The new science building at Shanghai Baptist College is nearly completed and, in fact, several classes are already conducting their laboratory work there. The cost of the building including modern equipment is $100,000 Gold. It is of fireproof construction, with brick walls and reinforced concrete floors, its dimensions are 125 ft. by 55 ft., and it contains some 45 rooms. The first floor is equipped for classes and laboratory work in physics, the second floor for biological sciences and the third for chemistry. There is a large lecture theatre on the second floor with tiers of raised seats for observation of experimental work.
The most interesting part of the department to the general public is the industrial research laboratory which is a fairly new development. This laboratory exists for the purpose of investigating industrial problems and for the dissemination of scientific information useful to industrialists, inventors, etc. It serves another very distinct. purpose in that it stimulates the interest of the student in chemistry by presenting practical problems for him to solve. Among the problems under investigation by this department are the analysis of artesian well water with reference to its suitability for boiler or drinking purposes, the examination of limestone to discover the proper grades for the manufacture of cement, the testing of the calorific value of soft coals, the investigation, of methods of making phos-chorus for use in the match factories of China, the analysis of Chinese coins of several provinces, especially Kuangtung, for their silver content, and study of the best method of separating ai] and dirt from cotton waste. The work of analysing Chinese coins was undertaken at the request of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce of Shanghai and the research laboratory was able to render valuable assistance in this respect. The scope of such a work is wide and its possibilities far-reaching particularly so since Shanghai College is situated at the probable centre of the future i- dustrial development of Shanghai.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.