546 



NATURE 



[January 14, 19 15 



not so far accepted in Germany, but did not oppose 

 the adoption of these sjmbols by the I. E.G. 



II. — -Units. Signs for Names of Units. 



Signs for names of electrical units to be employed 

 only after numerical values : — 



Name of Unit 



Sign 



m 

 k 



sign for milli- 

 sign for kilo- 



f^ sign for micro- or micr- 

 M sign for mega- or meg- 



* As a sign for the ohm, one of the two letters O or O is provisionally 

 recommended. The letter li should no longer be used for megohm. 



III. — Mathematical Symhols and Rules. 



1. Ordinary numerals as exponentials shall exclu- 

 sively be used to represent powers. (In consequence, 

 it is desirable that the expression sin-^x, tan-^x, 

 employed in certain countries be expressed by arc 

 sin X, arc tan x.) 



2. The comma and the full-stop shall be employed 

 for separating the decimals according to the custom 

 of the country but the separation between any three 

 digits constituting a whole number shall be indicated 

 by a space and not by a full-stop or a comma 

 (i 000 000). 



3. For the rnultiplication of numbers and geometric 

 quantities, indicated by two letters, it is recommended 

 to use the sign x , and the full-stop only when there 

 is no possible ambiguity. 



4. To indicate division in a formula, it is recom- 

 mended that the horizontal bar or the colon be em- 

 ployed. Nevertheless the oblique line may be used 

 when there is no possibility of ambiguity ; when neces- 

 sary, ordinary brackets ( ), square brackets [ ], and 

 braces ( ) may be employed to obtain clearness. 



NO. 2359, VOL. 94] 



IV .—Abbreviatio)is for Weights and Measures. 



Length: — m; km; dm; cm; mm; /i = oooi mm. 

 Surface :— a ; ha ; m^ ; km^ ; dm^ ; cm^ mm-. 

 Volume : — 1 ; hi ; dl ; cl ; ml ; m ' ; km' ; dm'' ; cm' ; 

 mm'. 



Mass :— g ; t ; kg ; dg ; eg ; mg. 



V. — Name for Electrical Unit. 



The I. E.G. will recommend to the International 

 Gongress of the Applications of Electricity, to be held 

 in San Francisco in 19 15, the adoption of the name 

 '* Siemens " for the unit of conductance. 



GERMAN METHODS IN COMMERCE. 



A PAPER on the organised methods employed by 

 Germany in commerce, prepared by Sir William 

 Ramsay for the Institute of Industry and Gommerce, 

 was referred to in a paragraph in Nature of Decem- 

 ber 24 (p. 457). By permission of the institute, the 

 article is here reprinted in full. 



It has not been generally known that in commerce, 

 as in war, the methods employed by Germany have 

 been completely organised for many years. Instead 

 of looking on commerce as an arrangement for mutual 

 benefit, the German nation has regarded it as a war. 

 And just as in the present war all methods of attack 

 are regarded by the military advisers of Germany as 

 legitimate, so we are slowly awaking to the know- 

 ledge that German commercial and industrial methods 

 have for years been aggressive. The war in which 

 we are now engaged is, indeed, a war for the libera- 

 tion of nations from commercial and industrial 

 brutality, as well as for their deliverance from an 

 attempted enslavement to German " Kultur," as 

 exemplified by the practices of their army. 



At the annual meeting of the Society of Chemical 

 Industry in 1903 I pointed out that the German mili- 

 tary organisation had its counterpart in their com- 

 mercial organisation ; that there exists an Imperial 

 Council whose proceedings are kept quiet, but which 

 takes into consideration all obtainable statistics, and 

 as far as possible legislates, or endeavours to legis- 

 late, on the basis of these statistics. Where fiscal 

 duties are found to be required, such a council puts 

 them on ; where there is an advantage in taking them 

 off, they are removed. Where cheap transit is pos- 

 sible they give it ; for the railways are the property 

 of the State. I then said : — '" Is it to be expected 

 that any country can fight such a combination as that 

 without adopting, at all events, something of their 

 methods, or without studying their methods, and with- 

 out combining together, if not to imitate them, at least 

 tQ thwart them ? There is a military campaign against 

 us, and we must defend ourselves." 



The competition in the colour trade, for instance, 

 has almost prohibited the manufacture of dyes in 

 England. In Germany the management is in the 

 hands of well-trained men, who, aided by an efficient 

 staff of engineers and chemists, are continually en- 

 gaged on the problems of utilising any discovery made 

 in their own laboratories or elsewhere, and making 

 it commercial, whether by securing cheap raw mate- 

 rial, cheapening the process of manufacture, or creat- 

 ing a public demand for the object to be manufactured. 

 Agencies are maintained all over the world whereby 

 the article is introduced to the notice of foreign pur- 

 chasers ; and an extensive credit system is encouraged. 

 All this is legitimate ; but the maintenance of a trained 

 legal staff, not merely to advise as to the validity of 

 patents, but to advise whether the infringement of 



