-.” .º it ſº fº º :* * § C º sº º º 㺠º tºº * § º ſº ºf * * : * : * * * º ** º - * . §§ ...ºrºs º: º-ºººº...", ºv.º.º. §º * * . . . º ºs. *: gº º *(ºr * : * * * tº , ºr " ..º.º. 23-3 Sº . . . . |||| º #ºuTTTTTTTTTTT H| |||}} **::: * IN5uuMM-AMOENA *> # # H H == É º E （ºrº : : tj º | º tºº. § º, ; -** § 'º Wºº Mºšči ''. º º º º s "The Colorado Scientific Society" A Toast Delivered at the Annual Dinner of the Society, January Twelfth, Ninteen hundred and seven o <& By PHILIP ARGALL The University Club Denver A TOAST Delivered at the Annual Dinner of the Society January 12, 1907 The toast to which I am asked to respond this evening touches a subject in which we are all so vitally interested that I only regret the response is not in the hands of some One cap- able of doing it justice. e The Colorado Scientific Society was organized in Decem- ber, 1882, by a few earnest science workers and seekers after truth, most of whom have since become leaders in their chosen field of work, and in the particular science they have made their own, for : - “One science only will one genius fit, So vast is art, so narrow human wit.” From the twelve charter members of the society I recall such names as Samuel Franklin Emmons, now head of the economic section of the U. S. Geological Survey, whose great work on the geology of Leadville has commanded the admira- tion of nearly every one who, since its publication, attempted to develop that mining district, or explore its well-nigh bound- less mineral wealth. Ex-Governor J. B. Grant, who helped nurse one of the earliest silver-lead smelters in Colorado through its infantile troubles, saw it through its adolescense in Leadville reach its majority in Denver, and a few years since in affiliation with some other early Colorado silver-lead smelters, expand into that giant corporation that today practically controls the sil- ver-lead production of this continent, and whose influence is felt across the seas. I refer, of course, to the American Smelting & Refining Company, of which ex-Governor Grant is now an executive officer. - 3 * , r**, &T., & Y. A TOAST. The late N. P. Hill, who erected the first copper smelter in this state, so far as my information goes, establishing at Black Hawk a successful method for treating the gold-copper Ores of Gilpin county. Closely associated with Mr. Hill, almost from the first, was Dr. Richard Pearce, who last year honored us by presid- ing at the annual dinner. Mr. Pearce introduced the Ziervo- gel process for extracting the silver from copper matte, promptly impressed his personality on the metallurgy of the gold-silver-copper ores of the Rocky Mountain regions, and after a brilliant career retired to enjoy his young old age by, so far as I can determine, dividing his time equally between the country of his adoption and the land of his birth; but he has not ceased his scientific labor; he is yet, as he has always been, an active worker and frequent contributor to mining and geological publications. Time would fail me to tell of Anton Eilers, of Whitman Cross and Hilebrand of the Geological Survey, of Low and other charter members of our society, all of whom have been men of action, successful in scientific achievement, men who have written their names high on the banner of fame. In that little group of charter members who, twenty-two years ago, incorporated the Colorado Scientific Society, there were five metallurgists, three geologists, three chemists and assay- ers, and One sky pilot, doubtless for poise and dignity or, per- haps, to direct scientific research to that mysterious land across the Styx whose shores were then as now, untracked by the feet of returning explorers, scientific or otherwise. Since the charter days the society has had many ups and downs, many periods of depression, without, so far as I can see, corresponding periods of prosperity; yet, on looking back Over the Vista of years, one can see that on the whole steady progress has been achieved, and today we have an enrollment Of Some 210 members, representing very nearly the full circle Of the Sciences, and the Society is as progressive and prosper- Ous, as Valuable to its members, and as useful to this city and State, as at any period of its history, ARGALL] A TOAST. With societies, as with individuals, one can truthfully say, “By their fruits ye shall know them,” and measured by this standard the Colorado Scientific Society can make a goodly showing. Its publications, while not as voluminous as per- haps they should be, contain papers of a very high order of merit. This is to be expected. The members are all busy men with little time at their disposal for the elaboration of highly technical papers, but being fully conversant with the subjects On which they write, they can and do give condensed, crisp and timely papers on many subjects of the greatest possible benefit to persons interested in the particular branches of science treated. The discussion of the papers at the monthly meetings of the society, however, usually brings out additional information; in fact, the discussions are sometimes more im- portant than the original papers; because the opinions of Sev- eral members approaching the subject matter from various view-points throw many full and some cross-lights