(This article forms the introductory portion of a "History of the Chemical Laboratory from 1856 to 1916" by Professor E. P. Campbell, '86, Professor of Chemistry. The book is published by the University and sells for forty-five cents. The book contains a complete bibliography of all publications by members of the Faculty of the Department of Chemistry, as well as a series of pictures showing the development of the laboratory. The book is indexed.)
AN HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF THE
DEVELOPMENT OF
CHEMISTRY, PHARMACY & CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Chemistry was the first of the experimental sciences to be taught by the laboratory method, and the development of the science at the University of Michigan has followed along lines similar to those which have been followed by many of the European as well as American Universities, although the lines of development at Michigan have been influenced by local conditions and the individuality of the men constituting the teaching staff.
Although Douglas Houghton was appointed Professor of Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology at the University of Michigan in 1839, chemistry was not taught at this University until 1844 when Silas H. Douglas was first appointed as assistant to the Professor of Chemistry. Instruction in chemistry dates from the year of Dr. Douglas' first appointment. At this time Liebig's Laboratory at Giessen, known as the first, had been established for sixteen years, and in 1842 Professor Silliman at Yale had begun to give laboratory instruction in chemistry. About this time also the private laboratory of Dr. Robert Hare in Philadelphia was a resort of special instruction in chemistry. When chemistry began to be taught in the University of Michigan the career of Berzelius was but just closing in Sweden. A. W. Hofmann was about going to London, by the efforts of the Prince Consort, to open a laboratory there. So little confidence had young Hofmann in his English venture that he only consented to go if the position of private docent could be held open to him in Germany should he wish to return. In 1851 Professor Josiah P. Cooke at Harvard began giving laboratory instruction, but Boylston Hall, long used in part as a chemical laboratory, was not completed until 1857.
When Henry P. Tappan came to this University to accept the Presidency in 1852 he brought with him a thorough appreciation of the value of the laboratory method of instruction in sciences. Laboratory courses in chemistry were organized in the University not long after Dr. Tappan's inauguration, and Dr. Douglas' persistent efforts to secure the construction of a chemical laboratory gained better foothold by the success of his little class, which was carried on in the Medical Building and by the support of the knew President. December 18, 1855, the report of President Tappan to the Board of Regents contained these words: "In respect to buildings the true principle is to build as little as possible. It will be necessary, however, to erect a chemical laboratory for the analytical course.
Such a building will cost from two to three thousand dollars." A Detroit architect was employed, and on the eighth of May, 1856, the Regents voted that ''Where as a convenient building for the experiments and instruction in analytical chemistry is required, therefore, an appropriation of $2,500 is hereby made for the erection of a building in conformity to the plans and specification
-of A. J. Jordan, architect," and Professor S. H. Douglas was made superintendent of construction. The several appropriations made for the building before it was occupied foot up to $4,509.85, and July 1, 1856, the finance committee estimated that "the building and apparatus for erection and finishing would cost $6,000." In October the President in his annual report set forth that the Laboratory "will unquestionably be unsurpassed by anything of the kind in our country."
Thus was completed the first chemical laboratory of a state university. In a one story building containing three rooms and equipped with twenty-six laboratory tables was carried on all the laboratory work in chemistry of the entire University. Academic as well as professional students received all of their laboratory training in chemistry in this one laboratory. This principle of having all the work in chemistry of whatever nature for the entire university centralized in one building was followed for a period of nearly fifty years, or until 1903, when the overcrowded condition of the Laboratory necessitated the removal of the laboratory work in physiological chemistry to the newly constructed Medical Building.
The growth of the work in chemistry due to an appreciation of the opportunity to carry on laboratory work as well as to the natural growth of the University is shown by the rapid succession of additions to the Laboratory, which this development necessitated. Enlargements to the building were made in the years 1861, 1866, 1868, 1874, 1880, 1888, and 1901. The number of laboratory tables increased from twenty-six, in the original building, to one hundred ninety in 1875, and to a total in 1901, after the last addition to the building, of 362, exclusive of a very limited number required for special work and those required for the use of the teaching staff. It was after the last addition to the old building that the continued growth of the work in other lines of chemistry necessitated the removal of the laboratory work in physiological chemistry in 1903.
