Repository: UIHistories Project: Dedication - New Chemistry Building [PAGE 28]

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quired with the common arrangement and, instead of taking three to four minutes (by measurement with a stop-watch) to ascertain that he does not have a chemical asked for by the instructor, he reaches the same conclusion with greater certainty in six seconds. The effort to pull out an ordinary laboratory drawer, when emptyj requires, by measurement, a force of 4 to 12 pounds. That necessary to. draw forth the rack, with its complete load of apparatus and chemicals (weight 40 lbs.), is only 2 pounds. And finally, the construction of the desk costs no more than does that of the usual desk with two drawers and a cupboard. There are teachers of chemistry who feel that mechanical devices for making laboratory work more efficient are beneath their notice. But, after all, the laboratory is essentially a study, in which materials take the place of books, and manipulation and thinking take the place of reading and thinking. A book is arranged mechanically for convenient and rapid use, whether it is to be read straight through or employed for reference. Why should not similar attention be given to the mechanical arrangement of the laboratory? Of course, the publisher and printer arrange the book—not the author. But the architect does not know enough about chemical work to devise anything helpful—and we are lucky when he does not knock out part of our plans by persuading the authorities that they will put the building out of harmony with the other structures on the campus. Hence, the chemist must himself tackle the problem in detail. Then again, if the laboratory operations occupy long periods of time, the intervals between the points at which thought by the student is required, or the practice of certain manipulations is demanded, are so prolonged that the pupil forgets to think when the time comes, and bungles the manipulation because his mind has long since wandered to some other subject. Thought and physical activity are more effective when there is a more or less continuous demand for them, and so every abbreviation of the periods of waiting and of the interruptions, caused by looking for some article or going to a hood, increases the efficiency of the work as a form of study. It also, of course, permits more work to be done, and, therefore, more subjects for thought and more manipulations to be introduced, and so gives more mental training and greater technical skill.

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