 
 An analogy may make the condition clearer. There are millions of 
 buildings in this world, but there are not millions of building materials 
 used. The difference between one structure and the other is caused by 
 the arrangement, first ; by the material, second ; a castle may be of some 
 masonry, so may a hovel. 
 
 The chemist has learned to know the bricks, stone, and mortar of 
 molecules, and he has learned how to duplicate nature's molecule- 
 structures and also to make new ones, though in every case he is 
 limited by the properties of his building-materials, the atoms, just as 
 the builder is who cannot erect a sky-scraper of bricks or lumber. 
 
 To measure the progress of the past hundred years which has come 
 of the advance of chemistry, it is well to contrast the present with the 
 past. Because of its great importance to everyone, the supply of food 
 may serve as an example. 
 
 Let us go back to mediaeval times and assume that a chemist with 
 his present knowledge is a citizen of a beleaguered castle. The enemy 
 have surrounded the walls on all sides and the garrison and civil popu- 
 lation, swelled by the peasants from the country-side, are beginning 
 to worry about the food-supply. The chieftain would call in his 
 chemist, remembering that this unassuming man had suggested certain 
 precautions to be taken in case of siege. 
 
 "Sire," the chemist would say, "within these walls we have a 
 generous waterfall which never dries and is fed from a spring ; it is out 
 of the clutches of our foes; we have abundant wood, and coal, and the 
 air no enemy can take from us. In addition, because you had faith in 
 my wisdom, we have many tons of paraffin, much sulfur and lime. You 
 will remember that these things I said would be necessary for my plans 
 in case of siege. Our bins are full of dried potatoes, harvested and 
 dried when our corn failed. I, on my part, have certain simple salts, 
 such as the phosphate of potash. Because of the diligence of my 
 servants, all the necessary equipment is in readiness; therefore I will 
 obey your request and feed the people." 
 
 Then would ensue a busy scene. Certain men would take some of 
 the billets of wood and convert them into sawdust, using a machine run 
 
AND CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. 7 
 
 by the power of the waterfall. Others would burn some of the sulfur 
 and lead the fumes through a contrivance like a jacketed length of iron 
 pipe in which was some platinum supported on asbestos. In a little 
 while white fumes would be formed and these would be caused to unite 
 with water to form sulfuric acid, or oil of vitriol. 
 
 Sawdust and sulphuric acid would be put into a great vessel and 
 steam injected, the boiler being heated by the burning of some of the 
 coal. Then cold water would be thrown in to stop the action of the 
 acid. The sawdust would look about the same, but there would be less 
 of it and the acid liquid would contain sugar made from the sawdust. 
 Lime would take out the acid and part of the filtered liquor would be 
 evaporated to a sticky sweet mass by no means unpalatable, being, in 
 fact, something like corn syrup; that would go into the food stores as a 
 sugar substitute not very sweet but useful. 
 
 Here the interest turns to another group who are busy on a very 
 different task. They are liquifying air, and allowing the liquid to boil, 
 which it does at 383 below zero. The gas coming off first would 
 be nitrogen and it would be stored in special gas holders. The remain- 
 ing oxygen would also be stored. 
 
 Yet another group would be making hydrogen and oxygen from water 
 by means of electric current obtained from the waterfall. The hydrogen 
 they would pass on to those who had made the nitrogen, who would 
 mix two gases in a definite ratio and heat them in a vessel under 
 pressure with some uranium. This would transform the mixture into 
 ammonia. Some of this would be reserved, the rest burned to nitric acid 
 in another special apparatus. Nitric acid and ammonia would be 
 brought together to give ammonium nitrate. 
 
 By this time the populace would say: "Truly the chemist does won- 
 derful things but we see our dinners no nearer. We will have patience, 
 however, and give him every help; if he fails we all die; but we will 
 do that anyway if food is not forthcoming and the castle falls." 
 
 In the meantime great vats would be filled with the sweetish liquor 
 from the sawdust and some of the ammonium nitrate added to this, also 
 a very little potassium phosphate. The liquor would be sterilized by 
 steam, and while it was being cooled the chemist would hurry to the 
 house of his intimate friend the biologist. (Scientists of different kinds 
 always have to work together to get good results. ) 
 
 "Good Worthy," he would say, "all is in readiness. The truth of 
 your discoveries, which I doubt not at all, will be tested in practice." 
 
 The biologist would take him to a kind of ice box and point proudly 
 to certain gray masses therein. 
 
 "Behold, Sir Chemist, the little servants are ready. Carefully have 
 
8 TREASURE HUNTING OF TODAY 
 
 I reared them. They are no ordinary yeast cells, but wonder workers 
 that will make meat for the people out of ammonium nitrate which 
 you make from air and water. I will gather some up to take with us." 
 
 Then would they put the special yeast into the sawdust sugar syrup 
 with the ammonium nitrate in it. The yeast would grow apace and in 
 a short time it would be gathered and pressed free of liquid. It would 
 then be treated by the chemist in such a way that the curious taste 
 would be replaced by a pleasanter one. Then it would be given to the 
 people to eat in place of meat, being very nourishing even though made 
 from air and sawdust. 
 
 "But," the people would object, "your meat is without fat, and fat 
 we must have if we are to do hard work." 
 
 "Have patience," the chemist would reply, "the fat is being made, it 
 isn't quite ready today, but there will be plenty from tomorrow on." 
 
 And he would keep his word ; he would take some more of the sugar 
 water made from shavings and add mineral salts to it, then he would 
 call upon the worthy biologist once more, saying: 
 
 "Gentle sir; I am now ready for your glycerine fungus." 
 
 "Good colleague, again am I ready, having forseen your request. 
 Here is my noble race of plants which convert sugar into glycerine." 
 
 Together they would do all that was necessary and the sugar would 
 disappear from the syrup, its place being taken by glycerine among 
 other things. The glycerine would be obtained pure by distillation. 
 
 In the meantime, great big lumps of paraffin, which the chemist had 
 caused to be brought within the walls, would be heated in closed vessels 
 with some of the oxygen obtained from the water when the hydrogen 
 was made. The paraffin would turn into a sour mass which in the 
 chemist's hands could be purified and would yield acids which, when 
 combined with the glycerine made from sawdust, would give fats like 
 butter, lard, or tallow. 
 
 Thus, you see, the citizens and garrison could be fed on meat, fat, 
 and sugar. The starch of their diet would have to come from the 
 dried potatoes, which you will remember were stored at the chemist's 
 suggestion. Thus the beleagured could hold out. 
 
 This sounds like a fairy tale, mere idle imagining of what might be. 
 It is not that. A great nation faced by famine, helped feed her people 
 by such means. What was done sufficed to show that there is nothing 
 to prevent the perfection of methods which will add to the food 
 resources of mankind enormously. Great vats will take the place of 
 the cattle ranges, yeast cells that of the cattle. It is true that the 
 little yeast plants seem insignificant, but they mature in a few hours and 
 they multiply at an enormous rate. Already yeast food factories 
 
AND CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. 9 
 
 created during the stress of war are operating in time of peace. They 
 will increase in numbers and in them will be made better, more excel- 
 lent products as the industry develops. 
 
 This has come because the path of the magician has been abandoned 
 and his place taken by men and women who know how molecules are 
 made. 
 
 If everything you touch were to tell you whether or not it owes its 
 existence to the chemist you would learn very soon of the tremendous 
 importance of the man who makes molecules. 
 
 Having spoken of food, a start may be made in the kitchen. 
 
 As you strike a match it calls out that its head is made from bones 
 and sulfur and fish glue, under the chemist's direction, that its stick 
 is soaked in alum to prevent it glowing, alum made from a mineral 
 called Bauxite. 
 
 As the gas is turned on it whistles that it is made from coal, and 
 water, and coke, and that its making is controlled by the chemist. The 
 gas range goes back to the iron ore of Lake Michigan from which it was 
 made in the Pittsburgh blast furnaces. Again a transformation of 
 matter. The aluminum kettle comes from aluminum oxide dissolved in 
 molten cryolite from Greenland and decomposed by tremendous electric 
 current generated by the falling water of Niagara. 
 
 So far everything handled has been matter made by the chemist and 
 not found in nature. 
 
 If the task in the kitchen is to make some biscuits, then it would seem 
 that the actual materials to be cooked, would be beyond the range of 
 applied chemistry. But the chances are that the flour comes from wheat 
 that was disinfected with formaldehyde and fertilized with phosphate. 
 The flour itself was bleached chemically. The milk used is untouched 
 by the chemist, except to test it, but the salt is prepared under his 
 supervision. The baking powder is entirely his handiwork. He made 
 the bicarbonate in it from ordinary salt and the alum or phosphate from 
 mineral matter.; if the powder is made from tartaric acid, then he has 
 to admit that he has not found a cheap way of making that, but he will 
 have one soon, and then that too will be made. The tin the baking 
 powder is in is also an entirely artificial product. 
 
 The truth is that the shadow of the chemist is over all that comes 
 into the household for food. If his efforts do not contribute directly, 
 they do indirectly because his knowledge stands between the thief and 
 the profit to be stolen by the adulteration of food. 
 