Although the large amphitheatre in the Dental and that in the Medical Building were used for a number of years for lectures in chemistry and although the laboratory work in physiological chemistry was taken out of the old Chemical Laboratory, the continued growth of the work in other lines of chemistry soon showed that the construction of an entirely new building was an imperative necessity. In the fall of 1907 architects were employed to draw up plans and specifications for a building, which should meet the needs of the University for a number of years to come. Plans for a four story building, 270 feet in length by 150 feet in width, and having provision for about 950 laboratory tables in addition to a liberal provision for special rooms and members of the teaching staff, were approved the following spring by the Board of Regents and submitted to contractors for bids on the cost of construction. The estimates on the first set of plans were so high that it became necessary to reduce the size of the building and a new set of plans providing for a four story building 230 feet in length by 130 feet in width were approved, and contracts for its” construction were authorized on September 24, 1908. These contracts, which did not include installation of equipment or apparatus, amounted to$245,918.65. The total expenditure on the building with equipment has been to date about $305,000. The present Chemistry and Pharmacy Building, which retains the essential features of design and arrangement of the original plans, is provided with 634 laboratory tables, in addition to an ample number of well equipped rooms for special work and for the use of members of the teaching staff.
During the college year 1908-1909, the last year in which all the chemical work was carried on in the old Laboratory, there were enrolled in the class, work in chemistry, pharmacy and chemical engineering 2,599 students. Of these 20.8 per cent were registered in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; 37.1 per cent in the College of Engineering; 12.6 per cent in the Medical School; 16.6 per cent in the College of Pharmacy; 1.9 per cent in the Homeopathic Medical School; 10.0 per cent in the College of Dental Surgery; and 10 per cent in the Graduate School. During this same year there were enrolled in the laboratory courses 1,271 students, an average of 3.5 for each of the laboratory tables in the building. Of the students taking laboratory work 33.1 per cent were registered in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, 30.6 per cent in the College of Engineering, 6.5 per cent in the Medical School, 18.0 per cent in the College of Pharmacy, 1.3 per cent in the Homeopathic Medical School, 8.3 per cent in the College of Dental Surgery, and 2.2 per cent in the Graduate School.
Of the 3,497 students enrolled in class work in chemistry, pharmacy, and chemical engineering during the college year 1915-1916, 28.3 per cent were registered in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, 41.6 per cent in the College of Engineering, 0.3 per cent in the Medical School, 14.7 per cent in the College of Pharmacy, 0.2 per cent in the Homeopathic Medical School, 10.9 per cent in the College of Dental Surgery, and 4.0 per cent in the Graduate School. During this same year enrollment in laboratory-courses showed 2,253 or an average of 3.6 for each of the 634 laboratory tables in the building. Of the students taking laboratory work 35.2 per cent were registered in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, 36.9 percent in the College of Engineering, 0.4 per cent in the Medical School, 11.4 per cent in the College of Pharmacy, 0.2 per cent in the Homeopathic Medical School, 11.0 per cent in the College of Dental Surgery, and 4.9 per cent in the Graduate School.
The practical absence of students registered in the Medical Schools in the enrollments of 1915-1916 is due to the fact that between the time of” these enrollments the entrance requirements for the medical Schools were raised so as to include at least two years of college work before registration in them, during which time students are required to complete all the work in chemistry formerly taken after registration in the Medical Schools.
