March, 1925 I.VDUSTRI.4L ,450 ENGIA’EERING CHEMISTRY 223

inquiry into the status of our national defense grow out of the present controversy over the Air Service, so much the better. To many it is evident that the work necessary for national defense, and lawful under all existing treaties, must be prose- cuted with greater vigor and supported on an adequate basis if this country of ours is not to remain in an extremely vulnerable position. It takes time to prepare the way for legislation affecting appropriations. We should begin now on the next appropriation bill.

W. F. Hillebrand ILLIXM F. HILLEBRAND, a past president of the w AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY and chief chemist of the

Bureau of Standards since 1908, died on February 7 after a brief illness. Dr. Hillebrand typified the science of chem- istry. He stood for the most painstaking skill and technic. The accuracy of his analytical work was proverbial. The honesty and faithfulness with which he carried out his in- vestigations left their stamp upon his whole character. The caution which he applied in the analysis of a rock specimen helped to develop a judgment in which we all had great confidence. He contributed more than one hundred papers to chemical literature, and the analyses which he reported, as for example in his classical work, “Rock Analysis,” contained determinations of small fractions of a per cent of the less abundant constituents, which have been of great value to the geologist, though differing materially from the easy expedient so often employed to obtain one hundred per cent by crediting differences to “undetermined.”

Dr. Hillebrand was largely responsible for the establish- meiit of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry , the need of the men in applied chemistry being one of the problems for his consideration while President of the SOCIETY. He had an appreciation of both the scientific and the industrial phases of our science and was glad to serve wherever he could be of assistance. He lii-ed to be 71 years of age, but there was still important work before him and his principal desire was to lire long enough to complete it.

Dr. Hillebrand will be greatly missed in the n-ork of the Bureau of Standards, in the councils of the .AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, and by the great host of friends which 11 ere his.

The Priestley Home S A S editorial in the February issue of THIS JOURNAL I suggestions were made relative to celebrating the fiftieth

anniversary of the founding of the AMERICAX CHEIIJCBL SOCIETY, and reference was made to the Priestley home, which has been preserved and restored a t Korthumberland, Pa. However, we failed to emphasize the activity of the late Dean George Gilbert Pond, professor of chemistry a t the Pennsylvania State College. When this omission was brought to our attention, we were informed that the Priestley house would today be a wreck if, indeed, it mould have continued to exist in any form, but for the energetic and timely action of Dean Pond. He had been watching the Priestley home for several years with the idea that some or- ganization might purchase and preserve it as a memorial. Indeed, he attempted to raise money for this purpose but was unsuccessful. Meanwhile the property depreciated rapidly and was even used as an Italian boarding-house. Many of the windows became broken and, fast falling into decay, the house was advertised to be sold a t public auction.

Dean Pond a t once organized a Priestley fund campaign among the chemical alumni of State College. William H. Teas, of Marion, T’a., was a most active aid and a very large

contributor, and it mas through his prompt action and great generosity that Dean Pond was able to bid in the Priestley home for cash. At the present time the deed to the property rests with Mr. Teas as trustee for the chemical alumni of Pennsylvania State College. Through his liberality the building and property have been restored, a care-taker has been provided, and many things have been done to give permanence to the home and its surroundings. It is a fine old-fashioned mansion with many unusual features, such as a vault or dungeon in the cellar with masonry walls some two feet in thickness.

We are grateful for these additional details regarding the wide interest which has been displayed in preserving and establishing proper memorials to the memory of Priestley. Surely there will be as much enthusiasm in observing the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of our SOCIETY. The program should include an entire day a t Sorthumberland with appropriate exercises. All who will may then have opportunity to gain a better appreciation of the broad interest of Dean Pond, Mr. Teas, and many others who have helped perpetuate the memory of Priestley.

Institute of Chemico-Medical Research

N September, 1918, we printed an editorial pointing out I the need for intensive chemical research, under more favorable conditions than existed, devoted to the alleviation of human suffering. The following January a committee of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY was appointed to study the problem and prepare a statement of plans and policies. In 1921 this committee made its report, which has had a very wide circulation in its original form and as one of the books in the more than twenty-five thousand sets of books distributed in connection with the Prize Essay Contest.

The next step in the development of this idea has now been reached in that Georgetown University a t Washington, D. C., has set the establishment of such an institute of chemico- medical research as a distinct goal, and a preliminary pro- spectus has been prepared which explains the endowment needed for this undertaking. Because of a number of fortu- nate circumstances a t Georgetown, the initial endoa-ment required is considerably less than that which was estimated by our committee and is a sum which the university will undoubtedly be able to secure. The interest of the SOCIETY will continue in this undertaking and in the work which is to be initiated under circumstances so fa\-orable as to warrant our expecting great things.

Green Dye and Moths H E cumulative experience of the older generation is often expressed in a statement of fact without reference to the

science underlying it. The mother of an investigator pre- sented him a t the time of his wedding with an old-fashioned sofa covered in green rep. Green was selected because there was a saying that moths would not attack anything dyed green. To the surprise of the mother and even of the investigator, it took the moths but two years to destroy the green rep. It was a well-established fact that years ago, beginning shortly after the discovery of Martius yellow in 1864, wool dyed green had not been attacked by moths, and the investi- gator became interested in why his sofa had been attacked. A series of experiments with a large number of samples dyed differently demonstrated that the moths would not attack cloth on which Martius yellow was employed, and it was then that it was remembered that nearly every woolen material