464 



NATURE 



Abstracts published by the American Chemical 

 Society since the beginning of the war. It is 

 claimed for this publication that, as the organ of 

 a society of some 9000 members, it has for years 

 covered the field of chemistry more thoroughly 

 than any foreign journal of the kind. It reviews 

 some 600 journals from all parts of the world, and 

 is therefore a sure index of the world's chemical 

 activity. The effect _ of the war on current 

 chemical literature is plainly evident from the 

 following figures : — • 



Total number of abstracts published (patents 

 included). 



In 1913 25,971 



In 1914 24,338 



In 1915 1^,449 



In 1916 15,784 



Certain foreign chemical journals have ceased 

 to be published since the war started, although 

 the number is not large. Most of the French and 

 German journals are published less frequently 

 than in normal times, two or more numbers being 

 contained within one cover. No important Eng- 

 lish, Italian, or Russian chemical journal has 

 ceased publication. Eight German, thirty-one 

 French, and seven Belgian periodicals more or 

 less connected with applied chemistry no longer 

 appear. Owing to the increased cost of paper, 

 wages, etc. , the cost of production of such as 

 continue to be printed has greatly increased. In 

 America, however, to judge from the cost of 

 Chemical Abstracts, the increase has not exceeded. 

 10 per cent. But this was before the entrance 

 of the United States into the war. 



As regards applied chemistry war has had two 

 mutually antagonistic effects — one retarding, the 

 other developing and benefiting. In the outset 

 the war struck at all the main factors of success 

 in chemical industry, and many branches in the 

 United States, such as |>etroleum refining, turpen- 

 tine and other wood products, were hard hit. 

 Important markets were suddenly lost, and the 

 importation of certain essential products ceased. 

 Ca;pital was, of course, at once discouraged, and 

 stagnation inevitably set in. That the great 

 German combines foresaw this result was evident 

 from the manner in which, prior to the outbreak, 



they organised American branches of their colour 

 works, eliminating American employees to conceal 

 the market and its peculiarities, and placing all their 

 business in the hands of "American citizens" of Ger- 

 man name. Then when the U.S. Bureau of Foreign 

 and Domestic Commerce attempted last September 

 to publish the amounts of each dye consumed in that 

 country, they vigorously protested that their rights as 

 American citizens were being infringed by encourag- 

 ing competition. The uncovering of this octopus to 

 public gaze should be set down to the war's credit. 

 It has long been a familiar animal to many industrial 

 chemists. 



The tentacles of the " familiar animal " stretch, as 

 is well known, even to this side of the Atlantic, 

 and have struck deep into our industries. We 

 may hope, in spite of Chancellor Michaelis, it is 

 in a fair way to b° exorcised. 



Much of Prof. Withrow's address is concerned 

 NO. 2493, VOL. 99] 



with the efforts which America has made, and is 

 making, to free herself from the toils of the 

 octopus, and he utters words of warning agamst 

 the feverish and unintelligent haste with which 

 she has thrown herself into the struggle. He 

 gives a number of instances in which in- 

 experienced capital has been led to squander 

 millions of dollars on the unsuccessful plants and 

 futile schemes of ignorant or unscrupulous 

 chemical engineers. It is a "hustling" time in 

 a country of "hustle" — with, as we are told, 

 "disastrous results to capital and grave loss of 

 confidence in chemical research." At the same 

 time there has been much real progress. "The 

 evils mentioned are largely growing pains." The 

 progress in industrial chemistry and chemical 

 engineering in America during the last three years 

 has been wonderful. 



"All this progress," says Prof. Withrow, "is in 

 spite of the war. War," he holds, " could force us 

 to do nothing we did not possess capacity for before. 

 . . . Industrial chemical tendencies during the war 

 have been governed by unusual demands for chemicals 

 from abroad in addition to war drains, healthy home 

 requirements, new demands from industries formerly 

 suppHed from abroad or forced to use new material 

 by scarcity or high prices, together with speculation, 

 raising prices to unusual levels. This resulted in ex- 

 pansion of existing plants, rapid installation of new 

 ones, hasty perfecting of new processes already slowly 

 maturing, and the seizing of opportunities to profit 

 by high prices through erection of small plants for the 

 production of special chemical materials and through 

 the development of processes hitherto existing as possi- 

 bilities only in the minds of chemists." 



As. was to be expected, this extraordinary 

 activity has reacted upon the developments of 

 chemical engineering and upon the manufacture 

 of chemical appliances and manufacturing plant, 

 and it is asserted that the progress in these de- 

 partments has been as great during the past three 

 years as has been accomplished in many previous 

 decades. ' 



It is gratifying to learn that this country is fully 

 awake to the necessity of studying the after-war 

 conditions of our chemical industries, as shown by 

 Dr. Addison's reply to a deputation of the Associa- 

 tion of ■ British Chemical Manufacturers which 

 recently waited upon him, in which the Minister 

 of Reconstruction suggested the formation of an 

 advisory committee which should co-operate with 

 him in considering tht: problems which had been 

 created by the large number of new factors arising 

 out of the war. He thought that if we did not , 

 succeed in placing some British industries on a 

 much firmer and more scientific foundation than 

 they were before the war, it would be very dis- 

 creditable to us all as a nation. This is un- 

 doubtedly a step in the right direction. , But 

 Heaven helps -thost who help themselves. How- 

 ever benevolent may be the intentions of a Govern-' 

 ment department, success will only be assured by 

 the intelligent initiative and firm co-operation of 

 the manufacturers themselves. To atternf>t to 

 shape their policy at the bidding of a bureaucracy 

 would almost certainlv end in disaster. 



T. E. Thorpe. 



