60 CHEMICAL DISCOVERY AND INVENTION 



to research. The colossal pile of knowledge which has been 

 accumulated by the labours of generations of chemists, is still 

 as nothing to the incalculable mass of our ignorance. 



V. THE GOVERNMENT LABORATORY, LONDON 



The following account of the history and work of the Govern- 

 ment Laboratory is extracted from Reports of the Government 

 Chemist for 1912 and 1914. It contains much interesting in- 

 formation as to the nature of the enquiries which have to be 

 made in such an institution as to the quality of foodstuffs and 

 various beverages supplied to the public, the testing of alcoholic 

 liquids and tobacco for the purpose of levying duty, the investi- 

 gation of various questions which arise from time to time in 

 relation to public health, such as arsenic in beer and lead in the 

 glazes of pottery and china ware, and the supply of materials 

 for the public services. 



The figures given as to the number of samples analysed attest 

 the activity of the Government Chemist and the large staff of 

 skilled workers under him. 



A review of the work done in the laboratory also gives a fair 

 idea of the multifarious character of the business undertaken by 

 the Consulting and Analytical Chemist generally, and of the 

 officials known as " Public Analysts " throughout the country. 



The origin of the Government Laboratory dates back to 1843, 

 when a laboratory was established at Somerset House in con- 

 nection with the Inland Revenue Department, mainly for the 

 purpose of checking the adulteration of tobacco. The scope of 

 this laboratory was afterwards extended so as to include the 

 analysis of almost every excisable commodity. 



A laboratory was also established at the Custom House in 

 connection with the Customs service for the analysis of articles 

 liable to duty on importation. 



In 1894 the two Revenue Laboratories were placed under one 

 Principal, and from that time were known officially as the 

 Government Laboratory. Each branch of the laboratory, 

 however Excise and Customs remained, as formerly, subject 

 to the administrative control of the department with which it 

 was immediately connected, and this anomalous state of things 

 continued until the amalgamation of the Customs and Excise 

 Services in 1909. 



While the laboratory at Somerset House was established 



