1 62 



NATURE 



[February 9, 1922 



lation of data could be assigned at less expense 10 

 some existing department, such as the Ordnance 

 Survey, as is the case in the United States, where 

 the work is carried out by the Geological Survey, and 

 that as regards jurisdiction and oversight of sources 

 of supply these could be exercised without undue 

 strain by County Councils or similar provincial 

 bodies, while sanction for new schemes in the public 

 interest should be obtained by application to Parlia- 

 ment in the customary way by private Bill as at 

 present. We see no occasion for departmental in- 

 itiative in industrial enterprise. Such a policy leads 

 to the preparation of grandiose and untimely pro- 

 jects like that recently put forward for the River 

 Severn by the Ministry of Transport. British com- 

 mercial enterprise is not dead, and if a scheme be 

 reasonably practicable and remunerative it is sure 

 to receive support. We therefore range ourselves 

 alongside Mr. Fawcett and Mr. Tait in deprecating 

 the creation of an additional Government depart- 

 ment with a retinue of salaried officials. There is 

 a significant suggestion in the Report that the ex- 

 penses of the proposed Commission should be de- 

 frayed in part by a levy on water undertakings in 

 England and Wales. We imagine that this will 

 give rise to some demur. 



Into the more detailed recommendations of the 

 Committee we do not feel it necessary to enter at 

 the moment. The Report is a lengthy one, running 

 to 165 foolscap pages, with maps and diagrams. 

 In addition to the primary and principal recom- 

 mendation, upon which we have commented above, 

 there are subsidiary recommendations, such as that 

 all hydrometric data collected in the United King- 

 dom should be compiled on a uniform basis (a 

 schema is exhibited in an appendix), and that the 

 widest publicity should be given to the information 

 obtained in these surveys. With both these sugges- 

 tions we are in complete accord. There is also the 

 interesting statement that, " leaving out of account 

 the question of availability, the schemes in our pos- 

 session relate to potential water-power of a total 

 capacity in excess of 250,000 kw. (continuous). The 

 aggregate power involved in the various parts of 

 Great Britain is as follows : Scotland, 194,965 kw. ; 

 Wales, 35,900 kw. ; England, 20,440 kw. The 

 Irish Sub-Committee estimates that the total avail- 

 able potential water-power resources of Ireland 

 amount to 280,000 kw. (continuous)." 



The purview of the Report is comprehensive and 

 includes a consideration of tidal power, canals, 

 salmon fisheries, pollution of underground water, 

 and land drainage. W^e do not propose to discuss 

 these features. Our immediate object will be 

 NO. 27285 VOL. 109] 



achieved if we succeed in focusing attention on 

 the urgent necessity for a systematic compilation 

 of the water resources of the country and of the 

 Empire, to be followed by sorne means of ensuring 

 a judicious application of the available power in 

 the most economical manner so as to reduce the 

 present excessive demands on our reserves of solid 

 fuel. 



American Organic Chemicals. 



THE production of synthetic organic chemicals 

 for use in research is being developed in 

 America on the same lines as in this country. 

 Laboratories have been specially equipped for the 

 purpose by the Eastman Kodak Company, which 

 makes a number of compounds and purifies others 

 yielded by the chemical industry of the country. 

 In that way some eleven hundred different chemicals 

 are at present available. Although this is only half 

 the number of substances offered by one of the 

 English manufacturers, the effort is meeting with 

 enthusiastic support from men of science in America, 

 and those concerned feel thereby greatly helped and 

 encouraged. In that country, at least, the war-time 

 resolution of independence in the matter of scientific 

 supplies is not forgotten. 



Much complaint is made in this country concern- 

 ing the prices of such chemicals. It is therefore of 

 interest to compare Kahlbaum's pre-war prices and 

 the present prices of a well-known English manu- 

 facturer with those of the Eastman Kodak Com- 

 pany. A comparison extending to four pages of 

 the Eastman list gives the ratio : Kahlbaum, 100 ; 

 B.D.H., 135; Eastman, 171 — not so great an in- 

 crease on pre-war prices as the increase in cost of 

 labour would lead one to expect. 



In a paper read before the Society of Chemical 

 Industry last August, C. E. K. Mees and H. T. 

 Clarke gave some account of the chemical work of 

 the Eastman Company. They said it had been con- 

 ducted hitherto at a very considerable loss, the first 

 year's working showing a deficit of about 3000Z., 

 although no rent or overhead charges were debited. 

 This loss was generously borne by. the company. 



If American users and producers continue to work 

 in the same spirit, not only will they gain the 

 immense advantage of national independence in the 

 matter of organic chemicals, but also the business 

 will become self-supporting and in the end remunera- 

 tive. At the same time, laboratories in which such 

 organic compounds are made should provide a useful 

 training-ground for young technical chemists. 



