January 24, 1901] 



NA TURE 



303 



can be produced for loo rupees, and he hopes that by 

 engaging, not one chemist, but a dozen, the " cost 

 of making indigo will soon be reduced to a level at 

 which it will be quite impossible for synthetic to com- 

 pete." Mr. Harington says, however, that the Behar 

 planters cannot afford to spend more on experiments 

 than they are now doing, and he appeals to the Indian 

 Government to give a grant of at least 5000/. for five 

 years. It is certainly refreshmg when an indigo planter 

 calls, not for one experienced chemist, but for a dozen. 

 It is, unfortunately, more usual for manufacturers to 

 sneer at chemists, saying that they only waste material 

 in experimenting. Do they imagine that experiments 

 which are carried out by chemists on the Continent and 

 in America, and which enable these countries to under- 

 sell us, cost nothing ? 



If our manufacturers employed capable chemists and 

 gave them a free hand, instead of employing what one 

 may perhaps be allowed to term glorified bottle washers, 

 there is very little doubt but that they would find experi- 

 menting does pay. 



If it is true that, owing to bad seasons in India, the 

 indigo producers cannot afford to pay for expert advice, 

 then, owing to the enormous interests which are involved 

 and the danger of delay, surely the Indian Government 

 will not refuse its aid. It must, however, be remembered 

 that Government cannot aid every industry. 



It has already been stated in a previous article that 

 Sir William Hudson had applied to the Indian Govern- 

 ment for a loan to help the indigo planters to reintroduce 

 the cultivation of the sugar-cane, as an auxiliary to the 

 production of the dye-stuff. The Government of India 

 thereupon appointed Mr. O'Conor, head of the Statis- 

 tical Department, to report on the proposed scheme of 

 rotating sugar with indigo crops. 



Before 1840 sugar was cultivated and manufactured in 

 Behar, but the methods employed were of the crudest, 

 and transport was bad and expensive, therefore the pro- 

 duction of sugar gradually died out, and many of the 

 sugar planters turned to the manufacture of indigo. 

 Since 1840 railways and good roads have been introduced. 

 By careful selection and cultivation a better quality of 

 cane-seed is now obtainable. Further, improved modern 

 machinery and methods enable the sugar grower to 

 obtain a much enhanced yield of a good class of sugar. 

 The committee appointed to inquire into the possibiHty 

 of the cultivation of sugar by indigo planters have 

 nearly finished their work, and it is understood they are 

 of the opinion that the cultivation should yield a hand- 

 some return to the planters in Behar, " if its cultivation, 

 manufacture and distribution are conducted on business 

 principles." I might also add on scientific principles, and 

 let them employ chemists who are able to do more than 

 simply determine the strength of the sugar by means of 

 a saccharometer. It is to be hoped that the indigo 

 planters, if the cultivation of sugar is introduced, will 

 not again settle down into lethargic coma with the idea 

 that all is now well. They may be absolutely certain 

 that any advantage which they obtain will only add to 

 the energy with which the German men of science will 

 attack the problem. F. MOLLWO Perkin. 



THE ROYAL INDIAN ENGINEERING 

 COLLEGE. 



A LL the members of the teaching staff at Coopers 

 -^~^ Hill must be gratified at the expression of public 

 opinion in support of the cause of the seven gentlemen 

 who have received notice of dismissal. Since our re- 

 marks upon the matter were written last week, leaders 

 and letters have appeared in the Times, Daily News and 

 other newspapers, expressing astonishment at the con- 

 dition of things which permits distinguished men of 



NO. 1630, VOL. 63] 



science to be treated with indignity, and demanding that 

 an inquiry shall be made not only into the present case 

 of injustice, but also into the whole system which renders 

 it possible for scientific service to be belittled by the 

 action of an official unable to appreciate its value. 



Testimonies to the importance and efficiency of the 

 work done by the scientific staff at Coopers Hill have 

 been given by men whose opinions carry weight with 

 the public as well as in the world of science. As men- 

 tioned last week, Lord Kelvin has directed attention ta 

 the valuable work done at the College, and has given 

 his. great influence to the cause of the teaching staff 

 Prof. J. A. Ewing, F.R.S., professor of mechanism and 

 applied mechanics in the University of Cambridge, has 

 since come forward to add his testimony to that of Lord 

 Kelvin and others. The following words of Prof. Ewing's- 

 are of particular value in enabling people to appreciate 

 the gravity of the case. 



"To suggest that the dismissal of men like Prof. McLeocJ 

 and Prof. Hearson can make for efficiency is preposterous. I 

 know nothing of the finances or of the administration of Coopers 

 Hill, but I do know something of its teachers and of their 

 teaching. I have examined Prof. Hearson's students at Coopers 

 Hill, and have had the advantage of co-operating with him as 

 examiner in the Mechanical Sciences Tripos at Cambridge. 

 The pages of the Royal Society's Philosophical Transaction! 

 bear witness to his originality as a contributor to engineering 

 science. Those who know, as I do, what fulness of knowledge 

 and what infinite patience he brings to bear upon his teaching 

 are not surprised that he teaches with success. One feels that 

 to praise him is an impertinence, but when he and his colleagues- 

 are treated in this incredible fashion those who know their- 

 merits should speak out." 



So far as personal qualifications are concerned, there- 

 fore, the dismissed members of the staff are perfectly 

 competent to perform their duties ; and the results- 

 obtained prove that the teaching has been done in a 

 most efficient manner. But a much larger question is 

 at issue. A writer, who signs himself " J. P.," in the 

 Times substantiates this remark with a statement of 

 personal experience. 



" For upwards of a quarter of a century," he says, " Coop3rs- 

 Hill has supplied the Indian Public Works Department, and 

 for more than half that time the Indian Forest Department, with 

 a body of recruits whose efficiency has been the admiration of 

 all those whose position and experience render them competent 

 to judge the question, men with whom I for one (and I am sure 

 that I express the opinion of all the older members of the Public 

 Works Department) feel it an honour to be associated." 



If it were worth while, evidence to this effect could be 

 considerably multiplied, biit no useful purpose would be 

 served by doing so. Every one who has followed the 

 expressions in the public Press since the letter from 

 Colonel Ottley was published, is convinced of the abilities 

 of the gentlemen who have been dismissed, and .the 

 efficiency of the College. 



This efficiency has been attained in spite of circuni- 

 stances tending to discourage the teaching staff. It is 

 nothing short of a scandal that capable men like those 

 giving instruction at Coopers Hill should be controlled 

 as if they were orderly-room clerks or petty assistants ii> 

 a private school, with a Mr. Squeers as their over-lord. 

 The only reasonable way to carry on the work of an 

 institution for higher education is to let the teaching staff 

 be largely responsible for the arrangement of courses of 

 studies as well as for the actual instruction, but this does 

 not appear to be the method followed at Coopers Hill ; for 

 the present deplorable state of affairs could not have 

 arisen if the views of the staff as to the reorganisation of 

 studies had been obtained'. "J. P." expresses this view 

 in the following extract from his letter : — 



"One of the reasons why it has been so successful is that 

 former presidents have looked upon the college not as a field 

 for the display of their own vanity, or for trying experiments- 