 Every girl should know the chemist as her friend, because it will 
 enable her to help him to serve her, and because it will make the sur- 
 roundings of the home much more interesting. There is a fascinating 
 
10 TREASURE HUNTING OF TODAY 
 
 story in everything used. And besides, most women are engaged in 
 applying chemistry all the days of their lives, and they can learn to do 
 things very much better with more understanding if they learn why they 
 are doing them. Feeding the young and old, nursing the sick, the care 
 of the house, the treatment of textiles, all these are based on the facts 
 of chemistry. 
 
 Chemistry is profoundly important, and fascinatingly interesting. To 
 learn something of the facts which the chemist has to interpret and to 
 learn how this knowledge is put to use is to become better acquainted 
 with the wonders of life; it is the key to the gateway into a new 
 region; to have it is almost the same as to have a new sense, the sense 
 of matter. To be without this sense is to be blind to a very great deal 
 that makes one's surroundings interesting and one's life rich. Neglect 
 this aspect of nature altogether and it follows that you elect to walk 
 in darkness in places where it would be easy to see. You will be like 
 those who always travel from one place to another, between which lie 
 beautiful scenes, but choose their hour of going in such a way as to 
 cause them pass all the beauty, all the interesting scenes, at night. 
 Those who do not know how much they miss cannot be blamed for 
 thinking that the scenery they pass through is probably not worth look- 
 ing at, being very much like the surroundings they leave and those 
 they reach. 
 
 In order to give you some chance to describe this for yourselves, the 
 best plan is to describe some of the interest and beauty of that land 
 which so few know. Then, perhaps, you will choose wisely and 
 arrange that you will pass through the land of chemistry in your 
 journey, though not with your eyes closed, but where all is brightly 
 lighted by the sun of understanding. You will profit and all mankind 
 with you. 
 
 Human beings, as machines, are limited by their physical development. 
 There are a great many degrees of muscular strength, from the strong 
 man to the helpless invalid, but strength is desirable. In the days of 
 the cave men, the limit of strength was simply the power of the 
 strongest man. When the cave man wanted to make a home, he had to 
 take what nature gave him. He had no means of making holes in 
 cliffs, even the strongest could not hope to hew out a cave. Now man 
 uses the locomotive which has the strength of thousands of men and he 
 is able to do this because he applies chemistry to the extraction of 
 iron and its conversion into steel. A wooden or stone engine would 
 not be much use. Now man's arm is made strong by explosives; dyna- 
 mite from glycerine, ammonium nitrate from the air, guncotton from 
 the air and cotton. He can shatter great cliffs and bring them tumbling 
 
AND CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. 11 
 
 in hundreds of torn fragments to their base, he can blow to pieces rocks 
 that menace his ships, he can pierce mountain ranges and bring nations 
 together, and he can make the oceans meet. How is iron taken from 
 the rust-like ores which are dug from the earth? How is iron turned 
 into steel? Why are explosives so powerful? How are they made? 
 Such questions chemistry only can answer. 
 
 To lose one's sight, to be blind, has always been thought one of the 
 greatest misfortunes that could befall a human being. It is true, and 
 it is equally true that to extend human vision means adding to the 
 wealth of life. Chemistry has done this in a great many ways. First 
 of all, in the photograph it has made it possible for you to see, even 
 though you were not near the object you view. Stop to think for a 
 moment of the many scenes, the many places which you feel you know, 
 which you feel are in a sense a part of your surroundings, yet which 
 you have never seen except in pictures. Pictures may be great art, that 
 is, the highest type of picture, but great art of its very nature must be 
 rare, and can, therefore, depict but little of all there is of interest in 
 the world. The camera may produce something which is not great art, 
 but which is a truthful record of what can be seen upon the earth. 
 This record is made so cheaply that it is viewed by millions who would 
 never see the subject photographed. Besides making it possible for 
 people to see distant scenes, the chemist's art, applied to pictures, has 
 made it possible for millions to see the tragedies and comedies of the 
 movie. Here the chemist has functioned not only in making it possible 
 to record the effects of light, that is, taking the pictures, but also by 
 mounting these on a flexible transparent film which makes it possible 
 to project them very rapidly one after the other upon the screen. 
 
 Another widening of vision has come of the joint efforts of physicists 
 and chemists. The physicist has produced rays which pass through a 
 great many kinds of matter which are opaque to ordinary light. The 
 chemist has made it possible to convert these rays into visible ones. 
 In consequence of this, you can stand in front of the X-ray tube and 
 see the beating of your heart. 
 
 Just recently, a substance which the chemist produced years ago, 
 promises to make it possible to send pictures over wires just as we now 
 send words. Already the newspapers have published illustrations sent 
 more than a thousand miles, a whole picture being transmitted in eight 
 minutes. 
 
 In addition to this, the coming of photographic methods of making 
 pictures has made it possible for man to see things which he never could 
 have seen with his naked eye. Pictures of the moving parts of engines 
 can be taken in such a minute fraction of time that the eye would be 
 
12 TREASURE HUNTING OF TODAY 
 
 utterly unable to form a mental image of it. Pictures have been made 
 in one-millionth of a second. Thousands of these could be made in 
 the time it takes the human eye to get any impression at all. 
 
 Light effects, too feeble for vision, have been allowed to fall per- 
 sistently on the photographic plate. In this way, we have detected 
 millions of stars which we could never possibly have seen because the 
 effect of their light is not sufficient unless it is stored up in successive 
 small quantities until it produces a visible effect. 
 
 The photographic plate is peculiar in other ways. It is sensitive to 
 waves which we cannot recognize as light and on this account we are 
 able to take photographs produced by invisible light and therefore 
 different from those seen by our senses. 
 
 How is light caught as a picture on a photographic plate? How are 
 negatives developed, and prints made? How is film made? It is neces- 
 sary to learn something of chemistry in order to understand. 
 
 Our eyes have seen strange things because of the results of chemistry ; 
 our ears have been given more to hear. Everywhere throughout the 
 length and breadth of the land, the same human voice may be heard at 
 the same time by means of the phonograph and this instrument is in a 
 great measure successful because of the material which the chemist has 
 placed at the disposal of the inventor of the mechanism, more especially 
 for the making of the discs. Of what are phonograph records made? 
 In a moment you will be told. 
 
 We may gain a further notion of the value of applied chemistry if 
 we think of those things which occur in nature and then consider those 
 into which the chemist can transform them. Wood is probably the 
 most common vegetable product. Mechanically, this can be made into 
 a great number of useful articles, but all of them are still characteris- 
 tically wooden. The chemist converts wood into wood pulp, and wood 
 pulp makes possible the daily newspaper. From the material which he 
 takes out of the wood in making the paper, he is finding it possible 
 to make alcohol, not wood alcohol, but grain alcohol. From the wood 
 pulp, he can go to artificial silk, which is more lustrous than the 
 natural. Again, during the war, it was found that wood pulp could 
 be used instead of cotton in making guncotton, and that means that it 
 can be used also for the production of collodion and articles made 
 from collodion, such as celluloid. 
 
 The fact that wood could be transformed into a very different product, 
 charcoal, when heated out of contact with air was one known from 
 remote antiquity. The gases that escaped were of no consequence to 
 the charcoal burners in the forests of old. The whole operation was 
 considered so menial that only the very lowest class in the population 
 
AND CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. 13 
 
 attended to it. In more recent times, the chemist has found that these 
 vapors which escape are of very considerable value. From them we 
 obtain wood alcohol which finds a very extended use as a solvent. To- 
 gether with this wood alcohol, we obtain acetic acid, the characteristic 
 sour principle of vinegar. This is used for making white lead, for 
 example, and for coating the wings of airplanes. Once having the wood 
 alcohol, we find it possible to make formaldehyde, the solution of which 
 is sold by the druggist as formalin. Formalin, as you know, if you have 
 allowed any of it to come in contact with your skin, toughens animal 
 matter and renders it horny. Apparently, this happens also to those 
 micro-organisms which cause disease or promote putrefaction, and 
 formaldehyde, therefore, makes an excellent disinfectant. But it is 
 used for a great many other things ; used for substances which seem very 
 remote from wood distillation. For instance, most phonograph records 
 are made on a substance which results from the interaction of formal- 
 dehyde and carbolic acid. Artificial ivory can be made from formal- 
 dehyde and cheese. 
 
 Cotton is another abundant vegetable product. The seed hairs of 
 this have been gathered from ancient times. These fibers have been 
 woven into cloth. Beyond that, very little has been done with it until 
 recent years. Now cotton is made into guncotton, the explosive; into 
 collodion, which is used in making lacquers; into celluloid; into vul- 
 canized fiber; into parchment and a great many other materials, and 
 the seed itself is made to yield riches. 
 
 Out of the earth's crust, out of the sand, and clay, and rocks, chemical 
 methods applied knowingly or blindly have enabled man to obtain new 
 materials of great value. 
 
