February 24, 192 1] 



NATURE 



839 



physicians in London and Paris, and it is stated that 

 cases treated in 1913 are still alive and well. The 

 nature and mode of preparation of the remedy do not 

 appear to be disclosed, but according to a communica- 

 tion made by Prof. D'Arsonval to the Paris Academy 

 of Sciences, M. Spahlinger divides tuberculosis cases 

 into two classes for purposes of treatment, (i) acute 

 cases treated by means of " cppiplex antitoxic and bac- 

 teriolytic serums " and (2) chronic cases treated by 

 "vaccination with a series of antigens and ferments," 

 the former being derived from the bacillary substance 

 of the tubercle bacillus. Patients are finally treated 

 with a series of injections of the different antigens 

 given separately. The preliminary trials have ap- 

 parently been so successful that a tuberculosis 

 specialist is being sent by the Ministry of Health to 

 Geneva to investigate at first hand the Spahlinger 

 cure. 



Considerable concern has been expressed at the 

 announcement that the Treasury contemplates the 

 withdrawal of grants hitherto given to the Industrial 

 Fatigue Research Board, and at the recent conference 

 on this subject at Olympia a resolution was carried 

 urging the Government to revoke this decision. It 

 appears that the withdrawal of the grant is regarded 

 as a measure of economy, but anyone conversant with 

 industrial matters is aware of the great waste occa- 

 sioned by unnecessary fatigue, both in slowing down 

 the speed of production and in leading to accidents 

 and ill-health. Rightly regarded, therefore, researches 

 having for their object the elimination of such fatigue 

 are essentially "economical." The work of the Board 

 has hitherto been conducted on a modest scale, and 

 its expenditure has been small in comparison with the 

 importance of its field of operations. Other countries, 

 ■we believe, have followed our lead in instituting 

 such inquiries, and their discontinuance would be 

 most regrettable. It is also to be feared that the step 

 proposed in regard to the Industrial Fatigue Research 

 Board will constitute a regrettable precedent by dis- 

 couraging investigators from taking up work of this 

 nature, and that it may be followed by the restriction 

 or withdrawal of facilities for research in other direc- 

 tions. We sincerely hope that the efforts being made 

 to induce the Treasury to revoke the decision will 

 be successful. 



In accordance with the provisions of the Dyestuffs 

 (Import Regulation) Act, 1920, the President of the 

 Board of Trade has appointed the following Com- 

 mittee to advise the Board of Trade with respect to 

 the granting of licences under the Act : — Mr. V. Clay 

 (joint managing director, Robert Clay, Ltd.), Mr. 

 G. W. Currie, Mr. G. Douglas (managing director, 

 Bradford Dyers' Association, Ltd.), Mr. E. V. Evans 

 (treasurer of the Society of Chemical Industry), Dr. 

 M. O. Forster (director of the Salter Institute of 

 Industrial Chemistry), Mr. C. C. Railton (director. 

 Calico Printers' Association, Ltd.), Mr. H. B. 

 Shackloton (Messrs. Taylor, Shackleton and Co., 

 Shipley), Mr. T. Taylor (Cornbrook Chemical Co., 

 Stockport), Mr. S. A. H. Whetmore (British Dye- 

 stuffs Corporation, Ltd.), and Mr. W. J. U. Woolcock 

 (general manager, .Association of British Chemical 

 NO. 2678, VOL. 106] 



Manufacturers). Pending the appointment of a per- 

 manent chairman, which it is hoped to make at an 

 early date, Mr. Percy Ashley, assistant secretary. 

 Industries and Manufactures Department, Board of 

 Trade, will act as chairman of the Committee. The 

 secretary to the Committee is Mr. W. Graham, and 

 all applications for licences should be addressed to 

 the Secretary, Dyestuffs Advisory Licensing Com- 

 mittee, Danlee Buildings, Spring Gardens, Man- 

 chester. 



The Lord President of the Council has estab- 

 lished an Inter-Departmental Committee on Patents 

 with the following terms of reference : — (i) To con- 

 sider the methods of dealing with inventions made by 

 workers aided or maintained from public funds, 

 whether such workers be engaged (a) as research 

 workers or (6) in some other technical capacity, so 

 as to give a fair reward to the inventor and thus 

 encourage further effort, to secure the utilisation in 

 industry of suitable inventions, and to protect the 

 national interest ; and (2) to outline a course of pro- 

 cedure in respect of inventions arising out of State- 

 aided or supported work which shall further these 

 aims and be suitable for adoption by all Government 

 Departments concerned. As at present constituted, 

 the Committee consists of the following members : — 

 Dr. Kenneth Lee (chairman), Mr. W. St. D. Jenkins, 

 Mr. F. E. Smith, Sir E. L. Ellington, Mr. H. W. W. 

 McAnally, Mr. P. W. L. Ashley, Col. W. H. D. 

 Clark, Sir H. Frank Heath, Mr. A. J. Stubbs, Dr. 

 H. H. Dale, Mr. W. J. Coombes, Lt.-Col. P. K. 

 Lewes, Mr. P. Tindal Robertson, Sir Richard 

 Gregory, Mr. D. M. Kerly, and Sir Charles A. 

 Parsons. The secretary to the committee is Mr. A. 

 Abbott, to whom all communications should be 

 addressed at 16 and 18 Old Queen Street, West- 

 minster, London, S.W.i. 



Mr. F. H. Carr, in a paper on the post-graduate 

 training of chemical students for industry read at a 

 meeting of the Old Students' Association of the 

 Royal College of Science on February 8, outlined a 

 scheme involving the establishment of a technological 

 teaching laboratory which would, in practice, be a 

 miniature manufacturing concern, attached to a col- 

 lege, providing the necessary lectures and class-room 

 instruction. The plant would be available for tech- 

 nical-scale experiments interpreting the results of 

 research work from research institutions or elsewhere. 

 Further, it would be utilised for the manufacture of 

 those fine chemicals that are not ordinarily obtain- 

 able in the chemical trade, and of which a restricted 

 and irregular supply is required by colleges and re- 

 search laboratories. This manufacturing laboratory 

 would be conducted under conditions of strict and 

 complete business organisation and discipline. .\ 

 fundamental object of the instruction suggested would 

 be the introduction of the cost factor in relation to 

 power, heat, labour, material, and yield, whilst a 

 spirit of reality would be maintained by disposing of 

 the products so far as possible through existing trade 

 channels. The nature of the work, as exemplified in 

 the syllabus, would be general, and would not be 

 identified with any particular branch of industry ; it 



