March 14, 1918] 



NATURE 



7>l 



lields, iias expressed the view that the prospects are 

 distinctly promising, and has backed his opinion by 

 making ahernative offers on behalf of his linn to the 

 ( lovernment, either to ipkice the services of the firm's 

 Xpert staffs at its disposal for the period of the war, 

 t-e of cost, or to drill at the firm's own expense 

 liiject to certain areas ibeing reserved to ithem. He 

 limated that this offer committed his firm to a prob- 

 le expenditure of 500,000/. It is obvious that the 

 : St step should be to prove or disprove the existence 

 : oil in paying quantities, under such regulations 

 iiat national interests in any oil discovered are pro- 

 ' ily safeguarded. Details as to royalties, conditions 

 ' production, etc., can well wait for future settle- 

 (■nt. The alternative to natural oil is production 

 distillation processes. For some years a:bout three 

 illion tons of oil-shale have been produced in Scot- 

 and retorted, but other oil-yielding minerals, such 

 coal, cannel-coal, and blackband ironstone, are 

 sible sources. Large quantities of cannel are avail- 

 much of which is left in the mine or thrown on 

 dump as unsuitable for fuel, on account of its 

 jh ash content, which is seldom below 10 per cent, 

 ton of high-quality cannel may yield more than 

 gallons of oil ; tfie average yield may be taken 

 twenty gallons per ton ; of this some 50-60 per cent. 

 l)uld be fuel oil. Such oils more nearly approach the 

 tural petroleum products in composition than do the 

 inary coal products, and also furnish good yields 

 valuable paraffin wax. An announcement appeared 

 the Times (March 8), bearing the impress of 

 ial origin, thait tests on cannel in existing gas- 

 rks retorts have given satisfactory results, with 

 traordinarily high yields of fuel oil and ammonia. 

 is to be hoped that this foreshadows early produc- 

 since little extra retorting and collecting plant 

 be required. 



[odern developments in gasworks construction and 

 k-actice were described by Mr. Alwyne Meade in a 

 paper read at the Institution of Civil Engineers on 

 March 5. It appears that in spite of modern improve- 

 ments, the introduction of scientific control, and the 

 lavish installation of labour-saving machinery, coal- 

 gas costs approximateh' as much to manufacture as it 

 did thirty years ago. The expense of modern manu- 

 facture is solely attributed to the abnormal rise in the 

 5t of coal and transport, while during the past three 

 irs the wages paid to employees have, in common 

 tth other industries, undergone considerable augmen- 

 ion. Mr. Meade sitated that the advances made in 

 practical application of the theory of heat inter- 

 inge have resulted in an enormous saving of sensi- 

 heat. Whereas twenty years ago 28 lb. of coke 

 re necessary for the carbonisation of 100 lb. of coal, 

 with the modern continuous vertical retort, only 

 r^ lb. are required for dealing with the same quantity 

 " coal. Attention was directed to present-day attempts 

 effect carbonisation on ideal Knes by the continuous 

 ission of a small quantity of coal to the retort, and 

 simultaneous extraction of an equal bulk of coke. 

 le continuous vertical retort has been designed for 

 lis purpose, but Mr. Meade holds the opinion that as 

 Jgards the results of carbonisation the horizontal 

 Jtort is still able to hold its own in many respects. 

 An advantage of the vertical retort is that it affords 

 icilities for steaming the coal charge; thus, within 

 imits, water-gas may be produced simultaneously 

 with the evolution of coal-gas. Recent results indicate 

 that by introducing the principle of "steaming," it is 

 possible to increase the B.Th.U. produced per ton of 

 coal from 6^ millions to nearly 8 millions, with a corre- 

 qx)nding reduction in the quality of the gas amount- 

 ing to only some 20 B.Th.U. per cubic foot. The 

 coal reserves of this country are trifling com^pared 



NO. 2524, VOL. lOl] 



with those of America and the Central Empires, from 

 which it will be appreciated that there is no time to 

 be lost in developing to the utmost advantage the 

 natural gift upon which England's pre-eminence as a 

 nation depends. 



TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION IN 

 SWITZERLAND. 

 TN the Revue Scientifique for November 3, 1917, there 

 •■■ appears an interesting article by M. C. Perregaux 

 on the progress of technical instruction in Switzerland. 

 It is the second of two articles, the first of which dealt 

 with the establishment, equipment, and work of the 

 renowned Federal Polytechnic of Zurich, with its 

 eleven divisions of applied science, and of the State- 

 recognised School of Engineering at Lausanne, both 

 of which are devoted to the training of the highest 

 class of professional technicians. The present article 

 deals with the aims and work of an intermediate 

 class of schools known as " Technicums," and intended, 

 each according to local industrial requirements, for 

 the training of men aspiring to positions of industrial 

 responsibility as foremen and managers. Six such 

 schools come under review, namely, in German 

 Switzerland : Winterthur, Berthoud, and Bienne ; in 

 French Switzerland : Geneva, Locle, and Fribourg. 



In addition to these six day institutions, there are 

 also in Switzerland 13 museums of industrial art, 

 164 schools of commerce, 27 trade schools for boys, 

 22 trade schools for girls, 342 special (fortbildung) 

 schools for boys, and 720 for girls; in all 1294 institu- 

 tions of a special or trade character devoted to the 

 industrial well-being of Swiss citizens, an extra- 

 ordinarily effective provision for a country of three 

 and a half millions denied in large measure the f>osses- 

 sion of natural mineral resources and wholly dependent 

 for the industrial and commercial well-being of its 

 people upon facilities for a sound scientific and tech- 

 nical training based upon an efficient system, univers- 

 ally accessible, of elementary and secondary education. 



It was in 1883 that the Swiss Confederation decided 

 to aid by means of grants, and also to supervise, the 

 existing meagre means of trade instruction in certain 

 instances, and in 1884 gave a subsidy of 40,000 francs 

 to forty-three institutions, with a total expenditure of 

 440,000 francs, but so rapid has been the development 

 of these institutions that in 1904 they had increased to 

 318, with an expenditure of 3,940,000 francs, towards 

 which the subventions from the State amounted to 

 1,080,000 francs; and there were in 1916 1294 such 

 institutions supervised and aided by the State. The 

 six "Technikums" under consideration form a link 

 between the trade schools (Gewerbeschulen), so-called, 

 and the training given in the Federal Polytechnic at 

 Zurich or the Engineering School at Lausanne. 



The activity of Germany, and especially of the neigh- 

 bouring State of VViirttemberg, in the provision of 

 technical instruction seriously alarmed the Confedera- 

 tion, since it had the possibility of displacing certain 

 Swiss industries, and it led therefore to the initiation 

 of measures calculated to avert the peril. The chief of 

 these "Technikums," which vary in tyf>e and seek to 

 adapt themselves to regional conditions, is at Winter- 

 thur, some thirteen miles from Zurich, founded in 

 1874. The other five have been established since 1890, 

 three of them since the beginning of the century. 



The course of instruction in Winterthur covers six 

 semesters, and includes architecture, mechanical and 

 electrical engineering, roads and bridges, chemistry, 

 commerce, "and railway work. Students on entrance 

 must have had a secondary-school course and be not less 

 than fifteen years of age. The staff comprises forty 