 All the metals, save only gold and platinum and sometimes copper, 
 are found in the form of ores, which, in themselves, are no more valu- 
 able than any heavy stone. Iron pours out at the base of the blast 
 furnace; copper, silver, and lead are extracted from their ores in the 
 smelter. Tin, zinc, aluminum the value of these all can realize, but 
 there are many other metals of which less is heard. Many of them have 
 been produced in commercial quantities only in recent years, but already 
 they are indispensable; magnesium, which makes it possible to take 
 pictures by flashlight; tungsten, which enables us to turn small quan- 
 tities of electricity into light as in the pocket flash, or large quantities 
 more economically, as in the indandescent bulb; vanadium, chromium, 
 molybdenum, their very names are hardly known, but when added to 
 steel they make new and wonderful metal mixtures possible; some 
 so hard that high speed tools made of them can be used to chisel ordinary 
 steel even when these tools are red hot from friction. Already these 
 
14 TREASURE HUNTING OF TODAY 
 
 rarer metals have given us rustless knives. Yet all this is a beginning. 
 There is no reason to suppose that the possibilities have been exhausted. 
 The whole thing depends on the chemist making the extraction of these 
 rare metals cheap enough. He has already done that in the case of 
 aluminium. Sixty years ago, the metal could be had in small quantities 
 at a price of about $140 a pound. Now it sells at 23 cents, and is 
 available in any quantity. That, by the way, is the achievement of a 
 young man, little more than a boy, who was caught by the interest of 
 chemistry. A discovery such as that makes a life worth living. Like 
 all such advances, it leads to unexpected results. For example, in this 
 case, cheap aluminium has made it possible to fuse great castings to- 
 gether, not by using the metal as such, but by using the enormous heat 
 with which it burns; it gives us a little local furnace hot enough to melt 
 iron. 
 
 But instead of trying to thing of some of the uses made of metals, let 
 us try to think what is would be like if we had none of them. The 
 structure of civilization would collapse ; railroads, steamships, telegraphs, 
 and telephones, automobiles, kitchen ranges, knives and scissors, nails 
 and pins, skyscrapers and bridges all would vanish. 
 
 But metals are not all that the chemist makes of the materials in the 
 earth's crust. He makes cement from limestone and clay; soda from 
 salt ; fertilizer from the bones of long extinct animals ; acid from sulfur ; 
 dyes and drugs from coal. 
 
 Dyes and drugs from coal! That is perhaps the best illustration of 
 all to show how unexpected are the hiding places of treasures. The 
 story of this success is a long one ; it is still being written ; a fascinating 
 yarn as full of adventure as those of Robert Louis Stevenson. The plot 
 may be outlined in a few words. 
 
 Black coal is material formed from the wood and peat of the swamp- 
 forests of millions of years ago. It was long before it was used as a 
 fuel because nobody thought of burning what looked like stone, still 
 longer before it was used for making coal gas and until that time no 
 coal tar was saved. 
 
 It is easy to understand what coal tar is. When a shovelful of soft 
 coal is thrown on to a fire it does not burst into flame, but a cloud of 
 smoke comes of! as can be seen when the fireman throws coal into the 
 fire box of a locomotive. In a few moments, when once the fresh coal 
 is burning no more heavy smoke appears. The smoke comes of heating 
 the coal without burning it. The surest way of doing this is to put 
 the coal in a pot and put this on the fire; if the pot has a small outlet 
 the smoke pours out through this. Allow the smoke to pass through 
 a long tube and most of it will settle, though gas still keeps coming out. 
 
AND CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. 15 
 
 This gas, when made on a large scale, is purified and distributed as 
 illuminating gas through the city mains. 
 
 In the tube there is a mixture of tar and water containing ammonia. 
 The tar is an evil smelling sticky substance, a thing of no apparent 
 value whatever. However, the chemist does not hesitate to examine a 
 substance because it looks nasty. In this case he found that coal tar 
 was a mixture of things which could be separated pretty well by boiling 
 the tar, collecting what distilled over in portions, and repeating the 
 distillation. In 1843, by such a study, a substance called aniline was 
 discovered. Twenty-one years later a boy who was tremendously in- 
 terested in chemistry wanted to make quinine artificially. All he knew 
 about it was that it had certain properties a very little like those of 
 aniline, but that it contained oxygen which aniline does not. He tried 
 to convert aniline into quinine by putting in oxygen. He noticed that 
 he obtained a brightly colored material. He tested this and found it 
 to be a bright violet-mauve dye. This discovery created a sensation 
 because it showed that dyes could be made instead of taken from plants, 
 and also because the discovery soon led to the making of much more 
 brilliant dyes than any natural ones. 
 
 Aniline is present only in very small amounts in coal tar, but even 
 before the work of young Perkin, it had been found possible to make 
 aniline from one of the oils, benzene, which is relatively abundant in 
 coal tar. 
 
 Besides this oil, there are the others, and three solids, one of which 
 is naphthalene, which you know as moth balls. Here were six new 
 kinds of molecules to experiment with and the work went ahead with 
 great vigor because the molecules interested the scientist on the one 
 hand and the business man on the other, the latter because the making 
 of dyes became very profitable. 
 
 Soon the chemist knew so much of the subject that he decided to try 
 his hand at making dyes which were till then found only in plants. He 
 started on Turkey Red and soon found he could make that from coal 
 tar. Then he went on to indigo ; it took him twenty years to solve that 
 problem, but it was done and now practically all blue overalls are 
 dyed with indigo made from coal. 
 
 In addition to these successes, work was being done on making 
 medicines from coal and this, too, very soon resulted in great achieve- 
 ments. For example, salicylic acid is the best thing for rheumatism, 
 but it is found in nature only in the oil of the little wintergreen plant. 
 There is not enough wintergreen to furnish a supply sufficient to make 
 salicylic acid cheap. The chemist takes carbolic acid, of which there is 
 quite a quantity in coal tar, mixes it with lye, and heats it with carbon 
 
16 TREASURE HUNTING OF TODAY 
 
 dioxide under pressure and salicylic acid is made, made so cheaply that 
 poor and rich can use it. This is only one of hundreds of materials of 
 great value which are a direct result of the chemist's work on a 
 waste product. 
 
 There is another reason why you would profit by learning something 
 of the methods by which matter is transformed, methods which are 
 not strange or magic, but simply the result of precise observation and 
 clear thinking. This additional reason is that you are in charge of a 
 chemical laboratory; whether you wish it or not, whether you know 
 it or not, from your beginning to the end of your days you are the 
 director of a laboratory and plant. You have lots of assistants who do 
 their business so well .that you have not to bother yourself with their 
 actions at most times, but if you do not act intelligently as a director 
 there are times when things will go wrong needlessly. Then you know 
 that your plant is not running as it should because the joy fades out 
 of life and you are very miserable, you are ill. That the body is the 
 seat of complicated chemical changes is very evident. A human being is 
 apt to think of the food eaten as coal put into a furnace; the notion is 
 correct, but only in part ; in reality, especially when the body is growing, 
 the food eaten turns into the body, just as though the coal turned into 
 the iron of the furnace. Eat lamb or beef, fish or fowl, corn or buck- 
 wheat, provided the variety is sufficient, the result is the same; all of 
 these are used in making human being. A little particle of lamb does 
 not become a little particle of human muscle, otherwise since meat and 
 fish differ appreciably, those living on one would be different human 
 beings from those living on the other. What the body does is very 
 much what the chemist does; the food is broken down into smaller 
 units, the simpler molecules, and built together again into body material. 
 Those who wish to be doctors must know about these things; those 
 who wish to act wisely in the choice of food and in the dieting of the 
 sick should know of the processes going on within the body. Every 
 one can act more wisely in keeping himself in good condition if he 
 knows something of psysiological chemistry. 
 
 The chemist has gone so far as to learn the composition of some of 
 those materials which control the changes within us, and in this way 
 he has been able to assist the physician in curing or relieving abnormal 
 conditions by making the very things which the body needs. 
 
 In addition he has found it possible to make a great many substances, 
 which are not produced within us, but yet are useful in treating illness. 
 Most of the remedies on the shelves of the family medicine cupboard are 
 made and are not found in nature. The chemist can supply soporifics 
 to induce sleep; anesthetics to make portions or all of the body in- 
 
AND CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. 17 
 
 sensible to pain; stimulants to keep sleep away; materials which will 
 control the pressure of the blood; these are but a few of the materials 
 he supplies as munitions to the physician in his fight on disease. 
 
 The war on disease is one that is with us all the time ; young and old 
 are attached by bacteria day in and day out. Every time the skin is 
 broken invaders flock into the breach. Usually our natural defenses 
 suffice, but if they do not, then our bodies are invaded and we fall ill 
 to a greater or less extent, depending on the kind of invader and the 
 strength of our second lines of defense. These enemies of ours have 
 always been without scruple; the laws of nations have meant nothing 
 to them. Long ages ago the bacteria of a cold invented a sneeze "gas," 
 the bacillus of lockjaw used a terrible poison on the body cells. Typhoid 
 and scarlet fevers, diphtheria, measles, and all similar infectious dis- 
 eases are caused by the poisons produced by minute living things that 
 have invaded us. The physician helps us to fight against these attacks 
 and tries to keep us free from them. In his work his ally is the chemist 
 who supplies materials which will either repel the invaders or reinforce 
 our body cells sufficiently to make them victorious. Sometimes the 
 attack is carried into the enemy's country, as in disinfecting the water 
 supply of cities. Some day the chemist hopes to place in the physician's 
 hands materials which are deadly poison to bacteria but harmless to the 
 body. Then infectious disease will lose most of its terror. 
 
