62 CHEMICAL DISCOVERY AND INVENTION 



cerned. It was decided, therefore, on reorganising the staff, to 

 continue to utilise the services of the Revenue Officers for purely 

 Revenue work, but to employ chemists recruited from the open 

 market for non-revenue work. 



The staff now (1915) consists of : The Government Chemist, 

 the Deputy-Government Chemist, 4 Superintending Analysts, 

 9 First-Class Analysts, 20 Second-Class Analysts, 35 Temporary 

 Chemical Assistants, 60 Revenue Assistants. 



The duties performed by the staff of the Government Labora- 

 tory are of a very varied character. They include the analysis 

 of samples in connection with the assessment of Revenue and 

 drawbacks ; of stores supplied to Government Departments on 

 tender and on contracts ; of dairy produce imported into this 

 country ; and of samples referred by Magistrates under the 

 Food and Drugs Act, and by the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries under the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act. The 

 laboratory staff also deals every year with a large number of 

 questions referred by Government Departments for advice, and 

 conducts investigations in connection with such references and 

 wfth the enquiries of Royal Commissions and Parliamentary and 

 Departmental Committees. 



The chemical work of the following departments and other 

 public bodies is now carried out wholly or in part in the Govern- 

 ment Laboratory : Board of Customs and Excise ; Admiralty ; 

 Board of Agriculture and Fisheries ; Department of Agriculture 

 and Technical Instruction for Ireland ; Colonial Office ; Crown 

 Agents for the Colonies ; Foreign Office ; Home Office ; India 

 Office ; Board of Inland Revenue ; Local Government Board ; 

 Post Office ; Public Record Office ; Stationery Office ; Board 

 of Trade ; Trinity House ; War Office ; Office of Works, London 

 and Dublin ; Geological Survey. 



The work of the Excise branch of the laboratory, which was 

 originally conducted at Somerset House, having outgrown the 

 accommodation provided for it there, was transferred in 1897 to 

 the present building in Clement's Inn Passage. The greater part 

 of the analytical work is now carried out in the laboratory in 

 Clement's Inn and in the branch laboratory at the Custom 

 House. There are also twenty- nine provincial stations in different 

 parts of the United Kingdom for testing work for Revenue 

 purposes. Up to the present time there have been separate 

 Customs and Excise stations in some of the principal ports, but 



