458 



NATURE. 



[December 8, 192 1 



and commercial information that would assist 

 development of this important national resource." 



The report contains a summary of the informa- 

 tion which, since the issue of the earlier reports, 

 has come to hand respecting India, Ceylon, British 

 East Africa, British Guiana, New South Wales, 

 and Victoria. The information, though serviceable, 

 is of the scantiest character, and merely touches 

 the fringe of the subject. 



The Committee then alludes to the proposed 

 Imperial Water-Power Board and makes sugges- 

 tions as to the principal objects for which such a 

 board would be formed. The following con- 

 clusions are arrived at: — 



A. — That, in view of the immense water-power 

 resources known to exist in the Empire and of 

 their commercial value, it Is of urgent importance 

 that adequate measures should be taken to pro- 

 mote the development of these resources. 



B. — That, in many parts of the Empire, it is 

 most desirable that records of river-flow should 

 be instituted and maintained if they are to con- 

 stitute a safe commercial basis for power develop- 

 ment. 



C. — That the creation of an Imperial Water- 

 Power Board, with extensive powers to carry out 

 a comprehensive policy for stimulating, co-ordin- 

 ating, and, where necessary, assisting such 

 development throughout the Empire, is needed. 



D. — That a great impetus would be given to, 

 the investigation of water resources in the 

 Dominions and Dependencies, by the creation of 

 such a central board fo assist and to record such 

 information for the assistance of commercial 

 investors. 



E. — That the greater uniformity of methods of 

 investigation and recording to be secured by such 

 a board would much increase the commercial value 

 of the information. 



F. — That an Imperial Water-Powder Conference 

 be convened in London, if feasible, at an earlv 

 date. The Committee understands that a proposal 

 has been made to hold such a conference, and 

 that this has been cordially received bv the repre- 

 sentatives of those of the outlving portions of the 

 Empire which are most directly concerned. Such 

 a conference would offer the opportunitv of dis- 

 cussing matters of policy, administration, uni- 

 forrnity of investigation and record, in connectio-^ 

 with water-power development, and could not fail 

 to have a useful effect on such development. 



The proposal for an Imperial Water-Power 

 Conference to be held at an early date is particu- 

 larly welcome, and we trust that it will be 

 adequately supported. The time is certainly ripe 

 for a gathering of this kind, and it is to be hoped 

 that it will serve to kindle practical interest in a 

 subject of the most vital importance to the indus- 

 trial development of the Empire. 

 NO. 2719, VOL. 108] 



We cannot conclude without expressing the 

 great indebtedness of the scientific community to 

 the Committee for its painstaking researches, 

 and especially to its energetic secretary, Prof. 

 A. H. Gibson, who has admirably collated and 

 summarised the material furnished to the Com- 

 mittee and, by his untiring efforts, has rendered 

 possible the presentation of the three successive 

 reports. 



The Denomination " Chemist." 



BRITISH chemists are placed in the anomalous 

 position, not occupied by their brethren in 

 other civilised countries, of, sharing their denom- 

 ination with practitioners of a different craft — 

 namely, pharmacy. It is, in fact, only by courtesy 

 of the Pharmaceutical Society that they call them- 

 selves chemists, because, unless they hold a quali- 

 fication from that body, they are not legally en- 

 titled to do so. ' The Pharmacy- Acts Amendment 

 Bill, read for the first time in the House of Com- 

 mons on, November 3, aims at correcting this error 

 in occupational nomenclature by conferring qn the 

 Institute of Chemistry alone the authority to 

 designate any person a "chemist," simultaneously 

 giving to the Society of Pharmacy and Drug Store 

 Proprietors of Great Britain power to place 

 persons on the pharmaceutical register. 



It is greatly to be hoped that this, or some 

 similar measure, may find its way on to the Statute 

 Book. The disability it seeks to remove has long 

 been the source of inconvenience and vexation to 

 chemists, but prior to the war it might have been 

 claimed that the matter was a domestic one and 

 did not affect the public welfare. Now, however, 

 it is more than ever important that the public 

 should be assisted in realising the vital necessity 

 of chemistry, in common with other branches of 

 science, for national well-being and progress. Part 

 of the ignorance which prevails in the public mind 

 concerning chemistry may be traced to the nominal 

 association of the subject with pharmacy, an asso- 

 ciation from which pharmacists themselves do not 

 derive any benefit, and which has led them to 

 adopt a variety of sub-titles, including "cash 

 chemist," "stores chemist," and "Continental 

 chemist.". Indeed, it may be argued that pharma- 

 cists also have suffered from this confusion, be- 

 cause the daily Press, in despair of explaining the 

 position to the public, commonly refers to chemists 

 as "scientific chemists," thereby implying that 

 pharmacists are not scientific, and thus casting an 



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