 In looking forward into life from the school age, there is always one 
 tremendously important subject: the vocation which is to support you 
 and make you useful to yourself and others. There must be all kinds 
 of occupations and within limits the choice of any one is open to you. 
 Among the possibilities is that of being a chemist. Before a choice 
 can be made, it is necessary to know something of the subject. What 
 has been said should show that this branch of knowledge is one that 
 can very well be studied by every one sufficiently to become familiar with 
 the part it plays in life. It is like a universal language which refers to 
 everything everywhere. 
 
 As a profession it offers a very wide field. It deals with so many 
 aspects of the utilization of matter that every type of work can be 
 found within its boundaries. 
 
 To be a research chemist is to use one's mind in seeking to understand 
 the many unsolved riddles of the transformation of matter; it is to be 
 of distinct use because directly or indirectly it leads to a better control 
 of the forces of nature. To be an industrial plant chemist is to put 
 chemistry to use in controlling plant operations on a large scale; it 
 means the direction of men, as well as matter. To be a physical 
 chemist is to devote attention to the conditions of chemical changes: 
 
18 TREASURE HUNTING OF TODAY 
 
 this is the best field for one with a liking for mathematics. To be a 
 biological chemist is to devote one's self to the study of the chemistry 
 of living matter; a most fascinating branch of knowledge, which 
 can be pursued either as research or in the practical field. 
 
 The fertilizer industry offers a chance to make chemistry useful to 
 the farmer; the application of chemistry to agriculture serves the same 
 end. Farming is now becoming a matter of fertilizers, sprays, disin- 
 fectants, and depends more and more on a knowledge of the chemistry 
 of the soil. The packing industry, the making of flour, the preservation 
 of foods, extraction of beet and cane sugar, the utilization of waste 
 products all these activities which are the industrial working up of the 
 products of the soil call for the services of the chemist. 
 
 The making of dyes and drugs is possible only because of the chemist's 
 aid. These industries will need a constant supply of men trained in the 
 science. 
 
 The Army will require men for the Chemical Warfare Service, men 
 who will experiment in peace time to make sure that the Nation will 
 be able to defend itself in war. 
 
 Chemists will be needed in the industry of making explosives, 
 artificial silk, celluloid and the like. Others will be wanted in the 
 smelters and in the oil refineries of the country. There is really a very 
 great range. 
 
 It might appear as though success were certain and as though 
 chemists must be in such great demand that the profession could not be 
 overcrowded. To be quite honest it is necessary to say that there is 
 this fact which makes chemists less in demand than might be expected: 
 When the chemist has discovered a process he can usually make it so 
 simple that any intelligent person can carry it out. Therefore the 
 chemist has to pass on to something else or be paid at the rate of an 
 ordinary unskilled workman. But even so, there is an abundance of 
 good places for good chemists. 
 
 What has been said applies chiefly to men, but women also find 
 chemistry very well suited to them as a profession. It does not involve 
 heavy work, it requires great skill, it is very interesting and it applies 
 to everyday life. The combination of biology and chemistry offers 
 perhaps the most excellent opportunity to women. 
 
 Another aspect of the subject has been touched upon, but it will 
 |bear further emphasis. 
 
 TO enjoy life to the full you must be able to use your senses to the 
 best possible advantage, which means that you must not only collect im- 
 pressions, you must interpret them also. But to do no more than use 
 ypur 9 w n senses is to mis a very great deal; you must use the collec- 
 
AND CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. 19 
 
 tive senses of mankind. Then you will really become aware of and 
 enjoy countless facts which would otherwise escape you. Around these 
 facts you can build innumerable happy fancies because an active 
 imagination uses the suggestions that come from reality. Not to possess 
 a cheerful, lively imagination is to go through life sadly, to be afraid 
 of one's own company, to be the slave of chance surroundings. 
 
 It is not the keenness of your eyes alone which determines what you 
 see. The interpretation given the sight is just as important. A fine 
 story published in a foreign language which you do not know is to you 
 nothing but a great many groups of letters on paper, it is only what 
 your eye actually sees. In just the same way unless you know the 
 language in which the records of things are written you cannot have 
 any real sense of their meaning and of their beauty. 
 
 Look at the scene about you when you are at a picnic or when you 
 are fishing. Overhead the green leaves rustle as the breeze moves them ; 
 what are they to you as you gaze up at them? Merely pretty green 
 shapes against the bright sky? Trifles of no interest to a live boy 
 or girl? 
 
 A house in which bombs were being manufactured would look as 
 uninteresting as the next until the detectives, following each little clue, 
 told the story of what was going on within. In those leaves there 
 are countless workers making stranger things than bombs. In those 
 leaves we know, because of the work of the detectives in the service 
 of botany and chemistry, that there is being made living matter out of 
 dead, coal from ashes and flue gases. We are accustomed to the 
 knowledge that all things die and disappear, but we give no thought 
 to the coming into existence, not of each living thing, but of living 
 matter. But no animal can turn those things, into which living things 
 pass, back into the material of life. Yet it must be done or else life 
 would cease. Look at those frail leaves with the eyes of the botanist 
 and chemist and they become factories like countless billions of others 
 wherein are made the things which make life possible. Stop all the 
 myriad cells of the leaf and grass blade and within a few months the 
 beginning of the end would be with us. A year, two years at most, and 
 all would be dead except for toadstools, wood insects and bacteria. 
 
 Each thin leaf, each blade of grass is a collection of many thousand 
 little work cells in which the carbon dioxide that is the end of all 
 dead things and the minerals of the earth are brought together and 
 built into sugar, starch, fat and protein substances, which can become 
 living matter by the agency of what is alive. 
 
 The botanist sees each minute cell, sees its walls coated with a living 
 slime, sees this studded with the green particles that give the leaf its 
 
20 TREASURE HUNTING OF TODAY 
 
 color, particles in which the transformation of matter takes place. He 
 sees the arrangement by which the materials are brought to the work- 
 shops and the manner in which the finished products are removed. 
 
 The chemist watches the throng of jostling molecules pushing their 
 way into the tiny pores on the underside of the leaf, he watches them 
 enter the liquid of the plant cell, then he loses them until they emerge 
 as oxygen and sugar. Just how the transition is effected he does not 
 know. That is one of the great problems awaiting solution. The sugar 
 turns to starch, or with the mineral matter brought from the soil is 
 turned into protein. How this is done we do not know. 
 
 The molecules factory of the green plant cannot run without power 
 to keep its wheels turning. The psysicist is ready to explain that : 
 Green leaves are found only in light ; in darkness the factory stops. But 
 light is a form of energy, it can be converted into work just as the heat 
 of burning coal can be in the steam engine. The leaves then are fac- 
 tories run by light in which the molecules of worn out life are put 
 into service again. Your breath is not living matter, but it may be 
 caught there above your head and brought to life. 
 
 If you want stories of real hunting, of life when great animals strode 
 over the dry land, wallowed in the marshes or swam in the sea, then 
 learn the language of the rocks. The geologist is the detective who has 
 deciphered the strange code. Those rocks in the stream before you are 
 older than the pyramids, older than the oldest record of man. Perhaps 
 they were made by fine matter settling in water, or by the cooling of 
 fiery lava poured from great rents in the quaking earth's crust millions 
 of years before great Dinosaur fought Dinosaur in the dim past of 
 living things. 
 
 But the chemist cannot be content to know how these rocks were 
 made, he must know of what they were made. He and the geologist 
 must go further and still further back into the past until they reach 
 the beginning of the world. The geologist goes no further, but the 
 chemist pushes still further, he must know what matter was before the 
 world was made. In this quest he joins company with the student 
 of the heavens and earth, the astronomer. The two go back to the 
 time when the great sun and planets were only a fiery curtain hanging 
 as a mist in the great space of the heavens. This the astronomer tells 
 us was the beginning, he guesses that the contraction and cooling of this 
 cloud gave us the sun and earth. The chemist asks how the glowing 
 cloud came to be formed and whether the stars are growing old like 
 other things. The astronomer can only answer that probably the stars 
 must be growing cooler, but the age of these bodies cannot be told. 
 
AND CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. 21 
 
 How can such a question be answered when all that comes to us is a 
 feeble ray of light coming through billions of miles of cold space? 
 
 Then with the good help of the astronomer, the chemist and 
 physicist set forth on the most daring quest yet tried by man, to read 
 the story of the universe. With only that faint light that journeys to 
 the earth from the stars to guide them they have succeeded in learning 
 of what the stars are made. 
 
