274 



NATURE 



[December 29, 1910 



Now it is absolutely certain that under such condi- 

 tions lead-poisoning in pottery manufacture will con- 

 tinue to occur. The leading manufacturers, through 

 their counsel, in the course of the arbitration proceed- 

 ings before Lord James of Hereford in 1903, promised 

 the extirpation of lead-poisoning under the rules then 

 proposed, but that promise has not been kept. On 

 the contrary things are as bad as ever. That more 

 might be done under the rules as they stand would 

 seem to follow from the statistical information 

 furnished by the committee. They examined into the 

 record of the 550 potteries which have been placed 

 under these special rules during the period 1904 to 

 1908, and they find that during these five years : — 



5 potteries have been responsible for 75 cases 

 17 .. .. .. 119 -, 



151 .. .' .. 323 .. 



In all 173 



517 



leaving 377 potteries out of the 550 in which no cases 

 have occurred at all. In other words, 32 per cent, 

 have an average of three cases every five years, while 

 68 per cent, are entirely free from the disease. In the 

 173 potteries in which the disease has occurred there 

 are 4,800 workers as against some 2,000 in the other 

 potteries. The conclusion would seem to be obvious. 

 It is in certain relatively large works that the cases 

 of lead-poisoning are most frequent, and this can only 

 be due to bad management, imperfect supervision, or 

 inadequate protective appliances. 



During the period 190 1-9, 865 cases of lead-poison- 

 ing in pottery workers were reported. Of these 788 

 arose from glaze processes, whereas only 51 were due 

 to decorative processes. Lead glaze is therefore the 

 main cause of the evil. 



It cannot be said that the conclusions of the com- 

 mittee now reporting have tended in the slightest 

 degree towards a solution of this grave evil. All the 

 conditions to which lead-poisoning in ceramic manu- 

 facture is due are perfectly well known, but the com- 

 mittee was apparently unable or unwilling to make 

 any definite suggestions as to remedies. The com- 

 mittee pleads that it was in a difficult position. The 

 members of the committee representing the manufac- 

 turers were entirely opposed to any restriction in the 

 use of raw lead; the representatives of the workers, 

 seeing the comparatively harmless character of low- 

 solubility glazes, would be glad to see them generally 

 introduced, " but have to consider the grave risk of loss 

 of employment which any dislocation of the industry 

 due to their introduction might entail." Might, not 

 would. Taking the question of glazes as a whole, 

 two facts, says the committee, are beyond dispute : — 



" In the first place, the danger to the workers of 

 handling raw lead is very real ; in the second, it is evident 

 that however unsuitable leadless and low solubility glazes 

 may be for certain classes of ware, there is a consider- 

 able quantity made for which they are quite satisfactory." 



But the members of the committee are unable to 

 make up their minds what classes of ware are repre- 

 sented by this "considerable quantity," although the 

 facts were before them. They think, however, 



" that every inducement and encouragement should be 

 given to the manufacturers both to persevere with their 

 experiments in search of satisfactory and lovv-solubility 

 glazes, and to introduce them whenever possible." 



Also efforts should be made to arouse the interest of 

 purchasers in the question. The members think " it 

 was established that pottery made with leadless and 

 low-solubility glazes can be obtained of excellent 

 quality," and they "consider that the desirability of 

 insisting on being supplied with such ware should be 

 NO. 2148, VOL. 85] 



brought home to the pubHc at large." Lastly, they 

 are of opinion that — 



" the observance of the special rules has been far from 

 satisfactory. In the past many of the manufacturers do 

 not appear to have regarded it as incumbent on them 

 personally to insist upon it ; they have left the initiative 

 to the factory inspectors, and in future they should be 

 made to realise that they are themselves responsible." 



The committee obviously had not the courage of its 

 convictions. It is difficult to imagine any more feeble 

 or inconclusive "conclusions." No constructive action 

 seemed to be possible to it ; its only policv was 

 that of laissez-faire. The net upshot of the inquiry is 

 that the whole position is not one whit ameliorated; 

 the operatives apparently are still to remain the vic- 

 tims of lax surveillance or of indifference, and of 

 official non-interference. 



The matter, however, cannot be allowed to rest in 

 this position. If the manufacturers' claim for un- 

 restricted liberty to use such dangerous materials as 

 they please is to be allowed, they must be made to 

 feel the responsibility they therby incur by far more 

 stringent measures than have hitherto been brought to 

 bear upon them. 



THE NEW ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF SPORT.' 



■\17"HETHER by design or by accident, the new 

 * * edition of this work has appeared at an oppor» 

 tune time, since the success of the Vienna Exhibition 

 has attracted an even more than ordinary amount of 

 attention to sports and pastimes of all sorts during 

 the year now rapidly coming to a close. Those who 



Photo.'\ >. Berridgi. 



Himalayan Tahr. From "The Encyclopaedia of Sport." 



possess the first volume of the original edition will 

 find, on comparing it with its successor, a great 

 change in regard to much of the subject-matter, 

 aviation having been practically created since the date 

 of the appearance of the first edition, while during 

 the same period motors have come to the front as a; 

 means of communication, and everything in connection 



1 "The Encyclopaedia of Sport and Games." Edited by the Ear! 

 Suffolk and Berkshire. New and enlarged edition. Vol. i., A to Crickc 

 Pp. viii+496. (London : W. Heinemann, 1910.) Price, laf. (ui. net 

 home ; I2J. dd. net abroad. 



