io8 



NATURE 



[April ii, 191 8 



in Europe, the main production of the metal has 

 been in the hands of Germans, who have also 

 acquired a controlling- interest in the Belgian con- 

 cerns. This fact has, no doubt, something to do 

 with the tenacity with which, under the pressure 

 of Silesian magnates and capitalists, our enemy 

 seeks to retain his hold on Belgium. It is well 

 knpwn that Germany, with the view of maintain- 

 ing- her practical monopoly in the production and 

 distribution of zinc, g-ained control of the rich de- 

 posits of zinc ores in Austraha, and that the 

 great bulk of the Australian concentrates found 

 their way to Belgium and Silesia, mainly by way 

 of Antwerp and Hamburg-, Germany's own de- 

 posits being- meanwhile conserved. This is now, 

 happily, a thing of the past, but whether the 

 former condition is to be resumed time alone will 

 show. Meanwhile, the consolidation and develop- 

 ment of the zinc industry in this country are not 

 proceeding- at the rate which could be wished. 

 The debate in the House of Commons on the Non- 

 Ferrous Metals measure showed plainly enough 

 that there are doctrinaires who are blind to our 

 true economic interests. 



There is one outlet for sulphuric acid which is 

 capable of far greater development, and that is in 

 the manufacture of fertilisers, and especially of 

 superphosphates. There can be no doubt that the 

 food shortage in the country, due to our enemy's 

 activities, has had a profound effect on our agri- 

 cultural policy, and will lead to a permanent in- 

 crease in home production. This will, of course, 

 necessitate a greatly increased demand for fer- 

 tilisers, such as sulphate of ammonia, as well as 

 of phosphatic manures. Much ammonia is at 

 present absorbed in the production of nitrate of 

 ammonia, which is needed in the manufacture of 

 munitions. But this ammonia will be liberated 

 after the war, and will, be largely converted into 

 sulphate for agricultural use. In the past about 

 60 per cent, of the sulphuric acid we produced 

 was absorbed in the manufacture of fertilisers, in 

 which there was a considerable, although of late 

 declining, export trade, in addition to the home 

 demands. The changed carrying conditions caused 

 by the war may, if we seize our opportunity, lead 

 to a recovery and possible extension of this ex- 

 port trade, induced, on one hand, by the com- 

 parative abundance of cheap sulphuric acid, and, 

 on the other, by the greatly increased demand for 

 fertilisers. 



These and many other points are concisely dealt 

 with in the admirable Report of the Committee 

 now before us. It is an eminently businesslike 

 production, commendably short and to the point. 

 It has the merit, too, of being unanimous, and 

 its recommendations are practicable and such as 

 will appeal to practical men. They involve recom- 

 mendations for (i), providing an outlet for, and 

 generally dealing with, the surplus sulphuric acid 

 which may be expected over pre-war production ; 

 (2) for the relief of acid and fertiliser makers from 

 the competitive effect of surplus acid ; (3) for im- 

 proving the status of the technical chemist, for a 

 more systematic study of manufacturing costs, 

 and for the establishment of a strong national 

 NO. 2528, VOL. lOl] 



association of sulphuric-acid makers. All these 

 are matters which directly affect the interests of 

 the industries dealt with in the Report, and should, 

 and no doubt will, receive the serious consideration 

 of those immediately concerned. Legislation will 

 presumably be required to give effect to certain of 

 the proposals, but there are others upon which 

 immediate action might be taken under existing 

 powers, and although the end of the war is not 

 yet in sight, it is very desirable that no undue 

 delay should occur with respect to them. 



T. E. Thorpe. 



INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC NOMEN- 

 CLATURE. 

 IN the Comptes rendus of the Paris Academy of 

 Sciences for February 11 there is a mani- 

 festo in the form of a memorandum entitled 

 "Observations on Modern Scientific Language" 

 by a number of French men of science, MM. 

 Bigourdan, Blondel, Bouvier, Branly, Douville, 

 Guignard, Haller, Haug, Henneguy, Lacroix, 

 Lallemand, Laveran, Lecomte, Lecornu, Lemoine, 

 Maquenne, Emile Picard, Roux, Schloessing, jun., 

 and Tisserand. The writers of this note enter a 

 protest against a tendency they have observed 

 on the part of the younger generation of scientific 

 workers both to neglect literary form in their 

 publications and to introduce new and strange 

 words which are often unnecessary or badly con- 

 structed. 



It is suggested that youthful authors may per- 

 haps think that the use of outlandish expressions 

 lends an air of learning to their communications, 

 whereas the impression sometimes produced upon 

 the reader is that he has come upon a bad trans- 

 lation of a work originally published in some 

 foreign language. 



It is pointed out that, owing to the international 

 character of science, words and expressions which 

 are quite appropriate in one language have been 

 transferred bodily into another language without 

 proper steps having been taken to adapt them to 

 their new home. For example, our words "con- 

 trol" and "to control" have been translated 

 "controle" and " contrdler. " But " controler " 

 means "to register," and, therefore, ought not 

 to be used in the sense of "to regulate" or "to 

 exercise an influence over." The English ex- 

 pression "self-induction" sometimes appears in 

 French papers on electricity in the shortened form 

 of "le self." Even an Englishman would find it 

 difficult to discover the meaning of such an ex- 

 pression, so that a Frenchman may be pardoned 

 if he finds it barbarous. 



The writers of the note express the hope that 

 the more closely the bonds between the Allied 

 nations are drawn, the more care may be taken 

 in translating scientific terms and expressions. 

 It is suggested that international congresses and 

 all forms of international co-operation afford a 

 means of "controlling" the international lan- 

 guage of science. 



Attention is directed to the adjectives, "thermo- 

 stable " and " thermolabile, " in the first place 