 All they could see was that light, but in it was the story of the birth 
 and death of great suns, the story of a process so tremendous in its 
 course that a billion years are to it but as a second is in the life of man. 
 
 This universe, from the structure of the least of all things, the 
 parts of the atom, to the limitless boundaries of the great heavens, is 
 for you to read. Will you go blind to all this wonder, busying your- 
 selves with the little shallow, petty things, or will you see what is your 
 heritage, a greater wealth than any stored in all the vaults of all the 
 world's tresures? The token that you must show to take these 
 treasures into yourselves is knowledge, knowledge of the sciences, not 
 least among which is chemistry. 
 
Teaching Chemistry in the High Schools 
 
 The following chapter on the Teaching of Chemistry in High Schools 
 is taken from a report of the Commission on the Reorganization of 
 Secondary Education, appointed by the National Education Association. 
 Otis W. Caldwell was Chairman of the Committee in Science, and 
 Clarence D. Kingsley, Chairman of the Commission. This report was 
 published by the Bureau of Education: 
 
 The average person looks upon chemistry as a mysterious, occult 
 science, tinged with necromancy. This almost superstitious ignorance 
 prevents appreciation of the chemist's power to serve society. In indus- 
 try it is likely to result in great economic waste through failure properly 
 to utilize raw materials, develop by-products, and apply chemical 
 methods of control to processes of manufacture. The high-school chem- 
 istry course in its reorganized form should attract a larger number of 
 pupils and do much to supplant this ignorance by a measure of broad 
 understanding. 
 
 In the past, chemical laws, theories, and generalizations have usually 
 been taught as such, and their applications in industry and daily life 
 have been presented largely as illustrative material. In the reorganized 
 course, this order should be reversed. Laws and theories should be 
 approached through experimental data obtained in the laboratory and 
 through applications with which the pupil is already familiar and in 
 which he has a real interest. 
 
 In the past, chemistry courses over-emphasized theories, concepts, and 
 information of value principally to those who will pursue advanced 
 courses. A course which emphasizes the chemistry of industry, of com- 
 merce, of the soil, and of the household furnishes a wider outlook, 
 develops a practical appreciation of the scope of chemical service, and 
 moreover arouses an interest which leads naturally to further study. 
 
 The war showed the lack of a sufficient number of chemists trained 
 to work out such problems as arose in that national emergency. The 
 reconstruction period and the new conditions of world competition in 
 trade will increase the demand for specialists in the chemical problems 
 of manufacture. High-school courses in chemistry should therefore be 
 so reorganized as to arouse an interest in the science of chemistry, and 
 thereby stimulate more and more pupils to specialize later in this and 
 related fields, 
 
 [22] 
 
CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. 23 
 
 Principal aims. The principal aims in teaching chemistry in the high 
 school should be 
 
 1. To give an understanding of the significance and importance of 
 chemistry in our national life. The services of chemistry to industry, 
 to medicine, to home life, to agriculture, and to the welfare of the 
 nation, should be understood in an elementary way. 
 
 2. To develop those specific interests, habits, and abilities to which 
 all science study should contribute. 
 
 The powers of observation, discrimination, interpretation, and deduc- 
 tion are constantly called for in chemistry and are so used in this subject 
 as to require a high type of abstract thinking. The principles and 
 generalizations of chemistry are often difficult. For this reason chem- 
 istry should occur in the third or fourth year of the high school. 
 
 3. To build upon the earlier science courses, and knit together pre- 
 vious science work by supplying knowledge fundamental to all science. 
 Coming after at least a year of general science, and usually also a year 
 of biological science, the work in chemistry should further use these 
 sciences. It should furnish a new viewpoint for the organization of 
 science materials, and develop wider and more satisfactory unifying and 
 controlling principles. By this means the desirable element of continuity 
 in the science course will be secured. 
 
 4. To give information of definite service to home and daily life. 
 This aim has been the chief influence in reorganizing high-school chem- 
 istry courses, and will undoubtedly produce further changes. The 
 criterion of usefulness, as a basis for the selection of subject matter, 
 should not be limited to the immediately useful or practical in a narrow 
 sense, but should be so interpreted as to include all topics which make 
 for a better understanding of, and a keener insight into, the conditions, 
 institutions, and demands of modern life. 
 
 5. To help pupils to discover whether they have aptitudes for further 
 work in pure or applied science, and to induce pupils having such 
 aptitudes to enter the university or technical school, there to continue 
 their science studies. 
 
 General considerations concerning content and method. This state- 
 ment is based on the assumption that chemistry will usually be given in 
 the third or the fourth year of the four-year high school. Investigation 
 shows that a little more than one-half of the four-year high schools 
 present chemistry in the third year, and that pupils electing chemistry 
 usually have had one year of general science and often a year of bio- 
 logical science. 
 
 ( 1 ) Difficulties. Some difficulties in organizing courses in chemistry 
 on the basis of individual and specific pieces of work are: 
 
24 TREASURE HUNTING OF TODAY 
 
 (a) Many of the most important principles are impossible of direct 
 or experimental proof. They can not be demonstrated in specific, indi- 
 vidual problems, and hence can not be grasped easily by the immature 
 mind. These concepts must be accepted on the basis of their service to 
 the science and the useful conclusions based upon them, for example, the 
 assumptions of the atomic hypothesis and the rule of Avogadro. 
 
 (b) The number of important principles and facts is so great that 
 organization of the information supplied by discussion, investigation, 
 and experiment is difficult. Appreciation of the science as such is im- 
 possible until the bases for establishing relationships and controlling facts 
 are developed. 
 
 (c) Many problems and questions which the pupil tends to raise 
 involve complex phases of chemistry, or ideas too advanced for his 
 understanding. 
 
 Some motive, some compelling desire to know, must actuate the pupil 
 in any study which is really educative. Progress in chemistry, there- 
 fore, is dependent upon a specific purpose, a conscious need to learn the 
 facts and their underlying causes or explanation. The educational value 
 of any problem depends upon the degree to which the pupil makes it his 
 own and identifies himself with it, rather than upon its concreteness, or 
 the useful applications involved, or the familiar associations connecting 
 it with other problems, important as these considerations are. The basis 
 for organizing a course in chemistry should lie in the changing character 
 of the pupil's interest and the increased intensity of his needs as a result 
 of his growing abilities and of his increased power to direct and use 
 them. A topic in chemistry which would have seemed abstruse and 
 uninteresting a year or even a few months earlier may suddenly become 
 a real problem to the pupil. Such questions as what the constitution of 
 things really is, what properties the atoms possess, or why the volumes 
 of gases have such simple relations to one another, may become problems 
 of real significance to the pupil. Ultimate causes and reasons appeal to 
 the adolescent pupil. Problems having to do with home, farm, local 
 industries, the civic and the national welfare, are limited only by the 
 time and energy available for their pursuit. 
 
 (2) Laboratory work. The relation between class and laboratory 
 work is a most important problem for the chemistry teacher. Unfortu- 
 nately, theory and practice have not been properly related. Some of 
 the reasons for this situation are: 
 
 (a) It is difficult to correlate recitation and experiment. One lags 
 behind the other. The remedy is a greater flexibility in the program, 
 so that the time may be used for either purpose as needed. There is a 
 growing tendency to make all periods of a uniform, 60-minute length 
 
AND CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. 25 
 
 instead of 40 or 45 minutes on some days and 80 and 90 minutes on 
 other days. This change helps to make possible a closer correlation 
 between experiments and the discussion of them. 
 
 (b) Experiments often fail of their object because of insufficient 
 directions, failure to provide needful data, or lack of a definite and clear 
 purpose. This needful information must be supplied, but in such a way 
 as to stimulate interest and raise questions to be answered by the experi- 
 ment itself. Some teachers prefer to take the first few minutes of each 
 laboratory exercise in talking over the work, suggesting important ques- 
 tions, pointing out difficulties, and giving necessary cautions. It might 
 be well to embody more of the information usually supplied by the text 
 in the laboratory directions themselves, so that they would be thought- 
 producing and stimulating rather than simply directions for manipula- 
 tion and observation. 
 
 (c) Too many experiments involve repetition of work described in 
 the text or have no outcome beyond the mere doing and writing in the 
 note book. Unless the experiments contribute to the recitations and 
 provide data or information which is used, they are largely a waste of 
 time. 
 
 Laboratory experiments, to accomplish their purpose, must concern a 
 problem or a question which the pupil seeks to answer because he is 
 interested in doing so. The titles of experiments can often be worded 
 so that they become suggestive by stating them in problem or question 
 form. For example, instead of the title "Mordant dyeing," a better 
 one would be, "Why are mordants used in dyeing?" Or, in place of 
 "Equivalent weight of magnesium," substitute "How much magnesium 
 is needed to produce a gram of hydrogen?" Or, for "Analysis of am- 
 monia," substitute "What is the most economical brand of household 
 ammonia to purchase?" The mere rewording of a title itself is not 
 enough. The question itself must be a vital one? to the pupil either 
 through his own independent thought or as a result of the stimulating 
 influence of the class discussion. 
 
