ii8 



NATURE 



[October ii, 191 7 



porcelain, should bave applied themselves to this par- 

 ticular demand, and while the English porcelain manu- 

 facturers were busy on their own particular class of 

 porcelains they should have almost entirely secured 

 the trade of the world in this branch. 



With the cessation of the importation of Continental 

 porcelain into this country came the call to the English 

 potter, and, as might have been expected, it was not 

 every manufacturer that would listen to the call ; 

 neither was it needful that he should. 



There was no very tempting offer of any lucrative 

 opening in the new business, and a potter must be 

 more tempted by patriotism to his country, and a desire 

 to meet its needs, than by immediate prospective finan- 

 cial success. 



It is almost impossible to give a definition of chem- 

 ical porcelain which could generally be regarded as 

 entirely satisfactory. When first porcelain was intro- 

 duced into Europe, its translucency was sufficient to 

 differentiate it from all other ceramic productions of 

 that period. 



We have seen that in the attempts to produce a simi- 

 lar porcelain in Great Britain and on the Continent other 

 kinds of 'translucent pottery were discovered, which are 

 known under other names, such as bone china, .soft- 

 paste porcelain, etc., the first of which for more 

 than a century has held its own amongst the finest 

 productions of the world. 



It is quite clear, then, that what was once the pre- 

 dominant and characteristic definition of Chinese and 

 Continental hard-paste porcelain is so no longer, and 

 translucency alone could never be regarded as the 

 guarantee of chemical porcelain. Translucency is only 

 one of the properties of porcelain, and that rather of 

 beauty than utility, as evidenced by the fact that so 

 much of the beautiful translucent porcelain of England 

 has been found useless for the purposes we have in our 

 minds at the moment. 



More than 150 years' experience of the manufacture 

 of hard-paste porcelain at the State-supported Royal 

 Factory of Berlin, the experience of which was placed 

 at the disposal of the porcelain trade of Germany, 

 gave it a tremendous advantage over the English manu- 

 facturer. It was therefore no light task for an English 

 manufacturer, minus that experience, under entirely 

 different conditions, with all the models and moulds 

 to prepare, to attempt the task. Some three or four 

 English_ manufacturers, however, have attempted the 

 same with very considerable success. 



While I cannot speak with any degree of confidence 

 in relation to the manufacture or supply of other fac- 

 tories than our own, I think I may safely say that 

 there is now no very serious occasion to go abroad for 

 any of the chemical porcelain accessories needed in this 

 country. 



In spite of all the difficulties surrounding the 

 problem, English samples were in the hands of the 

 dealers for testing purposes in November, 19 14. On 

 January 20, 1915, deliveries were commenced. The 

 permanent success of the venture for all the firms 

 concerned will depend upon the behaviour in use. 



Doubtless demand will be made upon our manufac- 

 turers, from time to time, for very special articles, 

 such as the condensing worms as shown in the Royal 

 Berlin Catalogue, p. 107, but if our Government will 

 behave towards British potters as Continental countries 

 have done to theirs, such articles will be made by 

 special assistance. 



We cannot refrain from expressing a sense of satis- 

 faction that something has already been done by mak- 

 ing a grant of id.oool. to the North Staffs. Technical 

 School, Stoke-on-Trent, for experimental work in con- 

 nection with hard-paste porcelain, and extensive scien- 

 tific research work in that direction is being carried 

 out under the superintendence of Dr. Mellor. 

 NO. 2502, VOL. too] 



With regard to the future of the trade, it may be 

 well to repeat that the English potters for two years 

 now have supplied Great Britain with nearly all that 

 has been needed for scientific work, as also for chem- 

 ical processes in connection with the war. The cry, 

 therefore, that it cannot be done is no longer ad- 

 missible. 



We may not at present have succeeded in making 

 anything superior to the German production, but 1 

 venture to say that in much less time than chemical 

 hard-paste porcelain has been manufactured our coun- 

 try will be making something superior. 



Much will depend on conditions prevailing after the 

 war as to the permanent success of the undertaking. 

 That there will be a keen fight for the trade need 

 scarcely be said. The Germans will not very willingly 

 relinquish their hold upon a trade they have held so 

 long. Other countries also will compete. France, 

 Denmark, Japan, and Russia have already commenced 

 to supply, and the Engineer says :■ — " Like this coun- 

 try, America, prior to the war, depended upon Ger- 

 many for porcelain articles* used in chemical work, 

 and especially for laboratory work. Since the war the 

 German supply has ceased, and much inconvenience 

 was caused to chemists across the Atlantic. Tp-day, 

 however, we learn that American pottery manufac- 

 turers are producing porcelain equal to any produced 

 in Germany." 



The aim' of the English potter in relation to this 

 matter should be not slavishly to copy the hardHpaste 

 porcelain, but rather to follow the method pursued in 

 the past, viz. to produce his own particular type of 

 porcelain; but in this case it should be a porcelain 

 suited to the particular requirements. The occasion 

 is ripe for the introduction of something better than 

 anything yet produced, and whatever the slight differ- 

 ence as to the colour and the degree of translucency, 

 the main endeavour should be to produce a porcelain 

 that will fulfil the requirements demanded of it. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Cambridge. — The Rev. T. C. Fitzpatrick, president 

 of Queens' College, who has held the office of Vice- 

 Chancellor during the past two years, made, in accord- 

 ance with the usual custom, an address to the Senate 

 on vacating this office on the first day of the Michael- 

 mas term. He referred to the loss which the Univer- 

 sity had sustained during the past academic year 

 through the death of, amongst others, Mr. Charles 

 Smith, master of Sidney Sussex College; Prof. T. 

 McKenny Hughes, who had held the Woodwardian 

 professorship since 1873; Dr. W. H. Besant, the oldest 

 living Senior Wrangler; Dr. Keith Lucas, who lost 

 his life bv an .aeroplane accident; and Mr. W. E. Hart- 

 ley, first assistant at the Observatory, who was killed 

 in the explosion on H.M.S. Vanguard. He reported 

 that the work of all the departments of the University 

 had been maintained during the past year, though 

 the number of students had again decreased. There 

 were in residence in the Michaelmas term of 1916 444 

 undergraduates, as against 825 in the Michaelmas term 

 of 1915. The number of Cambridge men on service 

 had increased to 14,450. The list of killed now num- 

 bered 1872, of wounded and missing 2622. 

 The honours won , numbered 2855, and in- 

 cluded eight V.C.'s, 210 D.S.O.'s, and 729 

 M.C.'s. Besides those serving with the forces, 

 m.any members of the electoral roll were engaged on 

 war service of various kinds. 



Among the reports approved by the Senate during 

 the year was an amended report on degrees for re- 

 search, including recommendations which were not in 



