In very olden days chemists did not forgather merely as chemists; they merged themselves in broader organizations such as the Royal Society. The “chemical revolution”, which had its real beginning with the work of Joseph Black and which culminated in the overthrow of the phlogiston theory by Lavoisier, aroused for the first time a popular interest in the special science of Chemistry. Until recently, world priority among the chemical societies that resulted therefrom was by general agreement conceded to the Chemical Society of Philadelphia, founded by James Woodhouse in 1792. The distinguished chemical historian Edgar F. Smith (I), late Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, may be quoted in this connection: