I December 15, 1923] 



NA TURE 



879 



a rotating glass disc and a steel -backed cork pad 

 which rests in contact with its surface. The cork is 

 linked to a loud-speaker movement, and a telephone 

 receiver presses on the back of the cork. The 

 frictional drag thus varies and works the device. 



Capt. Eckersley exhibited a French loud-speaker 

 which gave very satisfactory reproduction. He said 

 that the solution of the problem depended on the 

 loud-speaker at the receiving station. He stated 



that if properly magnified the signals transmitted 

 by the London Broadcasting Station would give 

 perfectly satisfactory reproduction of speech and 

 music. 



Although the meeting started at 5.30 and went on 

 to 9.45, with an hour interval for dinner, the interest 

 of the audience never seemed to flag. The speakers 

 were unanimous in agreeing that the perfect loud- 

 speaker had still to be invented. 



Congress of the French Society of Chemical Industry. 



" 'X'HE exchange of international thought is the 

 -*■ only possible salvation of the world," words 

 used by Thomas Hardy, form the text of two recent 

 articles by John Galsworthy in the Times. Some- 

 thing more than an exchange of thought inter- 

 nationally is required — close personal acquaintance 

 and direct exchange of opinion are the real needs. 

 It was with this idea in mind that several of us 

 attended the conference of the Societe de Chimie 

 Industrielle in Paris on October 21-26 — and the 

 game was more than worth the candle, if only as 

 giving the opportunity of appreciating French 

 politesse and their incomparable ability as social 

 entertainers. No more is to be said for them than 

 for ourselves as organisers of an effective gathering 

 of scientific workers : they are as unfortunately 

 subdivided in their interests as we are ; as little 

 prepared as we are to overcome the evils of the gross 

 specialisation and narrowness of outlook which to-day 

 retard the progress of science within its own ranks 

 and in public esteem. The conference met at the 

 Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers in fifteen 

 sections, and in each section the programme was 

 disjointed. 



The proceedings were opened by a reception on 

 the Sunday evening at the Hotel Majestic by the 

 president and his wife, M. and Mme. Paul Kestner, 

 a noted naroe in French chemical industry, which 

 carries us back to the first sulphuric-acid chambers 

 and the discovery of racemic acid, the foundation 

 upon which Pasteur built his colossal edifice. An 

 exquisite musical and terpsichorean entertainment 

 was provided, in which a most refined sense of 

 proportion and sobriety was displayed. 



The session was opened on the Monday morning 

 by the president, supported by the Minister of Com- 

 merce. An address was then given by M. Menozzi, 

 director of the Agricultural School at Milan. The 

 intention was to make agriculture the primary subject 

 of the conference. After this some of the sections 

 got to work. In the evening, foreign delegates 

 were entertained at dinner by the " Bienvenue Fran- 

 9aise " — a society which exists with the object of 

 promoting amicable relations between foreign visitors 

 to Paris and the French ; the society appears to owe 

 its success largely to Mme. Juvenel, a lady not only 

 full of energy but also gifted with irresistible charm 

 of manner. The dinner was followed by a most 

 perfect musical entertainment in miniature. 



On Tuesday there was more sectioning, and in 

 the afternoon a lecture by Prince Giorno Conti on 

 his boric-acid works. Dr. Herbert Levinstein was 

 the chief morning dish — the heroic and collected 

 reader of a long historical statement of the develop- 

 ment of the British dyestuff industry, in a French 

 which all the English-speaking members of the 

 audience — who were in the majority — could under- 

 stand without difficulty. His courage was much 

 admired. 



At the closing meeting, on the Wednesday, Sir 

 John Russell gave an address on the relations 



NO. 2824, VOL. 112] 



between the organisms in the soil and its fertility, 

 lecturing with his accustomed fluency ; this was much 

 appreciated. In the evening a great banquet was 

 given at the Hotel Palais D'Orsay. 



Thursday morning was spent in visiting the works 

 of M. Potin, who has large grocery stores in Paris, 

 where the fining of vin ordinaire is carried out on a 

 large scale. Then the party proceeded to the 

 chocolate works of M. Menier, on the banks of the 

 Marne, where they were entertained at lunch before 

 inspecting the factory. A more perfectly appointed 

 establishment cannot be conceived. On Friday 

 there was an excursion to Rheims. The cathedral 

 was first visited, under the guidance of his Eminence 

 Cardinal Lu9on, a man of wonderful vigour though 

 eighty- four years old. In the course of his address, he 

 most solemnly assured us that the cathedral was never 

 used as a post of observation. The manufacture of 

 champagne was then studied in the vaults of Messrs. 

 Pommery and Greno, after which the party was 

 entertained at lunch by the firm. In the afternoon 

 we were motored across the rolling chalk plain on 

 which Rheims is situate to the Hiedsieck vineyard 

 and the Moulin de Verzenay, whence we could see 

 the whole extent of the great battlefield. Much has 

 been done towards restoring the cathedral ; the roof 

 is rebuilt, and Rheims itself is half rebuilt. Cathedral 

 and town are a moving spectacle — stark witness of 

 the brutality and barbarism of the German invaders. 

 With such evidence before one, it is impossible not 

 to understand the bitterness of French feeling — to 

 excuse them almost any action in self-protection. 

 Rheims cathedral will long remain a certain proof 

 that the world can never allow German " civilisa- 

 tion " to be the dominant factor. The French are 

 but asking for honourable treatment — for at least 

 part of that which is due to them ; but they can 

 obtain no evidence of their enemy's willingness to 

 fulfil his obligations. M. Vidal, the assistant- 

 secretary for technical education, who presided antl 

 spoke with wonderful eloquence and convincing 

 sincerity at the Rheims luncheon, was most definite 

 in his assertion that France was entirely pacific in 

 intentions ; and the same assurance came from other 

 prominent speakers during the week. 



Whatever the value of the meeting in technical 

 respects, socially it was a very great success, and we 

 left it wiser men. French was spoken in many 

 styles, and not a few of our hosts showed them- 

 selves to be masters of English ; still, the need to 

 cultivate a knowledge of each other's language was 

 ever before us. To think internationally we must 

 understand one another better ; true understanding 

 is greatly helped by meetings such as that now 

 described, and it should be regarded as the duty 

 of scientific workers to avail themselves of these 

 opportunities. It is significant that we have a Gals- 

 worthy telling us that the future is with science, not 

 to destroy but to save. We need to be up and 

 doing. The public will not come to us, the Press 

 is not with us ; it is for us to go forward. The French 



