^o8 



NATURE 



[November 15, 191 7 



ever to<?k a holrday. He was at school at Cannes, 

 and at that time the French took less interest in 

 sports and games than they do now, so that he 

 had none of that love for outdoor pursuits which 

 is so characteristic of the average Englishman. 

 He had no enemies, for everyone who knew him 

 liked him for his kindliness and his extraordinary 

 modesty, though, when the occasion arose, he 

 could show great firmness and decision. He will 

 long be remembered as a great man of science 

 and a great gentleman. E. W. Marchant. 



NOTES. 



' In its column entitled "Through German Eyes," the 

 Times of November 13 gives prominence to notices 

 appearing in German newspapers of further important 

 steps now, being taken to strengthen and consolidate 

 the great dye syndicate, of which the seven largest 

 firms control a capital of nearly i2,ooo,oooL The 

 three largest undertakings in this group, namely, the 

 Hochst cOloiir works, the Badische Anilin- und Soda- 

 Fabrik, and the Bayer colour factories, are each to 

 increase their capital from 2,700,000?. to 4,500,000!. 

 These increases of capital, raised by the Rhenish firms 

 themselves, will be supplemented by additional sums to 

 be .provided by the German Government, so that the 

 total capital will be more than 2o,ooo,oooL The German 

 Press appreciates fully the prominent part played by 

 chemical indusitry in the war, and attributes largely to 

 this group' of factories the extraordinary striking force 

 displayed by Germany on the fields of battle. The 

 intimate relationship between synthetic dyes and high 

 explosives has slowly dawned on the British public, but 

 it is deplorable that even after three years of war 

 the English colour industry is in a position even more 

 disorganised and chaotic than it was at the outbreak 

 of hostilities. A beginning of co-ordination and co- 

 operation in dye production has developed among the 

 Lancashire firms, but the State-aided company which 

 was to have united the colour trade and to have 

 administered the research grant of i2o,oooZ. for the 

 benefit of all the manufacturers concerned, so far from 

 effecting these vital improvements, has actually been 

 the direct exciting cause of additional friction and 

 needless internal competition. Now that public ap- 

 peals are being made for more Government support 

 for this company it is surely time that a non-political, 

 impartial Parliamentary inquiry should be set on foot 

 to ascertain how the earlier grants have been expended, 

 and whether the existing organisation is adequate to 

 meet the competition of a powerful enemy syndicate 

 operating under eSipert and scientific management. 



In a speech delivered on November 8 the President 

 of the Board of Agriculture again directed public atten- 

 tion to the gravity of the food outlook, and outlined 

 clearly the concatenation of circumstances which render 

 it inevitable that even the establishment of peace cannot 

 bring automatically the proverbially associated plenty. 

 Of special interest was Mr. Prothero's warning that 

 the productive power of the soil of Europe is falling. 

 Not only have large cultivated areas become desolate 

 wastes through the direct ravages of warfare, but even 

 regions remote from the firing line are losing their 

 fertility for want of labour and fertilisers ._ That is 

 true of Germany ; it is also true of areas in this country. 

 Mr. Prothero pointed out that the yield per acre fell in 

 1916; it has fallen still further in 1917, and, so far 

 as existing areas go, will almost certainly undergo a 

 further decrease. On broad general grounds this pre- 

 diction is doubtless reasonably probable, but statis- 

 ticians will scarcely regard the results of the last two 

 seasons as a sufficient basis for such a broad generalisa- 



NO. 2507, VOL. 100] 



tion, especially as these have been years in which 

 natural conditions alone have notoriously been un- 

 favourable to a heavy grain crop. The average yield 

 of wheat per acre in England and Wales this year is 

 estimated at 29-88 bushels, of barley at 30-36 bush.,, 

 and of oats at 38-49 bush., as compared with 

 28-60 bush:, 31 II bush., and 39-95 bush, respectively 

 in 1916, and averages of 31-40 bush., 32-44 bush., and 

 4003 bush, respectively for the ten years 1907-16. These 

 differences are well within the range of natural varia- 

 tions, and can scarcely be adduced as evidence of 

 specific decline in fertility. It is certain, however, 

 that the increasing foulness of the arable land owing 

 to lack of adequate labour for the necessary cleaning 

 operations must tend towards a reduction of crop. 

 On the other hand, it is equally certain that an ex- 

 tended and more skilful use of fertilisers for corn crops 

 would lead to an appreciable increase of the average 

 yields. An instance in point is furnished by a report 

 on oat manuring experiments recently issued by the 

 West of Scotland Agricultural College, in which it is 

 recorded that on the average of seventeen experiments 

 in three years the oat yield of 41^ bush, on the 

 unmanured plot was increased fully 30 per cent, by the 

 combined use of superphosphate, kainit, and sulphate 

 of ammonia. The wheat crop offers probably less 

 scope for intensive manuring, but undoubtedly is 

 capable of very substantial improvement on many 

 farms. 



It was remarked in these columns, at the time of 

 the establishment of the Air Board, that more co- 

 ordination was needed between the various branches of 

 the Air Services, and that the Air Board should do 

 much to secure this end. The introduction of the Air 

 Force Bill shows that the Government now intends to 

 make such co-ordination complete by the establishment 

 of an Air Council, which is to enjoy a status similar 

 to that of the Admiralty and the Army Council. The 

 Times remarks that this is a landmark in the history 

 not only of aviation in this country, but also of the armed 

 forces of the Crown ; for it formally recognises the air 

 as a distinctive fighting element, and provides for the 

 establishment of a third service, to be called the Air 

 Force. Those whose labours lie in the field of scientific 

 aeronautical research will welcome the new regime as 

 a step of great importance. A closer connection is 

 very desirable between scientific work and practical 

 aircraft design, and there seems little doubt that this 

 end will be achieved much more rapidly if the present 

 air services are organised as a single force and con- 

 trolled by one central council. It is, indeed, a triumph 

 for aviation that in only a few years of development it 

 should rise to such importance as to cause the creation 

 of a third Service, and it is pleasing to reflect that 

 scientific research has played a very important part in 

 this rapid development of the new industry. 



A RECENT lecture delivered by Major Astor, M.P., 

 on " Health Problems and a State Ministry of Health," 

 at the Royal Institute of Public Health, was the third 

 of a series of lectures and discussions on public health 

 problems under war and after-war conditions. Not 

 unnaturally, on this occasion, the bulk of what the 

 speaker, and those who took part in the discussion, 

 had to say related to the Ministry of Health, and 

 Major Astor, having declared that the Local Govern- 

 ment Board, and not the Insurance Commission, would 

 form the best nucleus for a Health Ministry, there was 

 a tendency on the part of other speakers to take sides. 

 Amongst those who showed no inclination to declare 

 in favour of any particular body was Mr. H. A. L- 

 Fisher, President of the Board of Education, who pre- 

 sided over the meeting, and remarked, in the course 

 of his speech, that though, as matters now stood, there 

 was considerable possibility of overlapping, it did not 



