ii6 



NATURE 



[April ii, 1918 



provided. The advent of women in the political sphere 

 will of necessity open up other professional careers for 

 women, the training for which will not be more 

 onerous than that of the teacher, and in which the 

 prospects will be more attractive and the remuneration 

 in proportion to the skill employed without reference 

 to sex. Equal pay for equal service found eloquent 

 expression at the conference, but on a division was 

 defeated by 16,717 votes, whereupon a referendum will 

 be taken. Despite Mr. Fisher's declaration of mini- 

 mum salaries, which gave a- proportion of nine-tenths 

 to women as compared with men, the tendency to a 

 much larger differentiation, especially in London, is 

 on the increase, the maximum of the women head- 

 teachers in many cases in that area being actually 201L 

 below the minimum of the men head-teachers. 



The poor remuneration of teachers is strikingly 

 shown by a- return of the Board of Education of 

 November last, where it appeared that out of 36,827 

 certificated men teachers, 2639 received less than looZ. 

 per annum, and out of 77,139 certificated women 

 teachers, 32,314 received less than the foregoing sum. 

 Until this matter receives drastic reform it is impossible 

 to ensure a contented and happy body of teachers. 



The provision of nursery schools, where children can 

 have the advantage of trained nurses and medical 

 advice, and which should be linked up with the neigh- 

 bouring elementary schools, was warmly commended 

 as tending to ensure a much better supply of healthy 

 children. A strong plea was put forward for the em- 

 ployment of capable cultured women in the active work 

 of the contemplated continuation classes, so as to give 

 to the girls a wise training in matters relating to their 

 responsibilities as citizens and in the duties of domes- 

 tic life, and no less was it urged that men of broad 

 sympathy and of wide academic and professional train- 

 ing should be placed in charge of the boys. Teachers 

 are anxiously awaiting the enactment of the Fisher 

 Bill, which gives effect to many of their most ardent 

 aspirations cherished during many years. The confer- 

 ence adopted a scheme for the direct representation of 

 teachers on all education committees. 



THE INDIGO INDUSTRY. 

 TN the Agricultural Journal for India (vol. xiii., part i., 

 ■*■ January, igi8) Mr. W. A. Davis, indigo research 

 chemist to the Government of India, gives a review of 

 the present position and future prospects of, the natural 

 indigo industry. In 1896, the year before the large- 

 scale introduction of synthetic indigo, the combined 

 exports of natural indigo from India and Java had a 

 value of more than 3I millions sterling, whilst very 

 large additional quantities were also produced and con- 

 sumed in India, China, and Japan. The value of the 

 total world's market for indigo under pre-war condi- 

 tions considerably exceeded five millions sterling, a value 

 almost equal to that of all other artificial organic dyes 

 put together. 



The rapid displacement of the natural by the syn- 

 thetic product is evidenced by the facts that whilst the 

 exports of synthetic indigo from the German Customs 

 district rose from 658 tons in 1895 to 16,354 tons in 

 1907, the experts of natural indigo from India fell in 

 the same period from 9367 tons to 1755 tons, with a 

 further declirte to 547 tons in 1913-14. Nearly the 

 whole of the last-named export consisted of the higher- 

 grade Bihar indigo, the export of the lower-grade 

 Madras indigo having practically ceased. Again, 

 whereas in 1897 the price of natural indigo of better 

 quality (60-70 per cent.) was 75.-85. per lb., the price 

 in 19 14 before the war had fallen to 35. per lb. The 

 number of employees engaged in indigo manufacture in 

 India fell from 360,000 in 1880 to 30,795 in 191 1. 



The first effect of the war was to cause an enormous 

 NO. 2528, VOL. lOl] 



I increase in the price of natural indigo, and steps were 

 j immediately taken to increase the cultivation, with the 

 I result that in 1916-17 the total area under indigo in 

 I India was three and a half times the average of the 

 I preceding five years, although still less than one-half 

 the area of 1895. The statistics of the exports of syn- 

 thetic indigo in the years before the war reveal the fact 

 that China and Japan together took three-fifths of the 

 whole production. It is very clear from these data that 

 the prosperity of the Indian industry and its ability to 

 compete with the synthetic product in the future will 

 depend largely upon its being able to supply these 

 Eastern markets. Mr. Davis is hopeful that the Ijidian 

 industry will be able at least to put up a good fight, and 

 he proposes in a future article to outline the measures 

 of improvement which must be effected if success is to 

 be achieved. 



A FRENCH SOCIETY OF CHEMICAL 

 INDUSTRY. 

 "nPHE issue of the Revue Scientifique for jNIarch 2-9 

 -*- contains an interesting account of the airns and 

 otganisation of La Soci6t6 de Chimie Industrielle, 

 which has been established in France with the object of 

 promoting and consolidating the development of the 

 chemical industries of the coDntry. The. formation of 

 a society similar in character to our own Society of 

 Chemical Industry had been under consideration before 

 the war; the circumstances of French chemical indus- 

 tries during the period of the war have now given the 

 necessary stimulus for the realisation of the project, 

 with the full co-operation and support of the leading 

 chemists, chemical engineers, and manufacturers of the 

 country. The outstanding objects of the new society 

 are to aid the development of all branches of chemical 

 industry, to co-ordinate the labours of all workers in 

 pure and applied chemistry for their mutual advantage, 

 and to assist the progress of industrial chemis.try not 

 only by means of science, but also from the economic 

 and commercial points of view. These objects, which 

 are planned so as not to interfere with or overlap the 

 work or publications of existing societies, are to be 

 developed by the publication of a Review, the first 

 number of which has already been issued, by the hold- 

 ing of conferences, exhibitions, and competitions, and 

 by the establishment of a bureau of industrial chem- 

 istry and of a central library. The president of the 

 society is M. Paul Kestner; Profs. A. Haller and H. Le 

 Chatelier are hon. presidents; MM. F. Binder, Duche- 

 min, Matignon, and Staub vice-presidents; M. Jean 

 Gerard general secretary ; and Comte G. de Germiny 

 treasurer. 



The formation of this new society shows that in 

 France, as in this country, the national importance of 

 the services of chemical science needs far fuller recog- 

 nition than in the past, especially in the direction of 

 effecting that co-operation between science and industry 

 which is fundamental for the economic development of 

 scientific discoveries. La Soci^t^ de Chimie Indus- 

 trielle should do much to secure this co-operation, and 

 we cordially wish its promoters every success in the 

 wide and well-chosen field of their proposed activities. 



CIVIL SERVICE ESTIMATES FOR SCIENCE 



AND EDUCATION. 

 'X*HE Parliamentary Paper dealing with Class IV. 

 -*• of the Estimates for Civil Services for the year 

 ending March 31, 1919, has now been issued. The 

 subjoined summary gives the main items of the esti- 

 mated expenditure for the year, with the details relat- 

 ing to scientifit investigation and higher education. 

 Reference mav be made to a few particular points in 

 these Estimates. A special grant of 30,000/. is included 



