278 



NATURE 



[May 31, 1917 



the British Westinghouse Company, Ltd, (who visited 

 the United States in the year 1915 for the purpose of 

 inquiring into the organisation ol industrial research), 

 that there are probably more than hfly industrial 

 concerns which have established research laboratories 

 on an extensive scale, and that many of these labora- 

 tories expend from 20,000/. to 60,000/. a year on 

 research work. 



The Eastman Kodak Company. — The laboratories 

 of this company 'at Rochester, N.Y., are maintained 

 at an annual cost of about 20,000/., and are generally 

 considered to be among the finest in the country. 



The Mulford Company.- — This company, founded in 

 1894 ''^^ Philadelphia, artords an excellent illustration 

 of what can be accomplished by the adoption of 

 scientific research and the application of science to 

 industry. The company now has a capital of 400,000/., 

 it employs 1400 persons on wages, and its scientific 

 staff comprises about sixty graduate chemists, pharma- 

 cists, bacteriologists, and physicians. The company 

 manufactures drugs, and specialises in the production 

 of serums, anti-toxins, and vaccines. 



The American Rolling Mill Company. — This com- 

 pany, which has a number of factories, is a large 

 producer of sheet iron and steel. The laboratories 

 comprise works laboratories in which routine testing 

 and the elimination of manufacturing troubles are 

 dealt with, and a separate research laboratorj*, estab- 

 lished in 1910 at a cost of 10,000/. 



The Detroit Edison Company. — This company main- 

 tains a small research laboratory, partly lor the 

 purpose of investigating troubles incident to the 

 smooth working of the technical side of the enterprise, 

 and partly for investigating the utilisation of electrical 

 energy for special purposes. 



The National Electric Lamp Association. — This 

 association comprises about twenty electric lamp 

 factories in different parts of the States. The research 

 laboratories, at which there are about 200 employees, 

 comprise fifteen separate laboratories, in addition to 

 a niodel lamp factory, in which the results of laboratory 

 investigations are tested and developed on a manu- 

 facturing scale. Another laboratory is maintained for 

 testing and standardising the products of the factories. 

 There is also a separate department which specialises 

 in the development of automatic tools for lamp 

 making. The scientific and technical members of the 

 staff are drawn almost entirely from the universities. 



The Pennsylvania Railiiiay Company. — This com- 

 pany has an extensive research laboratory with a staff 

 of more than 300. The investigations are connected 

 mainly with materials utilised in railway work, and 

 elaborate chemical, physical, and electrical equipment 

 is provided. There is also a laboratory on a workshop 

 scale used for the development of results obtained in 

 the research laboratories. 



The National Cash Register Company. — The re- 

 search laboratory of this company at the works at 

 Dayton, Ohio, is equipped for chemical, physical, and 

 microscopic investigations. The staff of the laboratory 

 numbers fifteen, about two-thirds of whom are uni- 

 versity or technological college graduates. But little 

 work of- a purely scientific nature is undertaken, the 

 investigations being directed mainly to the elimination 

 of manufacturing troubles and improvements in the 

 materials used. 



The General Electric Company. — This company 

 organised a department of chemical and physical 

 research in 1901, with an initial capital expenditure 

 of about 3000/., and an annual expenditure of 600/. 

 The investigations undertaken w-ere connected directly 

 with the field of electric engineering. At the present 

 time the capital exoenditure on the laboratory exceeds 

 100,000/., while the annual expenditure is about 

 50,000/. The staff comprises about 200 men. 



NO. 2483, VOL. 99] 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



London. — An offer from the Rhodes Trustees to 

 subscribe 50/. a year for three years for the provision 

 of secretarial assistance for the Standing Committee 

 of the Imperial Studies Committee has been accepted 

 by the Senate with thanks. 



The thanks of the Senate have been accorded to the 

 Society of Antiquaries for the renewal for a further 

 period of five years of the Franks studentship founded 

 by them in memory of Sir A, Wollaston Franks, 

 K.C.B., for the promotion of the study of the archaeo- 

 logy of the British Isles in its comparative aspects. 



The following doctorates have been conferred :— 

 D.Sc. in Psychology: Mr. E. N. McQueen, an in- 

 ternal student, of University College, for a thesis 

 entitled "The Distribution of Attention"; D.Sc. in 

 Botany : Miss Lilian J. Clarke, an external student, 

 for a thesis dealing with various experiments in botany 

 gardens, and other papers ; Mr. R. C. Knight, an_ ex- 

 ternal student, for a thesis entitled "The Interrelations 

 of Stomatal Af>erture, Leaf Water-content, and Trans- 

 spiration Rate," and other papers ; and Mr. S. G. 

 Paine, an external student, for a thesis entitled "The 

 Permeability of the Neash Cell," and other papers. 



As was explained in these columns at the time, the 

 Board of Education in July, 1914, proposed in Circu- 

 lar 849 to institute two annual examinations, a lower 

 and a higher, for grant-earning secondary schools, 

 to be conducted by university examining bodies in 

 close co-oj>eration with the Board of Education. In 

 January, 1916, the Board announced that the pro- 

 posals must be considered to be in abeyance, as the 

 necessary financial aid was not forthcoming. The 

 Board of Education now announces in Circular 996 the 

 formation of a Secondary Schools' Examinations 

 Council, the main function of which, we learn from 

 the Times, will be the co-ordination of the numerous 

 examinations to which secondary schools at present 

 submit their pupils. The new council is to consist of 

 eighteen persons, appointed by the universities and 

 other bodies, in<5luding four by the Teachers' Registra- 

 tion Council. 



The Appointments Board of the University of Lon- 

 don has issued a pamphlet describing its aims and 

 work. Founded eight years ago, it has had its own 

 secretary for the last six years, and has dealt with 

 2500 students and graduates, for many of whom it has 

 found posts. While a large proportion of the posts 

 filled have been in the teaching profession, the board 

 is endeavouring to induce a greater number of gradu- 

 ates to enter business houses, and, on the other hand, 

 is pointing out to employers the advantages of having 

 well-educated men and women on their staffs. The 

 present pamphlet gives no hint to intending clients as 

 to the directions in which business of)enings are most 

 likely to be found, but in a recent report of the 

 board to the Senate of the University it was stated 

 that a great demand exists at the present time for 

 men and women wi^h a scientific training in engineer- 

 ing, physics, or chemistry, and that this demand would 

 probably continue after the war. The supply of such 

 men and women is altogether too inadequate, and it 

 seems to be the dutv of our universities to increase the 

 supply as soon as possible. If the experience of the 

 Appointments Boards of the other universities is in 

 any wav like that of the London board, the fact is of 

 f^reat interest to the parents of future university 

 students, and should not remain buried in the minutes 

 of university bodies, but should be made known to 

 I the public without delay. 



