January 3, 19 18] 



NATURE 



353 



with the horticulture and popularisation of colonial 

 plant products, and N. Lalli6 (500 francs), for his book, 

 " Les moteurs agricoles"; the Henry Wilde prize be- 

 tween A. Claude (2000 francs), for his researches in 

 astronomy and physics, and Georges Sagnac (2000 

 francs), for an apparatus useful in national defence; 

 the Gustave Roux prize to Joseph Guyot, for his con- 

 tributions to physics; the Thorlet prize to Adolph 

 Richard, for his work in connection with catalogues 

 of scientific periodicals in Paris libraries. The Lanne- 

 longuc foundation is divided between Mmes. Cusco and 

 Riick; the Tr^mont foundation (1000 francs) to Charles 

 , Fremont, for his researches on the working of metals ; 



the Gegner foundation to Ferdinand Gonnard, for his 

 work in crystallography and mineralogy; the Henri 

 Becquerel foundation to (the late) Bernard Collin 

 (1500 francs). 



The Vaillant, Fourneyron, Pierson-Perrin, Damoi- 

 seau, Pierre Guzman, G. de Pont^coulant, Bryant, 

 Godard, M^ge Argut, Fanny Emden, Alhumbert, Lon- 

 champt, Laplace, Rivot, and Normal School prizes 

 were not awarded this vear. 



COMMITTEE ON THE CHEMICAL TRADE. 

 'IP HE Committee appointed by the Minister of Re- 

 -^ construction to advise as to the procedure which 

 should be adopted for dealing with the chemical trade 

 has now concluded its deliberations and issued its 

 report (Cd. 8882, price id. net). The Committee was 

 appointed (i) to advise as to the procedure which 

 should be adopted by the Minister of Reconstruction 

 for dealing with the chemical trade ; (2) to consider and 

 report upon any matters affecting the chemical trade 

 which could be more effectively dealt with by the forma- 

 tion of special organisations for the purpose, and to 

 make suggestions in regard to the constitution and 

 functions of any such organisation. 



The members of the Committee are : — Sir Keith W. 

 Price (chairman), Mr. John Anderson, M». J. F. L. 

 Brunner, Dr. Charles Carpenter, Prof. J. G^ Lawn, 

 Sir William Pearce, Mr. K. B. Quinan, the Right 

 Hon. J. W. Wilson, and Mr. G. C. Smallwood (secre- 

 tary). The report of the Committee is here sum- 

 marised. 



It is evident that during the process of reconstruc- 

 tion numerous difficult problems and questions are 

 likely to arise in connection with the chemical trade. 

 The Committee is of opinion that these can be satisfac- 

 torily settled onlv by the closest collaboration between 

 the Minister of Reconstruction and the representatives 

 of the trade, and it appears to be necessary that the 

 Minister should be in a position to obtain the views 

 both of the trade as a whole and, in the case of par- 

 ticular problems, of that branch of the trade directly 

 concerned. 



This end could probably be attained in a satisfactory 

 manner if there were in the chemical trade a repre- 

 sentative body, which could advise the Minister and 

 act in a consultative capacity on chemical matters. 

 ; Such a bodv should be fully representative of the whole 

 of the trade, and the difficulty of the Committee lies 

 in naming an association which could be said com- 

 pletely to fulfil this condition. 



The Committee is of opinion that, in dealing with 

 the chemical trade, the Minister of Reconstruction 

 could properlv act in collaboration with the Associa- 

 tion of British Chemical Manufacturers. It is further 

 of opinion that with a view to convenience of prac- 

 tical working, and in order to establish the permanent 

 '" link which should exist between the Ministrv and the 



trade in all its branches, a standing committee should 

 be established fully r^resentative of all the interests 

 concerned. 



NO. 2514, VOL. 100] 



As to points of reference No. 2, the opinion is expressed 

 that whatever may be the functions of the Ministry of Re- 

 construction, it will be necessary to establish a section 

 of that department which will be in a position to deal 

 with matters which may arise in connection with the 

 chemical trade. The appointment to the Ministry of 

 Reconstruction of a scientific man of good standing, 

 who would command the respect and confidence of the 

 trade, together with the necessary staff, is suggested. 

 This section, working in conjunction with the standing 

 committee previously mentioned, would provide the 

 Minister with an adequate organisation for dealing 

 with such questions connected with the chemical trade. 

 The following would represent some of the duties of 

 this section : — 



(i) To ascertain with the assistance of the standing^ 

 committee the chief problems which are likely to arise 

 in the process of reconstruction after the war, and the 

 best means of dealing with them. (2) To survey gener- 

 ally the chemical trade, both at home and abroad, 

 and in consultation with the standing committee to 

 afford advice for the broadening and improvement of 

 the chemical trade of this country. (3) To collect and 

 disseminate information on, and statistics of, the 

 chemical trade. (4) To collect and collate as much 

 information as is available on the work which has been 

 done during the present war, which would, no doubt, 

 be of great interest and assistance to the chemical 

 trade as a whole. 



The Committee states in the report that it has confined 

 its recommendations within the narrow limits defined 

 by the terms of reference, which speak only of " chem- 

 ical trade." If, however, for that expression were 

 substituted " the National Chemical Industry," a much 

 broader purview would be involved, and specific refer- 

 ence would be necessary to existing organisations other 

 than those specificallv founded for "trade" purposes, 

 among which mav be mentioned : — ^The Society of 

 Chemical Industry, the Government Laboratory, the 

 Committee of the Privv Council for Scientific and In- 

 dustrial Research, the Imperial Institute, the National 

 Physical Laboratory, and the Chemical Society. 



Summary of Recommendations. 



1. That in dealing with the problems of the chemical 

 trade action should be taken so far as possible in the 

 closest collaboration with representatives of the trade. 



2. That the Association of British Chemical Manu- 

 facturers should be considered as representative of the 

 chemical trade as a whole with certain branches ex- 

 cepted. 



3. That a standing committee should be ap{X)inted. 

 This committee, which should be fully representative 

 of all the interests concerned, would establish a per- 

 manent link between the Ministry and the trade. 



4. That a departmental organisation should be set 

 up in the Ministry of Reconstruction to deal with 

 chemical questions. 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF LEARNINGS 



TN the hope of throwing fresh light on the obscure 

 -■• problem of what goes on when animals " learn," 

 Mr. Joseph Peterson has tested the effect of altering 

 the length of culs-de-sac in the mazes which white 

 rats were asked to solve on their way to the food-box. 

 There is no doubt that the animals can learn ; the 

 question is, What precisely happens? and it is plain 

 that the answer is not going to be easy. ' Organisms 

 are very complex creatures, and animal behaviour in 



1 " The Effect of Length of Blind Alleys on Maze I.earninff. An Experi- 

 ment on Twenty-four While Rats." By Joseph Peterson. Behaviour 

 Monographs, vol. iii., No. 4. Pp. 53. (1917.) 



