October 21, 1915] 



NATURE 



203 



r the expenditure on laboratories and equipment 



which the work would entail. He has had no 



t xpericnce of co-ordinating research work with 



the operations of the factory or of estimating- the 



progress made. In short, though the pamphlet 



■rs not say so in so many words, the manufac- 



cr is accused of ignorance of the scientific side 



his industry. 



! laving thus presented the difficulties on both 

 (S, Mr. Humberstone, the author of the report, 

 >ceeds to formulate Dr. Duncan's scheme of 

 aistrial research fellowships 



Under this scheme a contract is entered into 



■ween the manufacturer and the university in 



ich the object of the research is precisely 



ined. The contract provides that the fellow 



ccted to conduct the investigation desired shall 



(icvote his whole time to the research with the 



< xception of three hours a week, which he may 



devote to instructional work in the chemical 



(1( partment. The fellow is a member of the uni- 



MTsity, and pays all the regular fees with the 



♦ xception of fees for laboratory and supplies, for 

 which the instruction he gives in the university 

 i^ accepted in lieu, unless in the opinion of the 

 university his demands become excessive, in which 

 rase the manufacturer who provides the funds for 

 the fellowship is expected to reimburse the uni- 

 MTsity. 



" In some instances the manufacturer makes a 

 >pccific grant for expenditure on apparatus. The 

 ( nntract further provides that the fellow shall work 

 under the direction of the professor of industrial 

 rhemistry, and shall forward to the manufacturer 

 ]itriodically through the professor reports on the 

 progress of the work. The manufacturer agrees 

 lo pay to the university an annual sum for the 

 (inoluments of the fellow during the tenure of the 

 t\ llowship, which ordinarily extends to two years." 



A clause follows relating to the proprietorship 

 of inventions made by the fellow, providing usually 

 for a payment of ten or some other percentage of 

 tlie net profits arising from discoveries, to be com- 

 muted at the desire of either party for a sum fixed 

 l)y arbitration, and there are certain other details 

 in regard to the publication and use of the dis- 



• I 'vcry. 



The advantages claimed under this scheme 

 ( that the university profits by the presence 

 of men engaged in researches, which, though 

 utilitarian in their object, may often throw light 

 on questions of purely scientific interest. The uni- 

 Acrsity also secures the services of post-graduate 

 students as instructors, and the influence of such 

 a body of men who are keen on their particular 

 work and enthusiastic as to the value of research, 

 is an asset of considerable value. The manufac- 

 turer derives advantage from the resources of the 

 well-equipped laboratories, museums, and libraries, 

 and from the facilities offered to the fellow for con- 

 sulting the staff of his own and other departments 

 of the university when unforeseen difficulties pre- 

 sent themselves, whilst at the same time the manu- 

 facturer is free from the responsibility of selecting 

 the specialist (which is done by the university) or 

 of supervising his researches. 

 NO. 2399, VOL. 96] 



The advantages of the scheme to the selected 

 fellow are obvious. He is brought into direct 

 contact with a manufacturer and a specific 

 problem, and carries on his investigation under the 

 advantage of being free from interference by 

 foremen or managers. He has also opportunities 

 of consulting a well-appointed library, of obtaining 

 assistance from colleagues, and occasion to test 

 his process under industrial conditions. Moreover, 

 the researches may be put forward in his candi- 

 dature for the doctorate of the university. The 

 report concludes with an account of the practical 

 working of the scheme, and the remarkable variety 

 of problems which have been submitted to investi- 

 gation. 



The only point which the writer regards as open 

 to serious criticism is that the industrial research 

 of whatever character, whether connected with or- 

 ganic, inorganic, or physical chemistry or physics, 

 is conducted in a special laboratory under the abso- 

 lute jurisdiction of the director of the industrial 

 research laboratories, instead of being carried out 

 in that department which is specially concerned 

 with the particular problem. Apart from this, the 

 scheme appears to offer many advantages in- the 

 present condition of the scientific industries in this 

 country, as well as in America. Whether it is an 

 ideal scheme is another question. It is true that 

 in Germany there are chemists working out in the 

 university laboratories problems which have an 

 industrial object, but the great bulk of such re- 

 search is restricted to the splendidly equipped 

 works laboratories. The reason for this is a simple 

 one. The managers are trained men of science 

 (as many are in this country) who know the 

 methods of research and the value of the research 

 chemist. They have no need of a director of 

 industrial research. They are in a position to 

 direct it themselves. J. B. C. 



CONSTRUCTIONAL DATA OF SMALL 

 TELESCOPE OBJECTIVES. 



THE National Physical Laboratory has recently 

 published through Messrs. Harrison and 

 Sons a pamphlet with the above title. This has 

 been prepared at the request of the Director- 

 General of Munition Supplies, and is primarily 

 intended for the assistance of manufacturers of 

 optical instruments who are engaged in the pro- 

 duction of optical munitions. The glasses on 

 which the calculations are based are in all cases 

 taken from the most recent catalogue of optical 

 glasses issued by Messrs. Chance Bros, and Co., 

 of Birmingham (February, 191 5). The compre- 

 hensive character of the tables may be gauged 

 from the fact that all the dense flints of this cata- 

 logue are severally combined with all the crowns, 

 two dense barium crowns of high refractive index 

 alone being excepted. 



Although the theoretical conditions which it is 

 desired to satisfy in the case of these small objec- 

 tives are identical with those which determine 

 the construction of large telescope objectives, 

 other considerations which are of little import- 

 ance in the one case can by no means be neg- 

 lected in the other, and it thus happens that the 



