rKi-:sii>i:.\ ri \i. addki-.ss — si-X'Tion h. S^ 



IX. liinoiis 



Medicinal rroparations (Spirituous) >^-.33' 

 .Medicinal rrcj)arations (non-Spiritu- 

 ous ) 101,609 



Ale, Beer and Sioui 40,742 



Aerated Waters 14.066 



Matches 3.786 



Tartar c Accl 5-^>39 



Cream of Tartar '"^-059 



Bakino- Powder 4^),76i 



It will be obvious to an}- chemist, that this list is by means 

 as exhaustive as could be made, and that many common sub- 

 stances have been omitted. As an example of the latter, per- 

 haps the absence of all sodium compounds, more j)articularly 

 cyanide, every molecule of which is imported — ^in 191 3 to the 

 extent of £395,639— may form a subject for criticism. But it 

 is a well-known fact that within the borders of the Union no 

 large economic supph- of the raw material, common salt, of 

 sufficient purity has hitherto been discovered. In British East 

 Africa, however, there is a large deposit, Lake Magadi, of pure 

 soda which constitutes, as far as is at present known, one of the 

 most remarkable natural phenomena in existence. On the 

 other hand, it may be objected that many of the materials (|uoted 

 are at present being manufactured here, in which case South 

 Africa is unable to meet even her own requirements. In addi- 

 tion to this, however, the chemist does not hesitate to assert and 

 maintdn, as he can prove, that he art'cles manufactured in ths 

 country do not, as a general rule, attain the same level of per- 

 fection as those to wliich importation has accustomed him, the 

 chief, and generally speaking, the sole reason being an utter 

 lack of chemical control. " Bricks are made from clay, and 

 clay is clay," is the article of faith upon which a manufacture 

 is founded ; the geographical survey of the l)ed furnishes a basis 

 for a usual estimation of ]:)rofits, the mixing, moulding, mining 

 and transport machines are provided by the engineer salesman, 

 untrained and uneducated labourers are drilled into daily routine 

 operations and the work Ijegins. with the only result possible, 

 the usual muddle through somehow, or trust to luck kind. A 

 few analyses of the virgin clay may have been done at first, 

 but physical and chemical control of every phase of the opera- 

 tion, from the clay pit to the sales product, is either unknown 

 and unvalued or ignored and despised. 



A successful industry must be founded upon and controlled 

 by true scientific knowledge, and the transformations of matter 

 form the province of the chemist, whether it be the manufacture 

 of the food on which we live, the bricks, lime, and cement, with 

 which we build our homes, the medicines to cure our infirmities. 

 the paper and ink to disseminate and ])reserve our ideas, or the 

 explosives we use as weapons of destruction. 



