670 



NATURE 



[July 29, 1920 



the control of the Local Government should be 

 erected in each province near the chief seat of 

 industry in that province and that each Pro- 

 vincial Research Institute should be under a 

 Director of Research. 



(7) That the functions of the Central Imperial 

 Institute should be as foUovi^s : — 



(i) to create new industries and to carry out the 

 development of new processes up to the 

 "semi-large" scale or further if necessary, 

 («) to investigate those problems of a funda- 

 mental character, arising from the work of 

 the Provincial Institutes, which have been 

 transferred to the Central Institute by the 

 Local Director of Research in consultation 

 with the Director-General. Such problems 

 will be those which have no apparent im- 

 mediate practical importance but which, in 

 the opinion d? the Director-General and the 

 Director of Research, are likely to lead to 

 discoveries of fundamental industrial import- 

 ance affecting ' the industries of the country 

 generally, 



{in) to assist in the co-ordination of the work in 

 progress in the provinces : both by means of 

 personal discussion between the officers of the 

 Central and Provincial Institutes during the 

 course of the tours made by the Director- 

 General and the Deputy Directors and by 

 means of periodical conferences of Provincial 

 and Imperial officers, 



{iv) to carry out such analytical work as may be 

 required and to correlate the methods of 

 analysis in general use throughout the 

 country, 

 {v) to maintain a Bureau of Information and 

 Record Office, 



(w) to issue such publications as are considered 

 necessary. 



(8) That the functions of the Provincial Re- 

 Search Institutes should be as follows : — 



(t) to maintain close touch with the works 

 chemists and with the works generally and to 

 work out any problems which may ""be sub- 

 mitted to them, 



(u) to develop and place on an industrial scale 

 new industries which have been previously 

 worked out on the laboratory and "semi- 

 large " scale by the Central Imperial Institute, 



{in) to carry out such other work as may be 

 necessary to establish and foster new indus- 

 tries peculiar to the province, 



{iv) to carry out such analytical work of a 

 chemical character as may be required in the 

 province, 



{v) to erect and control sub-stations in such 

 parts of the province as the development of 

 industry may require. 



(9) That, under (8) {i) above, arrangements 

 should be made by which a firm supplying a prob- 

 lem should have the use of the solution for an 

 agreed period of time prior to its publication. 



(10) That members of the service sTiould be 

 NO. 2648, VOL. 105] 



lent to private firms as occasion demanded and 

 should during the period of their service be paid 

 an agreed sum by the firms. 



(ii) That the Research Institutes should not 

 undertake manufacture in competition with private 

 enterprise but that chemical industries developed 

 in accordance with (8) {ii) above should be handed 

 over to private firms as soon as practicable. 



(12) That, whenever necessary, experts should 

 be employed to establish chemical industries 

 based on known processes. 



Among the other recommendations are that 

 agricultural chemists should not at present be 

 included in the service; that a Ministry of Science 

 should be created as soon as practicable ; that a 

 Chemical Survey of India should be carried out 

 at the earliest possible moment; and that the 

 Government of India should give maintenance 

 and equipment grants to students, to enable them 

 to undergo the training in chemical research re- 

 quired for recruitment. 



It is not a little remarkable that the only 

 member of the Committee to take exception to 

 the creation of an all-India Chemical Service is 

 the one Indian member. Sir P. C. Ray. A 

 separate note is appended to the Report in which 

 he forcibly states his objections. Sir P. C. Rdy's 

 opinion must carry great weight, not only on 

 account of his long experience and his distinction 

 as a teacher and investigator but also because 

 of his familiarity with industrial requirements and 

 possibilities, he having long been concerned with 

 the management of a chemical works which he 

 was instrumental in establishing. The present 

 writer had the opportunity of visiting this works 

 when in Calcutta in November, 1914, and was 

 much struck by the ingenuity displayed in the 

 construction of the plant ; various heavy chemi- 

 cals were being made, including sulphuric acid,, 

 in substantial quantities. 



Although Sir P. C. Ray considers that the 

 days of Governrnent services are over and that 

 the development of industries by the agency of a 

 Government service is not the most suitable way 

 of deahng with the problem, yet he agrees that^ 

 if a Government service be constituted, the pro- 

 posals of the Committee represent the best 

 method of constituting and carrying on such a 

 service. His view is that better results would 

 be obtained by improving the teaching of chem- 

 istry in the Indian universities ; by attracting 

 brilliant young men by the offer of research 

 scholarships ; and by attaching technical institutes 

 to each university. 



The circumstances of India are so entirely 