 Flexibility in the keeping of notebooks is desirable, provided that the 
 essential facts and conclusions are always included. The notes should 
 usually include a clear statement of the problem in hand; a description 
 of the method of procedure, making use of a diagram of such apparatus 
 as may have been used ; and a statement of results and conclusions, with 
 answers to any specific questions which have arisen. If the pupil's notes 
 cover this ground, they should be accepted, and he should be encouraged 
 to work out any plan of his own for the improvement of his notebook. 
 To require all to use exactly the same plan may make the checking of 
 notebooks more easy and their appearance more satisfactory, but it stifles 
 
26 TREASURE HUNTING OF TODAY , 
 
 the pupil's originality and prevents him from discovering and correcting 
 his own faults in this direction. 
 
 The notebook has often been a fetish with chemistry teachers, and 
 time has been demanded for making a record which, while beautiful in 
 appearance and completeness, is yet full of needless repetition and useless 
 detail. The notebook should not destroy the interest attached to an 
 experiment, for the experiment is not for the notebook but for the 
 pupil's clearer understanding of important chemical facts. Only when 
 properly used will the notebook enhance the value of laboratory work. 
 
 The teacher in the laboratory should not set up apparatus, weigh out 
 materials, or attend to other purely manual matters, which in most cases 
 should be done by the pupils. The teacher should see that pupils are 
 trained to observe accurately, to draw correct inferences, to relate their 
 conclusions to the facts of previous experience in and out of school, and 
 to find the answers to questions and problems brought out. 
 
 It is proper that the teacher should perform laboratory demonstra- 
 tions that are too difficult, too costly in materials, or too long, for 
 student assignment. These should be done with model technique, for 
 the pupils will imitate the teacher's methods. They should be recorded 
 in the student's laboratory notebook just as any other experiment, but 
 with the notation "performed by instructor." 
 
 (3) Aids to the chemistry teachers. (a) Reference books and maga- 
 zines. A part of the requisite equipment of every chemistry department 
 is a well chosen set of reference books, available and in constant use. 
 Each pupil will need a textbook as chief reference book, but he should 
 find it necessary to use additional books. There should be provided 
 duplicate copies of the better textbooks, other books on special subjects, 
 articles, newspaper clippings, etc. These books are necessary in order 
 that the pupil may investigate all the questions that arise. He will 
 profit by the training which comes from learning how to find the 
 answers to his questions from many sources of information. These 
 books should provide entertaining reading by which the pupil's interest 
 in things chemical may be stimulated and developed. 
 
 (b) Individual topics and reports. The study of special topics and 
 reports upon them by individual members should be a regular feature 
 of the class work. Pupils should be encouraged along the line of their 
 special interests, and lists of topics should be suggested by the teacher 
 from time to time. By this plan individual initiative and ability may 
 be given encouragement and the whole class stimulated. 
 
 (c) Optional experiments. The pupils should be given encourage- 
 ment to bring in materials to test in various ways and, whenever time 
 permits, to perform additional experiments, the results of which may be 
 
AND CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. 27 
 
 reported to the class. In the chemistry laboratory it is not necessary 
 or desirable that all pupils be always at work on the same experiment. 
 Even if the experiment is essentially the same, a variety of materials 
 may often be used, and each pupil may contribute to the general result. 
 For example, if colored cotton cloth is to be bleached by chloride of 
 lime, let the pupils bring in samples from home so that a variety of 
 colors may be tried out ; or, if the presence of coal-tar dyes is to be tested 
 in candy or food products, each pupil should be responsible for his own 
 materials. In this way the work of the class will have a breadth and 
 scope which will make the results more significant. 
 
 (d) The review. In chemistry the number of detailed facts is so 
 great, and the application of its principles so wide, that from time to 
 time a definite plan for insuring proper organization of ideas is needed. 
 These need not be formal reviews and tests, though such have their 
 place, but they should always be exact and comprehensive. Quizzes 
 should frequently follow excursions or a series of laboratory experiments 
 upon some central topic of study. These should be conducted in such 
 a way as to lead pupils to organize knowledge for themselves rather 
 than to force upon them a classification of the material that does not 
 develop from their own work. 
 
 (e) Excursions. Many topics in chemistry should be initiated or 
 supplemented by an excursion to a factory or industrial plant where the 
 operations may be viewed at first hand. If such excursions are to be 
 really profitable, there must be a very definite plan covering the things 
 to be seen. The first recitation after such an excursion should be 
 devoted to answering questions suggested by what has been seen and to 
 defining further studies based upon these observations. The great value 
 of the excursion lies in the opportunity to give the pupil a vivid concep- 
 tion of the practicability of chemical knowledge and to make him see 
 that there is a definite relation between the test tubes and beakers of 
 the laboratory and the vats, concentrators, and furnaces of the factory. 
 
 (/) Science clubs. Whenever the number of students taking chem- 
 istry is sufficient to warrant the formation of a chemical club, this is 
 desirable. The members of the chemistry class should be encouraged 
 to join or organize a science club and to make it an attractive feature 
 of the school life. In small schools a science section may be a part of 
 a literary or debating society, thus widening the interests served by such 
 an organization. Such a club provides motive and opportunity for the 
 exercise of individual interest and effort, and the interest of the whole 
 school may be extended through it. 
 
 Specific principles controlling reorganization. 1. Larger units of 
 study. The number of important principles and facts in chemistry is 
 
28 TREASURE HUNTING OF TODAY 
 
 so great that there is grave danger that many topics will remain isolated 
 and unorganized in the mind of the student. Reorganization should 
 develop larger units of study connected by and emphasizing natural 
 relationships. 
 
 (a) These larger units of study should be presented in such a manner 
 as to appeal to the pupil personally. 
 
 Interest is not likely to be aroused if the more important elements 
 are taken up in the order suggested by the periodic system. It is equally 
 destructive of enthusiasm to use one unvarying plan of study with every 
 element, as occurrence, physical and chemical properties, methods of 
 obtaining, uses, important compounds, etc. 
 
 (b) The selection of these large topics should not be handicapped by 
 the traditional content of the course. Traditional divisions should be 
 retained only when they are found to aid the pupil in making his own 
 organization of the facts and principles involved. 
 
 Such topics should show many cross relationships, necessitating the 
 use of information previously gained in new situations and serving to 
 fuse all into an organic whole. Thus, sudden leaps into absolutely new 
 material would be avoided or at least greatly reduced. 
 
 As an illustration, the interesting, unified, and vitally significant 
 topic of fertilizers can be developed out of information usually supplied 
 under such isolated headings as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, 
 calcium, sulphur, carbon, etc. 
 
 (r) Certain topics of chemistry cover wide fields. The large topic 
 is valuable because it shows broad relations and secures the right sort 
 of organization in the mind of the pupil. Neutralization, hydrolysis, 
 oxidation, etc., are examples of such topics, which are constantly recur- 
 ring in new phases and which should be brought out not once but many 
 times. 
 
 2. Laws and theories. A chemical law or theory should be taught 
 as a generalization, justified by experimental data, or as a device to 
 explain things that the pupil is eager to understand. Likewise, chemical 
 'mathematics should be developed through problems arising from the 
 laboratory work or through practical problems that the chemist is called 
 upon to solve in everyday situations. 
 
 Content. Different introductory courses in chemistry contain much 
 in common in that they deal with fundamental facts, concepts, laws, 
 and theories, but the teaching of these fundamentals must be influenced 
 by the particular conditions and purposes which control in the individual 
 school. It is not the purpose of the committee to lay out the work in 
 detail or to offer a syllabus, but to suggest by a few type topics the 
 character of the organization recommended. These have been selected 
 
AND CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. 29 
 
 solely as illustrations, and no sequence is implied by the order in which 
 they appear here. 
 
 1. The atmosphere. (A sample introductory topic.) (a) Physical 
 properties. Recall, or perform demonstration experiments to show, that 
 air possesses weight, exerts pressure, expands when heated, and is com- 
 pressible. Demonstrate diffusion of gases by spilling ammonia. De- 
 velopment in simple way of kinetic molecular hypothesis as basis for 
 explanation. Demonstration experiments to illustrate Boyle's and 
 Charles's laws, if needed. 
 
 (b) Air and burning. How does a candle burn? Structure of 
 flame: Products of combustion, identification of water by condensation, 
 soot by deposit on cold objects, and carbon dioxide by reaction with 
 lime water. (Water may be electrolyzed to show its composition.) 
 Definitions of element, compound, mixture, and chemical changes. 
 Fuels: Composed chiefly of carbon and hydrogen. Prove by burning 
 coal, gasoline, kerosene, gas, wood, etc. Luminosity of flame due to 
 carbon. Kindling temperature. 
 
 (c) Oxygen. Laboratory study of oxygen and burning in oxygen 
 contrasted with that in air. Action on metals. 
 
 (d) Composition of air. Analysis, using phosphorus and iron filings. 
 Residual nitrogen tested for effect on combustion. Nitrogen as diluting 
 material in air. Is it fortunate air is not all oxygen? 
 