on the points discussed, while the interchange of views from many keen, analytical minds cannot help being highly beneficial and instructive. It is not for me to say how much the members of the so- ciety—from the charter members down—have benefited by the publications, by the mutual exchange of ideas and experi- ences and by the discussions, but I aver we have all received great benefit therefrom, and by carrying the new ideas and new experiences into our work—for we are all men of action —the state at large has been benefited, indirectly, of course, but none the less effectively, through the influence of the Colo- rado Scientific Society. - The objects of the society, as stated in the constitution, are “The promotion of scientific observation, record and inter- course, to be attained by periodical meetings, the reading of pa- pers, the discussion of scientific subjects, the collection and preservation of scientific literature and objects of scientific in- terest, especially investigation into matters of public and sci- entific interest.” A TOAST. Our Organization is therefore comprehensive, the founda- tions have been laid broad and deep, the mark has been set high by our charter members and earlier workers in the so- ciety, and it remains for us to build up and complete the struc- ture on the broad lines laid down by its founders. How, it may be asked, can we do this? As retiring president I would Say that the matter has had my earnest attention during the past year, and it may be permissable to briefly outline my con- clusions at this time. - First: An effort should be made to procure more exten- Sive publications of the society’s proceedings. The out-of- town members receive no benefits from the discussions of pa- pers, So the first suggestion I make is, to publish the discus- Sions on all papers, and publish them promptly. It is true efforts have been made in the past looking to- wards this end, efforts that for various causes were not suc- cessful, nevertheless I strongly advise the Executive Commit- tee to make one more united effort for the prompt publication of the discussions. Second : An effort should be made to procure a greater number and variety of papers, and members having the in- terests of the society at heart, should at least promise One pa- per per annum. It is conceded that members actively en- gaged in metallurgical engineering, mining or other pursuits in applied science, have little time to prepare papers, but that very fact enhances the value of such papers, which invariably give us the latest thoughts and experiences on the subjects treated. My final suggestion is in the nature of closer relations with the smaller scientific societies of this city, looking to an amalgamation or consolidation of all of them under the leader- ship of our society. Our new charter and constitution are sufficiently broad to enable us to become an Academy of Sciences, each Section, if need be, with its own president and organization ; but bet- ter, I believe, one president of the Academy, with a chairman and Secretary for each section. Meetings to discuss mining, ARGALL] A TOAST. chemistry, geology, Zoology, or any other Science, could then be held in the society’s rooms, drawing principally to these meetings members deeply interested in the subject matter and prepared to intelligently discuss it. The consolidation of the various scientific societies of this city and State is a Subject Professor George Cannon has made peculiarly his own, and I can only add that, the more I have Studied the matter the more plausible it appears to me and, furthermore, the benefit of consolidation must inevitably re- dound to the upbuilding and to the increased general useful- ness of every one of the affiliated societies. What, it may be asked, has the Colorado Scientific So- ciety to offer as a nucleus of such an Academy 2 A complete Organization, I would answer, a library of about 2,000 volumes of scientific literature, together with the publications of some 200 scientific societies in various parts of the world, with whom we exchange proceedings, and a fair supply of technical periodicals and papers. The society has also a splendid mineralogical and lithological collection in its rooms at the Chamber of Commerce, including some rare and valuable mineral specimens and sections and casts of some of the well known meteorites. We have, I regret to say, no permanent home to offer. Our present rooms are kindly loaned by the Chamber of Com- merce of this city, during the pleasure of its executive officers. One of the first things the amalgamated societies would have to consider is a permanent home for the joint archives, mu- seum and library. This, I believe, would not be a serious problem if the usefulness and influence of the Society were brought to the attention of the Colorado corporations and wealthy individuals who have benefited largely by the labors, researches and publications of the Fellows, Members and AS- sociates of the Colorado Scientific Society. * UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 4099 3 90 15 O7598 º | ; § ; :; i :i. º º : | º - *g § º, . ...? º, ſº §º * ...ºts º fº.º.º.º. º º Vº ºf . s § º º: ſº º ºr ºf * : * . . ; * . **, ºf tº º, . W. º º g * * *... º.º. 2 *, * ºrk º sº º