308 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



lastly, by following lint of known properties through the 

 spinning-processes, and watching its modification thereby, some 

 suggestions might arise whereby improvements in spinning- 

 might result, even in the present advanced state of the industry. 



All work done away from the cotton-fields must nevertheless 

 rest under a certain suspicion, and unless its limitations are 

 acknowledged and realised, and a definite collaboration intro- 

 duced as well, such work may well do more harm than good. 



This brings us to the last aspect of the situation, namely, the 

 need for collaboration. 



We have spoken already of the ways in which the grower 

 and spinner might colloborate, provided that their intermediary 

 scientist were to provide them with a language in which they 

 could exchange ideas. The extent of that colloboration would 

 be defined by purely business considerations, and it may be 

 objected that such considerations would render the suggested 

 relationships with the scientist impracticable. If it were a 

 question of some technical detail on which the scientist were 

 employed, capable of protection by patent law, and of exploi- 

 tation by financiers, such objection would certainly be valid, and 

 the position of the scientist would be that of an employee 

 engaged as a speculative investment. We decided, however, 

 in the early part of this article, that the need which is coming 

 upon the cotton trade is rather one for wide generalisation, 

 clear understanding, and a view of the whole trade from the 

 native grower to the mill-hand as a single organisation. That 

 this is not a matter of mere opinion may be seen by the existence 

 and work of the International Federation of Master Cotton 

 Spinners, whose object is to provide for the whole trade a 

 means of information and understanding which can only be 

 effective when it embraces, like this Federation, nearly every 

 spinner of cotton in the Old World. Our view of the function 

 of natural science in the cotton trade is akin to this ; there is 

 room for fundamental work which will be public and accessible, 

 not private and secret, which will be of immediate benefit to 

 nobody, but of general utility to all ; overlap and confusion 

 could be reduced, and while the chances of any individual in 

 relation to his fellows would not be affected, much time, trouble, 

 and money would be economised. The work of the existing 

 bodies dealing specifically with cotton has been confined to the 

 economic and financial aspects of the trade, or else to the 