 (e) Other questions to be considered or used for assignment pur- 
 poses: How was oxygen discovered? How abundant is it? How are 
 rusting and decay different from burning? How is spontaneous com- 
 bustion caused? What precautions should be used to avoid it? Why 
 is perfect combustion desirable in furnaces and steam-power plants? 
 Why is imperfect combustion dangerous in stoves or grates? Oxyacety- 
 lene process for welding and cutting. How is oxygen prepared for 
 commercial purposes? Oxygen as necessary to life. Ventilation for 
 health and comfort. Corrosion of metals, causes and prevention. 
 
 2. Purification of water. (a) Importance of the question from 
 standpoint of health and industry. 
 
 (b) Common impurities and their removal: Sedimentation and filtra- 
 tion for suspended matter; boiling to destroy bacteria; coagulation to 
 remove sediment and bacteria (use alum and lime water) ; distillation 
 to remove dissolved minerals; chlorination with bleaching powder 
 (chloride of lime; add solution of bleaching powder to water and 
 taste) ; tests for sulphates, chlorides, calcium compounds, and organic 
 matters; laboratory testing of spring and mineral waters collected by 
 pupils. 
 
 (c) How cities get pure water: Protecting the catch basin (New 
 
30 
 
 TREASURE HUNTING OF TODAY 
 
 York) ; sedimentation and filtration methods (St. Louis) ; coagulation 
 and precipitation method (Columbus) ; demonstration experiments to 
 illustrate; excursion to local pumping station and study of system of 
 purification employed. 
 
 (d) Soft and hard water, temporary and permanent varieties; effect 
 of hard water in tubes of steam boilers (specimens of boiler scales) ; 
 why a laundry needs soft water; action of hard water on soap; soften- 
 ing power of borax, ammonia, soda, soap, and washing powder of 
 various brands. 
 
 (e) Sewage disposal: Relation to pure water supply of other cities 
 or communities; dilution method (Chicago drainage canal) ; oxidation 
 methods (spraying, activated sludge) ; methods for small towns and 
 rural homes; the septic tank. 
 
 3. Limestone, lime, and allied products. (This topic is developed 
 in considerable detail, suggesting a possible plan for correlating labora- 
 tory and classroom work, excursions, and individual reports, and show- 
 ing how drill in equation writing and problem solving may naturally 
 arise.) 
 
 IN THE LABORATORY. 
 
 1. Excursion to limestone bluff or 
 quarry. Collection and display of 
 limestone fossils. Observe, on the 
 way, any limestone or marble used 
 in buildings. Visit limekiln and hy- 
 drating plant if possible. 
 
 2. Note texture, solubility, reaction 
 to moist litmus, and effect of acid 
 on a limestone lump. Heat the lump, 
 note changes in the above properties. 
 
 3. Using quicklime, note heat on 
 solution, reaction to litmus, etc. Pour 
 the following mixtures in the form of 
 thick pastes, into match-box molds : 
 (1) Lime and water; (2) lime and 
 sand and water; (3) lime, sand, ce- 
 ment, and water. Allow to stand 
 until hardened. Examine these speci- 
 mens for suitability as mortar. Test 
 these specimens, also old mortar, with 
 acid. Test evolved gas. Examine 
 both in place and as laboratory speci- 
 mens, samples of mortar, plaster, 
 concrete, reinforced concrete. 
 
 IN THE CLASSROOM. 
 
 1. Discussion and explanation of 
 the mode of limestone deposit. Ob- 
 servation of fossil shells, corals, skel- 
 etons. Reference to geology text. 
 Study of metamorphic limestone 
 (marble) and uses of marble and 
 limestone in buildings. 
 
 2. Discuss visit to limekiln, or use 
 diagrams. Describe use of "lime- 
 light" in stereopticons, etc. Deriva- 
 tion of the phrase "to seek the lime- 
 light." 
 
 3. Make sure that the students can 
 write equations, and fully understand 
 the chemical reactions from lime- 
 stone, calcium carbonate as quarried, 
 to calcium carbonate as the final 
 product in mortar or concrete. Pre- 
 pare and discuss the following special 
 reports : "Manufacture of lime in 
 large quantities ;" "Manufacture of 
 hydrated lime;" "The use of lime as 
 a disinfectant;" "The use of lime 
 (limewater) in medicine;" "Use of 
 lime in whitewash ;" "Source and 
 manufacture of cement;" "The use 
 of mortar and concrete in the con- 
 struction of walks, buildings, bridges, 
 
AND CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. 
 
 31 
 
 4. Note properties of a piece of na- 
 tive gypsum. Heat a crystal, note 
 water driven off and change in form. 
 Pour thick paste of plaster of Paris 
 into a match box, and press into it 
 some object such as a nut, small brass 
 ornament, or small clay model, pre- 
 viously greased with vaseline. Let 
 paste harden thoroughly. 
 
 5. Test the solubility of a lime- 
 stone lump in (a) distilled water; 
 
 (b) rain water; (c) distilled water 
 into which carbon dioxide has been 
 passed to acidity. Filter and test for 
 calcium with ammonium oxalate. 
 Pass breath through limewater. Burn 
 a splint in a bottle, add limewater, 
 and shake. Pass carbon dioxide 
 through limewater until the precipi- 
 tate is redissolved. 
 
 6. Shake any of above solutions in 
 which some limestone has dissolved 
 with soap solution, adding drop by 
 drop. Prepare the following sam- 
 ples : (a) Distilled water; (b) bubble 
 carbon dioxide through water, and 
 shake with ground limestone, filter; 
 
 (c) add several drops of saturated 
 calcium sulphate solution to water; 
 
 (d) hydrant water. To one-third of 
 each add soap solution (approxi- 
 mately Clarke's standard) from bu- 
 rette and record amount needed to 
 form suds. Boil one-third of each 
 vigorously. Observe any precipitate. 
 Filter and add soap solution as be- 
 fore. To one-third of each add a 
 few cc. of washing soda solution, 
 then soap solution as before. 
 
 Test the effect of other softening 
 agents ammonia, borax, lime, com- 
 mercial softening agents, and boiler 
 preparations. 
 
 posts, pipes, tile, furniture ;" "The 
 proportions of different ingredients, 
 the erection and filling of forms, 
 mixing machines, etc. the reports of 
 an interview with a practical plas- 
 terer, and concrete foreman;" "Arti- 
 ficial building stone." 
 
 4. Discuss occurrence of gypsum. 
 Equations for heating gypsum and 
 for setting of plaster of Paris. Pre- 
 pare and discuss special reports : 
 "Manufacture of plaster of Paris" on 
 a large scale; "Uses of plaster of 
 Paris in molds, statuary, for broken 
 bones, white coat for plaster, etc.;" 
 "Manufacture and uses of calcimine." 
 
 5. Discuss solubility of limestone in 
 carbonated rain water. Special re- 
 port: "The formation of caves and 
 sink holes;" "The formation of 
 stalactites and stalagmites." The 
 limewater test for carbon dioxide. 
 Equations for these processes. 
 
 6. Discussion of temporary and per- 
 manent hardness. Methods of soften- 
 ing each. Complete set of equations. 
 (This is an excellent exercise on 
 interpretation of results.) Require 
 special reports: "Household expe- 
 rience in the use of river and spring 
 water in washing and cooking;" "The 
 use of hard water in boilers" (illus- 
 trated with specimens of boiler 
 scale) ; "Comparative cost of soften- 
 ing water with different agents, in- 
 . eluding soap;" "What are commer- 
 cial softening agents composed of?" 
 
 It is believed that the softening 
 power of washing soda is more logi- 
 cally discussed under this heading 
 than in the chapter on "Sodium," and 
 that "Hardness of water" should be 
 treated in detail here unless included 
 in such a topic as the "Purification 
 of water," previously outlined. At 
 any rate, the cross reference should 
 be made, the facts reviewed, and the 
 principles extended to the new topic. 
 
32 TREASURE HUNTING OF TODAY 
 
 7. Test solubility of powdered 7. Special reports and discussions: 
 
 limestone in weak acids dilute hy- "What causes acid soils?" "What 
 
 drochloric, carbonic, citric. crops will not grow in acid soils?" 
 
 Test soil in a swampy place for "The use of ground limestone (and 
 
 acidity, sprinkle with powdered lime- plaster) on acid soil ;" "An interview 
 
 stone and test several days later. with a progressive farmer or fertil- 
 
 Extract soil with HC1 burn bones izer salesman on method of calculat- 
 
 and extract ash with HC1 coagulate ing the amount of limestone needed 
 
 milk, filter and test all filtrates for per acre of soil;" "The presence of 
 
 calcium with ammonium oxalate. calcium compounds in plant and ani- 
 
 Examine face powder, testing for mal tissues ;" "Use of powdered lime- 
 chalk or gypsum. stone for miscellaneous purposes." 
 
 Examine blackboard crayon. 
 