It is within the Chemical Laboratory that the College of Pharmacy was developed. Although courses in pharmacy were given in conjunction with courses in analytical chemistry as early as 1860, a regular curriculum was-
not drawn up until 1868. The degree of Pharmaceutical Chemist was first conferred in 1869, but the College was not organized as an independent department until 1876-1877. In addition to his position as Professor of Organic Chemistry, Dr. Albert B. Prescott was appointed Dean of the College of Pharmacy in 1876, which position he filled for over twenty-eight years. During Dr. Prescott's administration—and in no small part due to his efforts—the standards of pharmacy were very much raised, not only in Michigan but also throughout the entire country. Dr. Prescott's keen appreciation and encouragement of research in other branches of chemistry than pharmacy went far toward the establishment of a spirit of research throughout the Laboratory. The design of the department, as stated at the time of its organization, was to "qualify its graduates to become practical pharmacists, general analysts, and commercial manufacturers, and to give the training of systematic work in exact science." The first requirement for admission was that of "a good knowledge of the English language as determined by a written examination," but the full preparation of the ordinary high school was soon made requisite. Successful students at the expiration of two years obtained the degree. It was not long until graduate work and a Master's degree were announced, and in 1896-1897 the degree of Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy was added. The course for this degree was one of four years, its entrance requirements and first year's work being uniform with those for the academic degrees in science. In 1913 the curriculum leading to the degree of Pharmaceutical Chemist was lengthened so as to require three years for its completion, the degree of Graduate in Pharmacy being given to those who had satisfactorily completed the former two-year curriculum.
Before the establishment of the Michigan Agricultural College at Lansing some lectures on agricultural chemistry were given at the University; but as those responsible for the development of chemistry here felt that the field of agricultural chemistry properly belongs to the State Agricultural College, no efforts have been made to develop this subject at the University.
Among the first laboratory courses given in 1854, when the laboratory work was carried on in the Medical Building, was one in toxicological analysis. Work of this kind continued to be given, the material analyzed being such as would be of value to students of the Medical School. This work in physiological chemistry was largely developed in the Chemical Laboratory up to 1903, the instruction; however, being given mostly by members of the Medical Faculty so that this branch of chemistry has been more associated with the development of the Medical School than with that of the Chemical Laboratory. In 1888 the work in hygiene was transferred to the building constructed for the Laboratories of Hygiene and Physics, and fifteen years later, on the completion of the new Medical Building, the laboratory work in physiological chemistry was taken out of the Chemical Laboratory.
In the early years of the teaching of chemistry in the University the work was given entirely by lectures covering the principles of chemistry and its applications, and when laboratory work was introduced this consisted very largely of analytical methods and their applications. In 1846, Heinrich Will, at that time an assistant to Liebig, published an outline of chemical analysis in which he embodied the ideas on this subject as taught in Liebig’s Laboratory. A few years after its translation into English, Will's "Outline of Chemical Analysis" was adopted in this Laboratory. In 1864 Dr. Douglas compiled a set of analytical tables which went through three editions, the last being published in 1868. These tables were then used in conjunction with Fresenius' "Manual of Qualitative Analysis" for several years. In 1874 the first edition of Douglas' and Prescott's "Qualitative Chemical Analysis" appeared, and thereafter served as the text book for teaching this subject. This text was revised in 1876 and again in 1880. In 1892 the work was rewritten and enlarged, appearing under the joint authorship of Prescott and Johnson. The fifth edition of this book further revised and enlarged! appeared in 1901, and a sixth revised edition was published in 1908. This edition is still considered one of the best empirical manuals of qualitative analysis in the English language. Almost from the beginning of laboratory work in this University the value of a thorough course in qualitative analysis as a disciplinary training in the power of close observation and deduction has been appreciated by those in charge of the work, and this is perhaps the reason why more time has been devoted to this subject than is usually required. The disciplinary value of qualitative analysis was appreciated by no one more than by Professor Otis C. Johnson, who for more than thirty years was in charge of this subject.
