392 



NATURE 



[December 9, 19 15 



country and the health of its citizens are larg^ely 

 dependent on the way chemical knowledgfe is 

 used. The present war has done much to give to 

 the chemist his true function in national economics. 

 It has been called "a chemical war " because every 

 department of the fighting- armies, from the Red 

 Cross service to the manufacture of guns and 

 explosives, involves chemical knowledge inces- 

 santly. It has shown us also some results — 

 direct and indirect — of State neglect to promote 

 the development of scientific industries. 



On account of the war, there has been a short- 

 age of artificial dyes and synthetic products in the 

 United States as well as in this country, and 

 steps have been taken in each case to increase 

 the home supply. It may be held, with Dr. 

 Baekeland, that the attention given to these pro- 

 ducts is out of proportion to their commercial 

 value, which only amounts to i,8oo,oooL of 

 German imports in the States, whilst the national 

 industries, which include the manufacture of 

 sulphuric acid, the phosphate industry^ the manu- 

 facture of dynamite, glucose, electrolytic copper 

 refining, production of aluminium, calcium 

 carbide, alkalis, and bleaching powder, . are 

 decidedly more imposing in value than the few 

 million imported coal-tar dyes. The national 

 value of an import must not, however, be 

 measured by the purchasing value alone. 

 British industries use annually dyes to the value 

 of nearly 2,250,000/., of which about 1,750,000/. 

 have come from Germany, but these dyes consti- 

 tute an indispensable material in many branches of 

 the textile, leather, paper, and other industries, 

 and the annual value of the goods in which they 

 are an essential or important part is estimated at 

 200,000,000/. 



We can be independent of all supplies of syn- 

 thetic products from abroad if we wish. In 

 industry, science, and invention alike England 

 has led, and can lead, both Germany and 

 the United States. This general thesis was 

 developed by Dr. Dugald Clerk in an inaugural 

 address at the Royal Society of Arts on November 

 17. Germany with its order and method is com- 

 pared with "unpractical, illogical, idealistic, 

 laughing England " ; and it is claimed, following 

 Buckle, that we are successful because the English 

 brain is inductive, while the German brain is 

 deductive. Dr. Clerk shows that we have 

 abundant reason to be proud of our national 

 achievements; and even if the case for British 

 ability is over-stated, it is a refreshing contrast 

 to the reverse side of the picture often presented ; 

 NO. 2406, VOL. 96] 



the truth should probably be sought in some 

 intermediate position. 



Germany has produced few men of great emin- 

 ence as originators — far less than Britain or 

 France — but she has a very large number of men 

 of more than average capacity; and, above all, 

 Germany alone has discovered how to make the 

 best use of these by organisation and co-operation. 

 This is the keynote of her success. 



Various explanations have been given from 

 time to time to account for the present unsatisfac- 

 tory position of certain of our chemical industries, 

 such, for example, as the discouraging patent 

 laws, the duty on alcohol, the difficulty of financing 

 improved processes, and the lack of research 

 chemists. Actually the root of the mischief, as 

 Sir James Dewar emphasised in his address to 

 the British Association in 1902, is in the want of 

 education primarily among our so-called educated 

 classes, and secondarily among the workmen on 

 whom these depend. The commanding advantage 

 of Germany is in the abundance of men of or- 

 dinary plodding ability, thoroughly trained and 

 methodically directed. It is a fortunate thing for 

 a country to produce inventors, but it profits 

 little if the invention is first converted into a 

 paying proposition by the methodical organisa- 

 tion of the workers in another land ! More than 

 one recent statement testifies to the fact that this 

 has actually happened. Proud as we are of our 

 British inventors, it is time that it was realised 

 that we as a nation are losing the faculty of 

 going into the works and applying the invention 

 under the stern conditions of commercial com- 

 petition. 



The advantage gained by the German popula- 

 tion owing to the position it has reached in point 

 of general training and specialised equipment will 

 be difficult to overcome. Our great national asset 

 is the power of dogged determination, which 

 never acknowledges defeat. This, coupled with 

 the readiness to accept responsibility, and to take 

 initiative, which characterise so many of the 

 younger men of our upper classes, has led to the 

 establishment of our great Empire. If it is pos- 

 sible to combine scientific knowledge with these 

 national attributes so as to produce and organise 

 the constructively trained mind, the future can be 

 faced with confidence. The difficulties are great, 

 particularly by the opposition of vested interests, 

 the inordinate amount of attention given to sport 

 and pleasure by all classes, and a natural con 

 servatism fostered by neglect of science in educa 

 tion ; but the reward is greater still. 





