THE RELATION OF CHEMISTRY TO THE ENRICHMENT OF LIFE JAMES COLE REID, BRYAN STREET HIGH SCHOOL, DALLAS, TEXAS

Winner of First Prim

What fun the Connecticut Yankee had in King Arthur's Court; what amazement he caused in those medieval minds; what magical things he showed them and in what a miraculous way he saved his own life! At least i t seemed miraculous to them and I have often wished that such an in- teresting adventure would happen in modern t i m e s b u t of course that was an idle wish. It seemed a foolish wish until this year when I hegan a course in High School Chemistry-then magical things hegan to happen to me; magical doors opened; the treasures of Treasure Island hegan to dwindle in comparison to my discoveries and to the innumerable other things that I have not yet actually discovered but of which I have re- ceived faint glimpses.

Before I "took" chemistry I had heard of it, of course. Some who had gone before me spoke of its horrors, advising me to try something else; others promised that I would like i t fine-"anyway, every man should know something of chemistry." None of my advisers gave me any idea of how wholly absorbing, how "terribly" interesting, the subject really is. Chemistry is not merely a subject in the High School curriculum to be studied in order to pass and have a clear record towards a diploma but it is something that is vitally related to our every day existence and en- riches every part of our lives.

When I discovered that chemistry was a live subject I began to see some of the many ways in which i t enters into our daily life. I can hardly touch an object now without trying to think in what way it has first been touched by the chemist. I now realize it would be almost impos- sible to live through a day without the assistance of chemistry.

When I wake in the morning the room is dark but a glance towards the clock reveals the time, for the numerals are illuminated with a radium preparation. The clock itself has been nickel-plated by an electro-chem- ical process. While I am preparing for my bath the water rushes from the faucet and I remember reading in the paper only a week or so ago

VOL. 2. NO. 1 R R U T ~ O N OF CHEMISTRY TO THE E ~ I ~ M E N T OF LIFE 39

that even though the city water had a strange taste it was now being chemically purified and was perfectly safe to drink. Here is the soap, as white as a sheet of paper and of the well-known brand that f l o a t s i t certainly is a chemical triumph and one that has made an untold fortune for the manufacturer. I try to realize what processes were necessary in the preparation of the linoleum on the floor.

As I put on my clothing I notice that parts are bleached white by chemical agents while other parts have been colored by dyes which are purely chemical products. My shoes have been tanned with chemicals and as I polish them up a bit I realize that even the blacking is a chemical product. The rubber heels have been prepared by chemically treating the juice of a tree. I comb my hair with a comb of "chemical ivory." I don't consider myself a "jelly-bean," but I sometimes use a hair tonic to hold down my hair and give i t a glossy effect and I realize that this liquid is a chemical preparation.

Going down stairs I get the morning paper which I carry to the break- fast table. On the front page is an account of the huge dirigible balloon, just completed by the government, which is being brought to Ft. Worth to he filled with helium. This is thirty miles from my home and is the only place in the world where this wonderful gas can he obtained in quan- tity. The newspaper has been prepared from wood pulp. The first time I heard that I laughed in derision and told my older brother he was "as crazy as he looked." However, that was a long time ago and so many things that have seemed impossible I have found to be true that now I will believe almost anything I am told. Our old negro cook says that the Bible tells her "great things will come to pass, so don't he surprised a t nothing."

When breakfast is served I observe that chemistry has played its part there. The eggs are eggs, of course, but they have been fried in grease made from cotton seed. The bread has been prepared from flour which has been chemically whitened and from baking powder which is purely a chemical product.

Breakfast over, my teeth are brushed with a chemically prepared paste. I take my books and hurry to school. Here is more food for thought. The writing ink is a chemical product. The class books also owe much to the chemist though the printer usually gets the credit. The metal type, printer's ink, cloth hack, hinders glue, all were made possible through a knowledge of chemistry.

Classes come and go until finally it is the hour for chemistry. The teacher has arranged to take us to a doctor's office where we may see an X-ray machine in operation. Most of us are eager to see how such a machine is operated and a few are pleased only because they will get out of having a recitation. We not only learn what a marvelous thing the X-ray i s h o w by means of a chemical screen we can see our own he@

beat-but the doctor takes time to explain many other things to us. First are the vaccines which furnish protection against various diseases. Other bottles we are told contain chemicals with which to fumigate after contagious diseases. Then there are the antiseptics for sterilizing wounds. On another shelf are the anti-toxins-the one for diptheria having saved so many lives. Surely the doctor is the worker of miracles today- but back of the doctor stands the chemist.

As i t is past the dismissal hour we do not have to return to school. Several of us go over to the photographer's to get our pictures for the "Annual." At our request he allows us to come into the dark room and watch him develop a picture, washing i t through different chemicals until finally on what was a blank surface appears the exact likeness of one of our class-mates. From there the "bunch" goes to a moving picture show. There we see first travel pictures of the Sphinx, Niagara Falls, our Pacific fleet and scenes from Japan and India, having circled the world in fifteen minutes. We next were shown a picture of President Wilson making his last public address on Armistice Day and the pictures of his funeral. A suggestion during my parents' chiidhood that one could have such events brought before him would have been considered an impossible, ridiculous fancy.

After dinner that evening my brother took me to a meeting of the Astronomical Society of which he is a member. There a university pro- fessor lectured and showed slides which demonstrated how the different elements are recognized by the kind of light they throw through a spec- troscope. On the way home my brother talked of the innumerable dis- coveries that have been made and are being made every day.

Chemistry not only plays a large part in supplying the necessities of life but helps enrich our lives through books, music--so many people now enjoy the reproductions of the phonograph, through great art exhibits the mawelous colors of which the chemist prepares, through the stained glass windows of our great cathedrals, through marvelous tapestries, silks, metal cloths, the dyes and threads of which have been chemically prepared, through photography that brings us faces of those in distant cities and enables us to keep a likeness of our dear ones who have died. How our lives have been enriched by the biologist, horticulturist and physicist who are close kin to the chemist and have given us things too numerous to mention. Medicine has made possible the prevention and cure of diseases and chemistry is the foundation of medicine.

This slight glimpse of chemistry* mere peep through the door into the wide vistas ahead-my course has given me. It has made me resolve to go on. It is not enough to know that chemistry plays a great part in so many processes. I must know just how that part is played.

It is not enough to fall down in dumb amazement as the medieval

knights did when the Connecticut Yankee struck a match and lighted his cigarette. I intend to learn how and why. It is not enough to listen to a lecturer tell that helium was found in the sun before it was found on our own earth. The adventures of the Connecticut Yankee are tame in comparison with my own adventures among the chemical miracles that are being performed every day to aid, beautify and enrich our lives.