In 1880 the Laboratory of General Chemistry was established. With this was developed, between 1895 and 1900, a laboratory of physical chemistry, with a force of instruction and equipment demanded by the rapid growth of this branch of science. General and physical chemistry were provided for in the Chemical Building, with a separate organization, a provision not unlike that of the "Second Chemical Laboratory" of some German Universities. In 1904, however, on the resignation of the director of the laboratories of general and physical chemistry these laboratories were united with the laboratories of organic, analytical and applied chemistry under a single administrative head; the College of Pharmacy, however, retaining an independent organization.
A distinct increase of activity in scientific research, particularly in the line of organic chemistry, was noticeable in the early nineties and the research spirit stimulated at this time has continued in its development down to the present. This stimulation of the spirit of research was due in large measure to the work of Dr. P. C. Freer, between the years of 1889 and 1904, in which year he resigned the Directorship of the Laboratory of General Chemistry.
With the rapid development of metallurgical industries, particularly that of iron and steel in the early seventies, there arose a demand for chemists who were trained in the analyses of metallurgical materials, and the University responded by developing courses in this work carrying on research along this line. In 1885 there was organized in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, a curriculum leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, which degree was conferred for the first time in 1886. In 1895 the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts decided to abolish all specified requirements for graduation and special degrees. As a result of this action the degree of Bachelor of Science in Chemistry was conferred for the last time in 1899. In 1898 a curriculum substantially that which had been required for the degree of B.S. in Chemistry, but with the addition of some work in engineering, was offered in the College of Engineering, the degree of B.S. in Chemical Engineering being conferred on completion of this work. This curriculum with some minor modifications is that still followed by students in the College of Engineering who wish to prepare themselves to enter industries in which the services of the trained chemist can be of value.
In 1914 a curriculum providing for a thorough training in chemistry, but involving the substitution of some cultural studies and electives in other sciences for much of the engineering work, was again offered in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; the degree of B.S. in Chemistry to be conferred for satisfactory completion of the work.
On account of the peculiarly intimate relation existing between chemistry and the work of all the Colleges and Schools comprising the University, except that of the Law School, the Director of the Chemical Laboratory has always been responsible directly to the Board of Regents for the teaching of chemistry for the entire University and for the needs of the Chemical Laboratory.
In 1870 Dr. Silas H. Douglas was appointed first Director of the Chemical Laboratory, his full title being "Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Chemical Laboratory," which latter position he held until 1877, at which time his title was "Professor of Metallurgy and Chemical Technology and Director of the Chemical Laboratory." Although in 1880 the Laboratory of General Chemistry was separately organized from these of Analytical, Organic and Applied Chemistry, neither of the responsible heads of the Laboratories had the title of Director until 1884 when the title of Dr. A. I. Prescott was made "Director of the Chemical Laboratory and Professor of Organic and Applied Chemistry and Pharmacy." The following year this was changed to "Director of the Chemical Laboratory. Professor of Organic and Applied Chemistry and Pharmacy, and Dean of the School of Pharmacy." At the end of his administration in 1905 Dr. Prescott's title was "Director of the Chemical Laboratory, Professor of Organic Chemistry and Dean of the School of Pharmacy. In 1891 Dr. P. C. Freer, previously Professor of General Chemistry was appointed Professor of General Chemistry and Director of the Laboratory of General Chemistry, which title he held until his resignation in 1904.
In 1905 the separation of the administrative control of the College of Pharmacy from that of the Department of Chemistry was indicated by the appointment of an independent dean for the College of Pharmacy; the title of the successor to Dr. Prescott was then made ''Director of the Chemical Laboratory and Professor of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Chemistry." In 1914, upon his resignation of the Professorship of Chemical Engineering, the title of the Director was changed to "Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Chemical Laboratory."
Since the opening of the original Chemical Laboratory in this University there have appeared 746 articles published by members of the teaching staff during the years when they were connected with the Chemical Laboratory. Of these, 401 are original contributions to the science of chemistry, while 345 are other publications dealing with pure chemistry, pharmacy or chemical engineering. Of the original contributions about three-fourths have appeared during the last twenty-five years.
The Michigan Alumnus
November 1916, Page 86