 4. Simple inorganic preparations. The introduction of simple in- 
 organic preparations to the laboratory work of the second half of the 
 year furnishes every desirable opportunity for the bright pupil to test 
 his ability. It gives him a chance to do extra work, learn additional 
 chemistry, and gain considerable skill in manipulation. The materials 
 for this work include: Copper sulphate from copper scraps; copper 
 nitrate as by-product from preparation of nitric oxide; ammonium- 
 copper sulphate from copper sulphate; mercurous nitrate and mercuric 
 nitrate from mercury; boric acid from borax; zinc sulphate as a by- 
 product of the preparation of hydrogen; sodium thiosulphate from 
 sodium sulphate; mercuric sulphocyanide from mercuric nitrate; zinc 
 oxide from zinc sulphate; and potassium nitrate from wood ashes. 
 
 It has been demonstrated that the pupils are greatly interested in 
 such experiments and spend many hours willingly in completing these 
 preparations. 
 
 The committee does not desire to outline other topics in detail, since 
 too much elaboration might tend to retard rather than stimulate the 
 proper reorganization of the chemistry course. The following list is 
 added to show a great variety of interesting topics which may be drawn 
 upon for illustrative and informational purposes and for developing the 
 fundamental generalizations of chemistry. Local conditions, the interest 
 and needs of the particular class, and the time available should deter- 
 mine the choice of such topics and their proper organization into the 
 larger units of study. The following list could be greatly extended: 
 
 Glass. Crown, flint, lead, special glasses, coloring of glass. 
 
 Clay products. Brick, pottery, chinaware, porcelain. 
 
 Artificial stone. Lime, plaster, mortar, hydraulic cement, concrete stucco, 
 plaster of paris. 
 
 Fertilizers. Problems of soil fertility, elements needed by growing plant and 
 function of each. Photosynthesis and carbon dioxide cycle. Nitrogen cycle 
 and function of nitrogen fertilizers. Use of limestone and phosphate rock. 
 
 Coal. Composition and fuel values of different varieties. Distillation of coal 
 
AND CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. 33 
 
 tar, light oil, middle oil, heavy oil, tar, pitch. Relation to dyes and explosives. 
 
 Petroleum. Fractional distillation into burning oils, solvent oils, lubricants, 
 paraffins. Problem of gasoline supply and possible exhaustion of petroleum. 
 
 Wood. Distillation of wood to produce methyl alchol, acetone, acetic acid, 
 charcoal. 
 
 Explosives. Black powder, nitroglycerine, dynamite, guncotton, trinitro- 
 toluene. Relation to nitrogen fixation by arc, Haber, and cyanide processes. 
 
 Paint, varnish, etc. Oil paints and driers, varnish, shellac, copal. Linseed 
 oil, oilcloth, linoleum. 
 
 Pigments. White lead, red lead, iron oxide, lead chromate, etc. 
 
 Textile fibers. Natural and artificial silk. Wool : Scouring, bleaching, felt- 
 ing, etc. Cotton : Bleaching, mercerizing, etc. 
 
 Dyeing. Direct and mordant dyes. 
 
 Cleansing agents. By acid : Oxalic, hydrochloric. By alkalies : Caustic soda, 
 soap emulsification. By special solvents : Carbon tetrachlorid, benzene. Com- 
 position of trade-marked cleaning fluids. 
 
 Photography. Blue prints, plates, films, prints, toning, etc. 
 
 Food constituents. Starch preparations from corn ; cooking : to dextrin and 
 to paste, hydrolysis to glucose. 
 
 Sugars. Preparation and refining of beet and cane varieties; conversion to 
 caramel ; inversion. 
 
 Fats. Olive oil, cottonseed oil, butter, oleomargarine, hardening oils by 
 hydrogenation. 
 
 Proteins. Albumins, casein, gluten, peptones, gelatines, vitamines. 
 
 Beverages. Charged waters, soda, mineral, infusions, tea, coffee, chocolate. 
 
 Fruit juices (artificial flavors), fermentation. 
 
 Poisons and common antidotes. Common inorganic drugs. 
 
 Leavening agents. Yeast, soda, baking powders. 
 
 Matches. Ordinary and safety types. 
 
 Adhesives. Gums, paste, dextrin, glue, casein, water glass (sodium silicate). 
 
 Inks. Various types. 
 
 Re fus_e. disposal. Sewerage, garbage,; fermentation and putrefaction; civic 
 problems; disinfectants and deodorizing agents. 
 
 Preserving. Sterilizing, pasteurizing, desiccating, pickling by salt and 
 sugar; chemical preservatives and tests for them. 
 
 Metals. Extraction processes; oxide ore, iron, sulfid ore, lead; electrolysis, 
 sodium and aluminum ; extraction of other metals may be studied by compar- 
 ison with these. 
 
 Metals used for basic purposes, iron, copper, aluminum, lead ; for ornament, 
 gold, silver, nickel; for alloys, bronze, brass, solder, type metal, antifriction 
 or bearing metals, fusible metal. 
 
 Differentiated chemistry courses for certain curriculums. The con- 
 tent of the regular course in chemistry has been indicated in the two 
 sections just preceding. It is designed to meet the needs of young 
 people and to enable such as need it to count the work done for college 
 entrance. It remains to show how modified chemistry courses may be 
 offered to meet the requirements of special groups of pupils by includ- 
 ing topics and problems bearing more directly on the work these pupils 
 will enter or in which they are already engaged. These differentiated 
 
34 TREASURE HUNTING OF TODAY 
 
 courses are chiefly of two types, those which aim to better prepare girls 
 for home making and home management and those offered in technical 
 curriculums to suit the needs of students primarily interested in indus- 
 try. These two types are briefly considered. 
 
 1. Courses in household or domestic chemistry. There are two 
 methods which are followed in teaching household or domestic chem- 
 istry. Girls may be taught the regular chemistry the first half of the 
 year and the second half they may be given instruction in topics relating 
 directly to the home, or a year's course in household chemistry may be 
 given. Each school should choose the method best adapted to its organi- 
 zation. If a year's course of household chemistry is given, the first 
 half should emphasize the study of chemical change, combustion, water, 
 air, acids, bases, salts, and chemical formulas. In the second half tb 
 following topics should be emphasized: Carbon compounds in their 
 relation to fuels, cooking, and foods; metals used in the home, as iron, 
 copper, aluminum, and silver; textiles and cleaning agents; dyeing and 
 removal of stains; fertilizers and insecticides; disinfectants and anti- 
 septics; poisons and their antidotes; paints and varnishes. 
 
 2. Courses in technical curriculum. In many technical curriculums 
 there is a demand for a two or three years' course in chemistry. In 
 such cases the elementary course is given in the tenth or eleventh year, 
 followed by qualitative analysis and organic chemistry. Some teachers 
 may prefer to give in the second year a half year of advanced general 
 chemistry and a half year of qualitative analysis. In addition to these, 
 special courses for certain types of students should be offered if there 
 are facilities and if there is sufficient demand for the work. To illus- 
 trate, a few courses which have been successfully tried in the continua- 
 tion and evening classes of a large technical high school are described: 
 
 (a) Chemistry for nurses: Girls who study nursing find it of great 
 advantage to know something of the fundamental principles of chem- 
 istry. Many of the girls have not completed a high school course and 
 have not studied chemistry. For such girls a special course consisting 
 of laboratory work and discussion two afternoons a week for 13 weeks 
 is given. This course covers elementary chemistry through carbon 
 compounds, and emphasis is placed on the study of substances used as 
 drugs and in the home. 
 
 (b) Chemistry for electroplaters : A large percentage of men actually 
 engaged in the electroplating of metals have only a common school 
 education, and their work is done mechanically. Without a knowledge 
 of the fundamental principles of chemistry and electricity the men find 
 much difficulty in solving their problems. To remedy this condition 
 the National Society of Electroplaters has been organized. At least 
 
AND CHEMISTRY IN OUR SCHOOLS. . 35 
 
 one technical high school has been cooperating with this organization 
 the past two years. A special class for electroplaters has been conducted 
 in the evening school. The men study elementary chemistry, electricity, 
 and volumetric analysis and discuss their problems with the instructor. 
 The students are very enthusiastic over the course and they have become 
 more intelligent and skilled workers. 
 
 (c) Chemistry for pharmacy: Some high schools offer a course in 
 pharmacy. For this purpose a three-year course in chemistry is desir- 
 able. The first year the pupils study elementary chemistry, which 
 differs from the regular course by emphasis on technique, preparation 
 of tinctures and ointments, the study of drug manufacturing, and 
 chemical arithmetic. Qualitative analysis is studied the second year, 
 quantitative analysis and organic chemistry the third year. 
 
 (d) Special courses for workmen and foremen in chemical industries: 
 ^ome manufacturers permit their employees to study in technical high 
 schools for one afternoon a week in order to make them more intelligent 
 workers. The chemistry course in these cases is adapted to the needs 
 of the individuals. Where facilities permit there is opportunity for 
 great service to the men and the community. A course in simple, 
 inorganic preparations such as ammonium, sodium, and potassium com- 
 pounds, is valuable to teach in connection with or following the 
 elementary course. 
 
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