N.A TURE 



701 



SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 1922. 



PAGE 



701 



CONTENTS. 



British Fine Chemicals. By M. O. F. 

 Northernmost Greenland. By Dr. Hugh Robert Mill 702 

 Modern Tendencies in Physiology . . . . 704 

 Early Chinese Pottery. By William Burton . 705 



Optical Theories. By Dr. S. Brodetsky . . .706 



Notes on Inorganic Chemistry 707 



The Origins of Disease 708 



Shallow- water Foraminifera. By E. H.-A. and 



A. E 708 



Our Bookshelf 709 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The Small Haloesof Ytterby.— Prof. J. Joly, F.R.S. 711 

 Muscular Efficiency. {With Diagram.)— h.. Mallock, 



F.R.S 7" 



"G. B. M."— Prof. A. Gray, F.R.S. . . .712 



Half Quanta.— W. E. Curtis 713 



Fossils in Burmese Amber. — Prof. T. D. A. 



Cockerel! 713 



Radium Synthesis of Carbon Compounds from Air. — 



F. Harrison Glew 714 



Cephalic Inde.x and Sex.— Prof. W. Johannsen ; 



Miss R. M. Fleming .714 



The Organisation of Knowledge. — W. Wilson 

 Leisenring ; Miss F. E. Cave ; The Writer 



of the Article .715 



The Elliptic Logarithmic Spiral — a New Curve. — 



H. S. Rowell 716 



Intelligence Statistics.— Dr. Robert W. Lawson . 716 



A Rainbow Peculiarity.— Prof. John P. Dalton . 716 



Non-Specific Therapy. By Dr. J. Stephenson . .717 



The Solvay Institute of Chemistry .... 718 



Universal Wireless Telephony 719 



Obituary :— 



T. Sandmeyer 720 



Prof. H. M. Howe 721 



Dr. Robert Bruce-Low 721 



Current Topics and Events 722 



Our Astronomical Column 725 



Research Items 726 



International Astronomical Union. By Dr. A. C. D. 



Crommelin 727 



British Science Guild 728 



University and Educational Intelligence . . . 728 



Calendar of Industrial Pioneers 729 



Societies and Academies 730 



Official Pubhcations Received 732 



Diary of Societies 732 



Editorial and Publishing Offices : 



MACMILLAN &■ CO., LTD., 



ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2. 



Advertisements and business letters should be 



addressed to the Publishers. 



Editorial communications to the Editor. 



Telegraphic Address: PHUSiS, LONDON. 

 Telephone Number : GERRARD 8830. 



NO. 2744, VOL. 109] 



British Fine Chemicals. 



DURING the period of twenty years preceding 

 the war, it was a frequent complaint among 

 organic chemists that there did not exist in this country 

 a firm resembling Kahlbaum or Schuchardt, from which 

 it would be possible to obtain, at short notice, large or 

 small quantities of those organic compounds, both 

 common and obscure, required for the prosecution of 

 research. The absence of such a domestic source of 

 supply was deplorable for several reasons, but there was 

 always said to be " no money in it," and various in- 

 genious theories were necessarily devised to explain the 

 survival of the German firms, which certainly did not 

 remain in business on philanthropic grounds alone. 

 The shock of war galvanised this branch of industry 

 along with many others, and it was widely declared 

 that the gradually increasing supply of these materials 

 should be augmented to the volume essential for the 

 brisk practice of research, and should be maintained 

 on a self-supporting basis even when free communication 

 with Germany had become restored. 



Encouraged by these patriotic pronouncements, the 

 industry in this country has grown to respectable 

 dimensions, and it does not seem fair, now that the 

 famine in German products is over, to withdraw 

 support from those manufacturers who have expended 

 money and thought in meeting a national need at a 

 critical period. That, nevertheless, is the logical out- 

 come of present complaints. At the moment, it is 

 possible to buy these materials much more cheaply in 

 Germany, but that is due principally to the depreciated 

 mark, and should not be allowed to weigh with those 

 who have permanent national interests at heart. More- 

 over, comparison of current British and German prices 

 is not the test which should be appHed. It is more just 

 and reasonable to compare current British prices with 

 those of German materials prevailing in this country 

 before the war. On this basis we have taken at random 

 fifty typical substances and have found that in fifteen 

 cases the present British quotations are lower. Further- 

 more, dividing the British (1922) by the German (1913) 

 price, .and averaging the factor for the fifty examples, 

 an over-all factor of 1-4 ensues. Remembering that the 

 corresponding factors given by the Ministry of Labour 

 for April 1922 as compared with July 1914 are : 

 Food 1*73, rent 1-55, clothing 2-40, fuel and light 

 2*15, other items 1-95, it will be seen that the fore- 

 going factor, 1-4, is astonishingly moderate, bearing in 

 mind the difficulties which attend the enterprise. 



Another feature of the price question deserves 

 appreciative recognition. While the Safeguarding of 

 Industries Bill was under discussion, it was freely stated 

 that the measure would lead to enhanced prices for the 



