390 



NATURE 



[January 17, 19 18 



pressed their gratitude, on behalf of the nation whose 

 treasures they hold in trust, to the newspapers which 

 so unanimously gave voice to the public disapproval 

 of a proposal which threatened the safety of the 

 museum and its collections. 



Reports and opinions relating to the "capture" of 

 257 recipes for manufacturing dyes produced by the 

 Badische Company appeared in the Daily Mail of 

 January lo and following days, and the subject has 

 been much commented on by other journals. It has been 

 rightly pointed out that the view that the knowledge 

 thus gained will enable us after the war to compete 

 with Germany in every line of dyed goods is too 

 sanguine, and that, although the possession of these 

 recipes may undoubtedly be of considerable assistance, 

 it is a comparatively small item in the general scheme 

 that it is necessary should be organised for the satis- 

 factory establishment of the dye industry in this coun- 

 try. The provision of buildings, plant, and labour is 

 not easy under war conditions, and, of course, more 

 chemists and engineers are required. Were all these 

 readily available, however, it is doubtful whether the 

 inexpert organisations controlling most of the under- 

 takings in England could hope to establish one of the 

 most scientific of industries. In the extensive litera- 

 ture on this subject that has appeared during the last 

 three years the necessity for chemists, engineers,, and 

 plant has been repeatedly urged, but the outstanding 

 feature of the great German organisations, namely, that 

 the boards of directors can, and do, direct their busi- 

 nesses, seems to have been overlooked. If, as is sug- 

 gested, the Government can be induced to acquire these 

 257 recipes for the benefit of the nation an admirable 

 opportunity will arise of organising the industry as a 

 whole. More than twenty firms are now advertising 

 the sale of dyes manufactured by themselves, but it 

 IS evident that each has started independently, with 

 the result that the majority are making " sulphide " 

 dyes. Unless some mutual arrangement can be made 

 according to which the whole field of manufacture is 

 divided out in order to prevent undue overlapping and 

 to provide a wide range of products, many of these 

 praiseworthy beginnings will inevitably come to an 

 early end. 



The following official announcement was made on 

 Monday : — It is with great regret that the Secretary 

 of State for War has decided that the time has come 

 when Surgeon-General Sir Alfred Keogh, G.C.B., 

 Director-General of Army Medical Services, must be 

 permitted to resume his duties as General Executive 

 Officer to the Imperial College of Science and Tech- 

 nology, and he will be replaced at the War Office from 

 March i next by Col. T. H. J. C. Goodwin, Royal 

 Army Medical Corps, until recently the Assistant Direc- 

 tor of Medical Services to the British Recruiting Mis- 

 sion in America, who will be appointed Acting Direc- 

 tor-General of Army Medical Services. Sir Alfred 

 Keogh 's services were placed by the governors of the 

 Imperial College of Science and Technology at the 

 disposal of the War Office at the beginning of the war, 

 and, although during tlje last three years they have 

 on several occasions requested that he should return 

 to his former duties owing to the development of 

 matters of great national urgency which are delayed 

 by his absence, it has not hitherto been possible to 

 spare him. It is very largely due to Sir A. Keogh 's 

 intimate knowledge and grasp of all matters connected 

 with the Army Medical Services and the medical pro- 

 fession generally that the medical needs of the Army 

 have been met to the fullest extent during the war, 

 and he has been able to secure the assistance and advice 

 of various committees of eminent consultants, which 



NO. 2516, VOL. 100] 



it is hoped will continue to' be at the disposal of his 

 successor. — We understand that Sir Alfred Keogh has 

 for some time desired to return to his work at the 

 Imperial College. The Royal Army Medical Corps as 

 it now exists is essentially his creation, and his organ- 

 isation of it to the present state of efficiency^ and 

 strength is a high testimony to his great administra- 

 tive powers and an achievement of which the nation 

 is justly proud. 



The National Museum of Wales has received an im- 

 portant addition to its collections through the gift by 

 Lord Rhondda of the " Rippon " collection of insects, 

 shells, and minerals. The late Mr. Robert H. F. 

 Rippon was an enthusiastic and careful collector, and 

 is well known to entomologists as the author and illus- 

 trator of " Icones Ornithopterorum." By dint of 

 assiduous labour dunng more than forty years he 

 accumulated very extensive collections, which are espe- 

 cially rich in Lepidoptera; there are more than 3000 

 specimens of Papilionidae and more than 5000 of 

 Nymphalidae, the whole insect collection consisting of 

 above 100,000 specimens. In addition to the more 

 showy forms, such as the cones, cowries, olives, 

 volutes, and the like, the shells include a long series 

 of land shells from the tropics and the islands of the 

 Pacific Ocean. As these collections are mainly exotic, 

 they will supplement, and not duplicate, those already 

 in the museum, which are for the most part British. 

 It remains to be added that the specimens are in excel- 

 lent condition, and the localities have in almost all 

 cases been recorded. Another welcome gift recently 

 received by the museum has been the British Hemi- 

 ptera, Neuroptera, and allied groups from the 

 "Briggs" collection, which were presented by Mr. 

 Ernest Heath. 



What has been done to make use of waste stores in 

 the Army is described m a reply given by Mr. Bonar 

 Law to a question asked by Mr. Herbert Samuel, 

 chairman of the Select Committee on National Expen- 

 diture. A Salvage Board has been formed, with the 

 Quartermaster-General as' chairman, to deal with the 

 use and disposal of all waste stores. The following are 

 amongst the results achieved :■ — (i) From waste fats 

 collected from Army camps alone have been produced : 

 (i) Tallow sufficient to provide soap for the entire needs 

 of the Army, Navy, and Government Departments, 

 with a surplus for public use, producing an actual re- 

 venue of about 960,000^. per annum, in addition 

 to saving valuable tonnage; (ii) 1800 tons of glycerine 

 for ammunition — sufficient to provide the propellant for 

 18,000,000 i8-pr. shells. The glycerine costs the 

 Government 59Z. los. per ton as compared with 300?. 

 per ton, the price of imported glycerine. (2) Well 

 above i,ooo,oooL worth of military rags have been 

 recovered and used in the manufacture of new 

 cloth and blankets for the Army. (3) Many thousands 

 of pounds' worth of cuttings from cotton textiles have 

 also been recovered and. utilised in connection with 

 munition and aeroplane requirements. (4) Some hun- 

 dreds of thousands of pounds' worth of condemned 

 boots have, after the expenditure of some labour in 

 sorting and minor repairs at very small cost, been sold 

 for distribution among the labouring classes, agricul- 

 tural and industrial 



Among the changes recently announced as having 

 been made at the Admiralty one has reference to the 

 organisation of the Admiralty Board of Invention and 

 Research. The object of the. change is to secure 

 greater concentration of effort in connection with scien- 

 tific research, and to ensure that the men of science 

 who are giving their assistance to the Admiralty are 



