22! 



NATURE 



[May 23, 1918 



HUl. At that time he assisted in the research 

 work on gaseous spectra in which Sir Edward 

 Frankland and Sir Norman Locky^r were jointly 

 occupied. This naturally turned Pedler's atten- 

 tion to the fascinating; problems connected with 

 the physical constitution of the sun and the stars. 

 Consequently, on receiving-, in 1873, the appoint- 

 ment as professar of chemistry in the Presidency 

 College, Calcutta, it is not surprising' to find that 

 it was some years before he again gave special 

 attention to ordinary terrestrial chemistry. The 

 experience already gained qualified him for 

 observation of meteorological phenomena, and 

 soon after his arrival in India he was charged 

 with special duty in connection with the eclipse 

 expedition in 1875. 



At this time, having been born in 1849, Pedler 

 was still a very young man, and before quitting 

 this portion of his career those who knew him in 

 those early days will gladly recall the charming 

 features of his character which made him not only 

 popular in youth, but, remaining unchanged to his 

 latest years, contributed so materially to his suc- 

 cess in oflicial life. Chemists who attend the long- 

 established Chemical Dining Club are probably not 

 all aware that it was started by Pedler in or about 

 1872,. and that he acted as secretary so long as he 

 remained in England. 



In India, Pedler retained the professorship in 

 Calcutta together with the office of Meteorological 

 Reporter to the Government of Bengal for twenty- 

 two years. He then became principal of the col- 

 lege and vice-chancellor of tlie Calcutta Univer- 

 sity. In 1899, he was appointed Minister of Public 

 Instruction in Bengal and additional member of 

 the Legislative Council. These successive steps in 

 official life serve as sufficient explanation of the 

 fact that Pedler's original contributions to scienti- 

 fic chemical literature were limited to the one 

 paper on valeric acids, already mentioned, and 

 several which naturally arose out of the coadi- 

 tions of his occupation in India. Soon after his 

 arrival in that country he examined the coal-gas 

 and the water supplies of Calcutta. In 1878 he 

 sent home a paper on the cobra poison, which was 

 printed in the Proceedings of the Royal Society 

 (vol. xxvii., p. 17); while, in 1890, he contributed 

 to the Journal of the Chemical Society three papers 

 the titles of which show that he was utilising 

 opportunities, previously neglected by chemists, 

 of studying the action of tropical sunlight on chemi- 

 cal change. 



On his retirement, Pedler received the honour of 

 knighthood, and on his return to England, in 

 1906, he speedily found occupation in public work. 

 He became honorary secretary to the British 

 Science Guild, which owes much to his devoted 

 service; and on the outbreak of war he took up 

 active duties connected with the research depart- 

 ment of the Ministry of Munitions. 



Pedler was twice married, but left no children. 

 His widow was' the youngest daughter of the 

 late Mr. Warburton, R.N., of Dedham. 



^^'. A. T. 

 NO. 2534, VOL. lOl] 



NOTES. 



The Financier and Bullionist of May 14 contains an 

 important article by Sir William Tilden under the 

 title "The Present Position of the Dye Question." 

 The article is addressed mainly to business men, and 

 is, therefore, pretty free from chemical technicalities. 

 It sets forth clearly the causes — partly commercial » 

 partly educational — which led to the decline of the 

 British manufacture and the ascendancy and ultimate 

 practical monopoly of the industry by Germany. The 

 most serious weapon in the hand of the enemy, it is 

 pointed out, is the position of respect which in Ger- 

 many is accorded to science. The close relation of 

 the universities to the industries of the country, and 

 the fact that the German dye-makers have at their 

 disposal a large body of trained experts, many of them 

 distinguished chemists, who are not only employed 

 in the' works, but are also on the directorate, 

 are the chief conditions of the success Ger- 

 many has achieved in this direction. Sir Albert 

 Stanley, President of the Board of Trade, announced 

 in the House of Commons on May 15 the course 

 which the Board, on behalf of the Government, pro- 

 poses to take, among other things, in respect to the 

 dye irtdustry. The proposals include further financial 

 aid to manufacturers of special colours and protection 

 for a period of ten years after the war by controlling 

 the importation of foreign dyestuffs by a system of 

 licences. He also stated that negotiations were in 

 progress for the amalgamation of British Dyes, Ltd., 

 and Messrs. Levinstein, Ltd., who were the most im- 

 portant of the dye manufacturers in this country. 

 The arrangements proposed provided for the new com- 

 pany being permanently under British control, for 

 Government representation on the board of directors, 

 and for securing reasonable prices and equitable dis- 

 tribution of the products to the dye-users, so as to 

 avoid anything in the nature of a monopoly. This is 

 all good so far as it goes', but the Government, any 

 more than the man in the street, has not yet grasped 

 the idea that this is a chemical business in the first 

 place, and that to leave the direction chiefly in the 

 hands of Government officials while the chemist is 

 relegated to a subordmate position is to neglect the 

 conditions- which have oeen proved by long experience 

 in Germany to be the only assurance of permanent 

 security and success. 



Attention is directed in the Times Engineering 

 Supplement fo-- May to the part which technical pro- 

 duction is taking in Germany in advancing the fer- 

 tiliser problem, especially with regard to fertilisers 

 capable of production from synthetic ammonia. 

 For the manufacture of cheap hydrogen, a most 

 essential' factor in successful commercial ammonia 

 synthesis, the Badische Anilin- & Soda-Fabrik has 

 developed a catalytic hydrogen process in which large 

 quantities of carbon dioxide are simultaneously ob- 

 tained. The titles^ of a series of patents applied for 

 by this company reveal the ideas whereby this by- 

 product is to be utilised. A patent dated August 7, 

 1914, is concerned with "fertiliser." Three patents 

 in December of the same year cover the manufacture 

 of urea and of products and compounds for use in 

 such manufacture. In June, 19 15, a patent applica- 

 tion for the manufacture of carbonic acid compounds 

 of ammonia was filecf; whilst in March, 1916, a 

 further patent of the same company for fertiliser and 

 method of fertilising was indicated. Obviously the 

 object aimed at is the utilisation of the available car- 

 bonic acid from the hydrogen process in preference to 

 the more expensive sulphuric acid necessary for the 

 production of ammonium sulphate. The manufacture 

 of urea would yield a fertiliser containing 437 per 



