August 29, 19 18' 



NATURE 



513 



tween biology and chemistry and physics, and said 

 lat the chemical manufacturers could be of special 

 ;.lp by assisting in the production of new drugs, 

 under the guidance of the observations of biologists. 

 I a this line Germany had been especially active in the 

 ast. The microscope furnishes another example of 

 ie German development of English ideas. At pre- 

 -• nt the industry for all practical purposes has almost 

 (' ased to exist, but Mr. J. E. Barnard claimed that it 

 was undergoing a process of transformation which at 

 'lie close of the war would make the British micro- 

 ope pre-eminent. Between 1880 and 1890 this 

 luntry stood foremost in the microscope industry, 

 but after that time it lost its position to iGermany 

 Ixcause the latter gave us an instrument which was 

 much needed at that time, being simpler in design 

 and easier to construct. The Germans turned out a 

 type known as the "Continental Model" which was 

 useful for laboratory purposes. There was an in- 

 sufficient supply of the English instrument, and this 

 fact, coupled with the high price of the British 

 article, enabled the Germans to obtain pre-eminence 

 in this field. Unfortunately, it became the fashion 

 to use the German instrument; and Although the 

 English instrument was equally good, home makers 

 had little chance owing to the orders passing 

 Tn the Continent. As in the case of the British dve 

 ulustry. the English microscope industry was in 

 liritish hands, but was lost for preventable reasons. 



This is practically the same tale 'as Dr. M. O. For- 

 mer had to tell with regard to British dye-making in 

 Llie course of his lecture on August 26. Dr. Forster 

 traced the decay of the British industry after 1870, up 

 to which time the principal com|>etitors were the 

 French manufacturers, but after the Franco-German 

 War the German factories rapidly took the lead, and 

 the period 1870 to 1880 must be recognised as that in 

 which British dye-making was definitely overtaken by 

 the German industry'. The causes of this change are 

 easy to recognise. The liberal Government subsidy 

 to the German universities, wisely paid out of the 

 enormous indemnity wrung from the defeated French 

 nation, resulted in producing a rapidly increasing army 

 of well-trained and enthusiastic voung German 

 chemists, who were quickly absorbed by the chemical 

 factories. These were strengthened also by several 

 older chemists, who, discouraged by the outlook for 

 chemistry in this countri', left the colour factories in 

 which they had been working and returned to their 

 own country- in search of more agreeable conditions. 

 Moreover, Prof. Hofmann had already left this 

 country' in i86q, and, occupying the professorship of 

 chemistry in Berlin University, was largelv instru- 

 mental in buildinq- ud the German school of organic 

 chemistry. Dr. Forster said that ten to fifteen years 

 would be required before this country would be able to 

 equal the position of Germany in regard to dye- 

 making, and then only if the same principle of patient 

 inquir}' into scientific principles, liberal expenditure on 

 chemistry and chemists, thoughtful attention to the 

 requirements of customers, strict self-control in the dis- 

 tribution of profits, and constant dev^otion of these to 

 further developments were observed. The establish- 

 ment of synthetic indigo manufacture on a commercial 

 basis was the outcome of close and svstematlc study 

 by a large number of German chemists, who were 

 subsidised by a company sufficiently courageous to 

 spend money in this manner rather than distribute it 

 as dividends to shareholders. It is only by following 

 these same processes of development that we can earn 

 the right to take credit to our countrymen for the 

 aniline colour industry. 



NO. 2548. VOL. lOl] 



HIGH-TENSION MAGNETOS. 



THE British Scientific Products Exhibition at 

 King's College, London, organised by the British 

 Science Guild, provides many encouraging examples 

 of the success of British engineers in applying the 

 results of scientific research. Many visitors interested 

 in applications of electrical science are impressed b\ 

 the range of magnetos exhibited, not only because it 

 represents the successful establishment in Great 

 Britain of an industry which was formerly a German 

 monopoly, but also because the development pf that 

 industry has accelerated progress in numerous branches 

 of scientific industry. It is no exaggeration to say 

 that the degree of success achieved in the develop- 

 ment of the combustion motor has at all stages been 

 primarily dependent upon the efficiency of the ignition 

 system used, and that the rapid strides which have 

 during recent years been made in the construction of 

 the petrol motor have mainly resulted from the very 

 satisfactory high-tension ignition system that has been 

 available. 



During the past twenty years we have witnessed 

 the birth and healthy development of high-tension ig- 

 nition in the form of the magneto, and the wonderful 

 efficiency of this system, coupled with its extreme 

 flexibility — enabling one magneto to cope with almost 

 any number of cylinders — is primarily responsible for 

 the enormous advances which have taken place in the 

 application of the petrol motor to industrial and, in 

 more recent times, to war purposes Prior to the 

 outbreak of war the number of high-tension magnetos 

 being produced in this country formed a negligible 

 proportion of the total number used for a variety of 

 purposes. Through laxity on our part, this most vital 

 " key " industry was allowed to develop in Germany, 

 but it is satisfactory to know that the war has taught 

 us a lesson in this respect, and the exhibition demon- 

 strates how effectively this lesson has been learned. 

 During the past four years three hundred thousand 

 magnetos have been manufactured for war service 

 j alone, and what is even more important is that, 

 I according to those in a position to judge, the British 

 I magneto, as at present constructed, is more than 

 equal to the pre-war Bosch magneto emanating 

 from Stuttgart. This is sufficient testimony that 

 British manufacturers have done their duty. 



All electrical systems of ignition are direct descend- 

 ants of Faraday's great discovery of electro-magnetic 

 induction in 183 1, when for the first time in the 

 world's history he succeeded in producing a spark by 

 electro-magnetic means. The first system of electric 

 ignition ever used was devised by Lenoir in 1S60. He 

 utilised the high-tension spark of a Ruhmkorfi' coil for 

 ignition purposes, employing a high-tension distributor 

 for connecting the secondary winding, first to one plug 

 and then to the other. It is worth noting that the 

 modern battery system of ignition now used exten- 

 sively in America is strikingly similar to the old 

 Lenoir system, even to the detail of introducing an 

 extremdy small air gap between the rotating metal 

 brush and the distributor segment — a method of dis- 

 tribution that is now being followed on magnetos. 

 Marcus appears to have been the first man to con- 

 struct a magneto for ignition purposes. His was a 

 low-tension machine having the now familiar form 

 of H-armature, the current induced in the winding 

 being broken at pre-determined times in the cylinder 

 by a system of cams and levers. This system was 

 further developed in i8qS by Simms and Bosch, using 

 a fixed H «»rmature and rotating segments for pro- 

 ducing the necessary flu.x changes in the armature core. 

 This is of special interest because afterwards, bv the 



