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NATURE 



[May 15, 1919 



production of indispensable colours, and to pre- 

 vent waste of energy and material on the manu- 

 facture of the less important of these products. 

 We now learn from a report issued by the 

 Commissioner for Dyes (Sir Evan D. Jones) that 

 an attempt in this direction was made so early 

 as September, 1914, by a committee of the 

 Society of Dyers and Colourists. This attempt, 

 however, was not successful in securing- the in- 

 formation so desirable in the interests of both 

 manufacturers and users. 



Nothing further was done until 1916, - when 

 an influential committee was formed, and, after 

 a number of meetings at the Board of Trade, a 

 list of the necessary dyestuffs was drawn up. The 

 committee was at that time unable to make any 

 progress in allocating the manufacture of these 

 dyestuffs among British manufacturers. Many 

 changes have, however, taken place since that 

 time, and such movements as the amalgamation 

 of Levinstein's with "British Dyes" is a step 

 which must have facilitated progress towards this 

 very desirable understanding among manufac- 

 turers. On the appointment of the Commissioner 

 in June, 1917, a renewed effort was made to com- 

 pile a census, and, with the assistance of Mr. 

 W. E. Kay, representing the Calico Printers' 

 Association, Ltd. ; Mr. Christopher Rawson, of 

 the British Cotton and Wool Dyers' Association, 

 Ltd. ; Mr. Thorp Whitaker, of the Bradford 

 Dyers' Association, Ltd. ; and Mr. Ernest Bentz, 

 of the English Sewing Cotton Co., Ltd., this has 

 now been done. 



The report (dated November i, 1918) shows the 

 quantities of synthetic dyestuffs imported into ' 

 this country during the year 191 3. These statistics \ 

 have been prepared from returns supplied by the j 

 representatives of the importing firms, and agree 

 substantially with the figures for the total im- 

 ports into this country during that year. The 

 census has been compiled from the dyer's point 

 of view rather than from that of the dye manu- 

 facturer, and the dyes have been classified accord- 

 ing to their dyeing qualities, and not according 

 to their chemical constitution. The difficulties of 

 classification have been considerable, owing to 

 the variety of distinctive names and the fact that 

 many of the colours are mixtures. The accuracy 

 of the amounts stated varies in certain cases, and 

 as regards some colours the figures under- 

 state the actual colour consumption in the country. 

 This necessarily arises from the fact that the list 

 gives the importations for one year only, and 

 more accurate figures could not be secured except 

 by taking the average of a series of years. 



The summary shows that in 1913 the total 

 weight of dyestuffs imported amounted to 

 40,071,368 lb. The great majority came from 

 Germany. Switzerland supplied important, 

 though relatively small, amounts of dyes of 

 all colours. These are, however, not shown 

 in detail, as the facts were supplied in confidence 

 by Swiss manufacturers, and the totals of each 

 class can alone be given. 



NO. 2585, VOL. 103] 



Section xii. contains an interesting list of inter- 

 mediate products, such as naphthols, naphthyl- 

 amines, the nitranilines, phenylglycine, resorcine, 

 etc., which are not dyes, but are necessary 

 to the production of dyes, as well as other pro- 

 ducts. 



It is hoped that the census will serve among 

 other things as a useful guide in estimating the 

 requirements of the colour-using industries, and 

 form a basis for determining the capacity of 

 plant which it may be necessary to erect. In the 

 present census about 10,000 colours are enume- 

 rated, but these do not represent nearly so large 

 a number of individual colouring matters. 



NOTES. 



An expedidon left this country recently, under the 

 auspices of the Royal Society, to make a scientific 

 survey of the pastoral peoples in East Central Africa. 

 It is hoped that a more careful study of the social 

 and economic conditions of these people will add con- 

 siderably to science, while a more accurate knowledge 

 of their physical conditions, mental abilities, and 

 relationship to each other will enable those concerned 

 to develop them so that they may become useful and 

 profitable members of the Empire. The tribes to be 

 visited are the Gallas near Mombasa, the Kikuyu and 

 Masai at Nairobi, the Ziba and Watuturu near Bukoba 

 on the west and south-west of Lake Victoria, the 

 Bahima of Ankole, the Banyoro, the Bagesu on Mount 

 Elgon, and the Gallas on the frontier of Abyssinia. 

 Then, following the Nile to Khartoum, it is pro- 

 posed to see as many Nilotic tribes as possible, paying 

 especial attention to the Banyuli and Badamu. The 

 expedition is under the direction of the Rev. John 

 Roscoe, rector of Ovington, formerly for many years 

 C.M.S. missionary in Uganda. Mr. Roscoe sailed in 

 the s.s. Clan Menzie on April 15, and will be away 

 for at least a year. The funds for the expedition have 

 been provided by the generosity of Mr. P. J. Mackie, 

 of Glenreasdell. The Royal Society was asked to under- 

 take the administration of Mr. Mackie 's gift, and 

 appointed a committee to control the expedition with 

 Prof. A. Keith as chairman. 



The retiring president of the Chemical Society 

 recently described to the members how British 

 chemists had managed greatly to outstrip German 

 chemists in the technical preparation of "mustard 

 gas," which is obtained by the interaction of ethylene 

 and sulphur chloride. The method devised was com- 

 municated to our Allies in France and in America. 

 An article on the United States Chemical Warfare 

 Service, appearing in the Scientific American for 

 March 29, shows what was being done in that country 

 as regards this and other "poison gases" when active 

 hostilities ceased last November. During the winter 

 of 19 17-18, as a result of the growing importance of 

 gas warfare and of the representations made by British 

 and French officials, the United States authorities 

 decided to erect a very large chlorine plant. The site 

 selected was largely farm land under cultivation, so 

 that housing accommodation had to be erected and 

 transport facilities provided before a start could be 

 made. By July the chlorine plant, designed to produce 

 100 tons per day, was ready to deliver chlorine, but 

 the chemical installation for working the gas up was 

 not so far advanced, and did not begin operations 

 until September. Nevertheless, at the close of hostili- 

 ties the staff had developed the gas-making facilities 



