SIR KOBERT HADFIELD, BART. 9 



noteworthy, but will prove to be of great service to those interested, 

 in our own Country, America, and elsewhere. 



Present and Future Work. — As regards the particular direc- 

 tion in which Metallurgists should look in the future for further help 

 from the Microscope, may I suggest that one of the objects we 

 ought to have in view should be to obtain increased knowledge 

 from examinations at higher magnifications, that is to say, 5,000, 

 8,000 and still higher. This may seem ambitious, and I may be 

 wrong as to the value of the knowledge to be so obtained, but 

 I hope not. If there is anything in my behef, a wide vista opens 

 out for further Research Work. 



I am contributing along with Mr. T. G. Elliot, F.I.C., a special 

 paper on this important aspect of the subject, entitled " Photomicro- 

 graphs of Steel and Iron at High Magnification," which I hope will 

 be of interest to our members. 



In the past both in England and in America there has been far 

 too much dependence on Germany and Austria for the supply of 

 the best type of Microscope, including constructional details, 

 and high-quality Objectives and Eye-pieces. It is most desirable 

 that in future this situation should be avoided. Forewarned is fore- 

 armed, and every possible means must be taken in a fair and open 

 manner to remedy this situation by private enterprise and research, 

 and if necessary by Research Associations aided by the grants 

 allocated by Parliament for such purposes. 



To show that it is of the highest importance that this Country 

 should be independent of foreign aid in its supplies of this nature, 

 it may be added that had it not been for the enterprise of just 

 one British Firm with regard to the supply of Optical Glasses at 

 the outbreak of War, we might have been absolutely stranded in 

 the supply of the necessary products, both for apparatus and glass- 

 ware, so essential in sighting and other instruments of observation 

 used in Modern Warfare. 



By these remarks I do not wish to disparage the work of those who 

 until recently have been Enemies, and who in the past wisely equipped 

 themselves by means of Apparatus and Appliances of all kinds as well 

 as by encouraging scientific development. Good work proceeding from 

 any nationality stands fast for all time. Let us, however, now learn 

 the lesson and benefit from the experience gained by us during the 

 War at such bitter cost. It has to be admitted that our Instru- 

 ment Makers w^ere then necessarily largely employed in other 

 directions and were unable to cater for the requirements of the 

 Microscopist. They could not therefore devote the time so essential 

 for improving not only the mechanical but the optical details of the 

 Microscope, including its Objectives and Eye-pieces. Notwithstanding 

 the many advances made during the War by the Chemist, the Elec- 

 trician, the Metallurgist, the Engineer, and others, no special claim 

 can be made that much progress has been made by the Microscopist. 

 As far as can be gathered, the methods and appliances now used 

 <do not show great advance on those prior to the War. In saying 



