1 70 



NATURE 



[February 9, 1922 



Jute and Silk in India. 



Imperial Institute. Indian Trade Inquiry 



Re- 

 ( London : 



ports on Jute and Silk. Pp. ix + 90. 

 John Murray, 192 1.) 5s. net. 



THESE reports embody the results of the 

 work of special committees, formed, in 

 response to the invitation of the Secretary of 

 State for India to the Imperial Institute Com- 

 mittee, to inquire into the possibilities of further 

 commercial usage of the principal Indian raw 

 materials in the United Kingdom and in other 

 parts of the Empire. 



The commercial production of jute is confined 

 to Northern India, including Assam. The fibre is 

 obtained from the inner bark of the stems of two 

 annual plants, Corchorus capsidaris and C. oli- 

 torius, members of the family Tiliaceae, and the 

 crop is raised on small holdings by the Indian 

 ryot. More than 60 per cent, of the total crop is 

 consumed in the Indian jute mills, the remainder 

 being exported to the United Kingdom, various 

 Continental countries, and the United States. 



In its recommendations the committee has 

 kept in view two main objects, namely, to make 

 use of our practical monopoly of jute to further 

 the interests of the Empire, and to increase the 

 output, and thereby steady and keep at a mode- 

 rate level the price of the raw product. It 

 recommends an export duty on raw jute leaving 

 India with a rebate in full to consumers within 

 the Empire, the revenue from the duty to be de- 

 voted to the establishment of a scheme for the 

 investigation of problems affecting the produc- 

 tion in India of jute and allied fibres. As soon as 

 seed-selection experiments are sufficiently ad- 

 vanced the Government should provide each 

 grower with seed sufficient for the season's crop 

 and adopt means to ensure that none but approved 

 seed is sown. Machinery should be set up to deal 

 with the situation arising from a short crop. The 

 production of Bimli jute (the fibre of Hibiscus 

 cannabinus) should be encouraged, and means 

 adopted to improve the condition in which it 

 reaches the market. 



The position of India among the silk-producing 

 countries is unduly low; natural advantages are 

 not fully utilised, and, at present, the industry is 

 not able to meet local demands. For many years 

 the mulberry silk industry in India has been 

 steadily deelining. The committee recommends 

 the establishment by the Government of India of 

 a central Sericultural Institute, the functions of 

 which should include the training of men to 

 develop sericulture in India, the supply of disease- 

 free " seed " of approved native and foreign races 

 NO. 2728, VOL. 109] 



of worms, the testing of new races and the pro- 

 duction of hybrid races, and the investigation of 

 silkworm and mulberry diseases. Smaller institu- 

 tions should be established in all important seri- 

 cultural districts. The committee considers that 

 the enhanced value of Indian silk that would result 

 from a radical improvement in its quality should 

 render it possible for the Indian product to com- 

 pete successfully with Japanese and Chinese silks. 



Valency and Atomic Structure. 



Valenzkrdftc und Rontgenspektren : Zwei Auf- 

 sdtze iiber das Elektronengebdude des Atoms. 

 By Prof W. Kossel. Pp iv + 70. (Berlin: 

 Juhus Springer, 192 1.) 12 marks. 



THE literature on atomic .structure has received 

 an interesting addition by the publication of 

 this little work, which consists of two essays, the 

 first being entitled " The Physical Nature of 

 Valency Forces," and the second " The Signifi- 

 cance of X-rays in the investigation of Atomic 

 Structure." Berzelius first put forward the 

 theory of the electrical nature of valency forces, 

 but the difficulty of explaining homopolar com- 

 bination by means of it had led to its being dis- 

 credited. It has now come to the fore again as 

 the result of our knowledge of the relation between 

 atomic number, the charge on the nucleus of the 

 atom, and the place of the atom in the periodic 

 series, and in its recent developments Kossel has 

 played an important part. 



In the first paper, after referring to the 

 various atomic models which have been pro- 

 posed from time to time, Kossel points out 

 that we can explain many of the chemi- 

 cal properties of the elements if we assume a 

 tendency on the part of the atom to lose or gain 

 electrons, so as to revert to more stable electron 

 configuration. In losing or gaining electrons the 

 atom becomes a charged ion, and without know- 

 ing anything further of its structure it is possible 

 to explain the formation of a large number of 

 compounds. The valency forces correspond to an 

 electrostatic field surrounding the ion, such as 

 would arise from a charge placed at the centre 

 of the atom. The molecule as a whole must be 

 electrically neutral, but neutral molecules may 

 have oppositely charged atoms at different points 

 in their structure, and so may attract other neutral 

 molecules with the formation of complex com- 

 pounds. Kossel makes no attempt to Explain the 

 way in which homopolar compounds are formed ; 

 he merely indicates the lines along which investi- 

 gation may be possible. He emphasises the 

 point, however, that the study of organic com- 



