CRAFTS, JAMES MASON (1839—). An Ameri can chemist. He was born in Boston, and re ceived his education at the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard. In 1859 he went to Ge• many, and studied at the Academy of Mines of Freiberg and at the University of Heidelberg. At the latter institution he acted for some time as private assistant to Robert Bunsen. In 1861 he went to Paris, and there, in Wiirtz's labora tory, lie first met Charles Friedel, in conjunction with whom he later carried out some of his most brilliant researches. In 1865 he returned to the United States, and, after devoting some time to mining, accepted the position of head professor of chemistry and dean of the faculty at Cornell University, where he remained until 1870. Dur ing the following four years he acted as profes sor of chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Teehnology, hut in 1874 took leave of absence, joined Friedel in Paris, and devoted himself ex elusively to scientific research. His investiga tions were mainly in the field of organic chemis try, but his name is connected also with many interesting achievements in physics and in phys ical chemistry. He invented a new hydrogen thermometer; measured the densities of iodine at very high temperatures; demonstrated an in teresting regularity in the variation of the boil ing-points of chemically allied substances with the external pressure: prepared a number of new compounds of the element silicon. which are interesting because of their chemical resem blance to the corresponding compounds of car bon; and also prepared new compounds of arsenic. But his most important achievement was the discovery, jointly with Friedel. of one of the
most fruitful synthetic methods in organic chem istry. According to an estimate published sev eral years ago by Emil Fischer. the story of the results obtained by the method, or 'reaction,' of Friedel and Crafts is one of the most wonderful in the whole range of the science of chemistry. Hundreds of new carbon compounds have been brought into existence by this method, which is based on the action of the chloride of aluminum and a host of compounds that had already been prepared by other methods of much greater complexity were produced by this method with out any difficulty whatever.
In recognition of Crafts's services to science, the French Government made him a chevalier of the Legion of Donor (1835), and the British Association for the Advancement of Science made him one of its corresponding members. In 1891 he again returned to this country, and from 1892 to 1897 acted as professor of organic chem istry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technol ogy. In 1898 he became the president of the institute, and in the same year Harvard Uni versity conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. In 1900, however, he resigned the presidency of the Institute of Technology, and again turned to the investigation of prob lems in organic and physical chemistry. The numerous results of Dr. Crafts's researches were published in various scientific periodicals, main ly foreign. He also wrote a text-hook of Quali tative (1869, and several later edi tions).