May 29, 1 9 19] 



NATURE 



247 



welcome step of appointing^ a Board of Trade 

 Committee to investig-ate the water-power re- 

 sources of Great Britain and Ireland. Apart from 

 State-controlled undertakings, we have the activi- 

 ties of unofficial bodies like the Water-power Com- 

 mittee of the Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies, 

 the second report of which lies before us. It 

 is a useful statement of information gleaned from 

 inquiries in various parts of the world, but princi- 

 pally within the British Empire, since the 

 publication in July, 1918, of the first report, which 

 was summarised in Nature of September 19, 

 1918. It dwells particularly and justifiably on the 

 great strides which are being made in Canada. 

 A p>erusal of this rejxvrt in conjunction with a 

 I>aper on "Science and Industry in Canada," read 

 by Prof. J. C. McLennan before the Royal Society 

 of Arts on March 4, certainly leads to a feeling of 

 admiration for the energetic manner in which the 

 Dominion has set about compensating- itself for 

 the shortage in its available coal supply. Although 

 Canada! takes second place in the list of the 

 world's coal-fields, yet, owing to their geo- 

 graphical distribution and the difficulties of pro- 

 duction, she has at present to rely to a very con- 

 siderable extent on supplies from the United 

 States. 



The total estimated water-power of Canada 

 is stated by Prof. McLennan to aggregate 

 18,800,000 h.p., divided somewhat as follows: — 



Ontario 

 Quebec 



Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, 

 and North-West Territories ... 



British Columbia 



Remainder of Dominion ... 



Per cent. H.P. 



. 31 ... 5,800,000 

 . 32 ... 6,000,000 



lb 3,500,000 



16 ... 3,000,000 



3 ... 500,000 



According to a census completed in February 

 last by the Dominion Water-power Branch, the 

 total hydro-electric power actually developed is 

 2,305,310 h.p., which is roughly 12 per cent, of 

 the total available. Of this quantity, rather under 

 one-tenth is exported to the United States, despite 

 the fact that it is badly needed by Canadian indus- 

 tries in order to meet their increasing require- 

 ments. We have therefore the singular situation 

 of Canada exporting electric power, of which she 

 has none to spare, to the United States, and 

 importing in return coal, of which she has abun- 

 dant,, but unworked, supplies. This artificial and 

 uneconomical exchange is causing no little concern 

 in respxDnsible circles, because, if the United States 

 should see fit to restrict its coal exports on the 

 perfectly reasonable ground that the whole output 

 is required internally for the domestic manufac- 

 ture of raw material, those provinces in Canada 

 (comprising the most populous manufacturing 

 districts) which are remote from the Dominion 

 coal-fields would suffer most, although they are 

 rich in hydro-electric possibilities. Under Federal 

 law no inconsiderable portion of the energy gener- 

 ated may be diverted to the United States. Take 

 the Niagara Falls, for instance. Of 388,500 h.p. 

 generated on the Canadian side in 1917, no less 

 than 125,000 h.p. was exported to the United 

 NO. 2587, VOL. 103] 



States, in addition to 265,000 h.p. developed on 

 the American side itself. It is a delicate question, 

 calling for delicate handling; fortunately the rela- 

 tions between the two countries are of the friend- 

 liest description. 



Some of the largest Canadian installations, 

 either completed or in hand, arc Chippewa, 

 300,000 h.p. ; Ontario Power Co., 210,000 h.p. ; 

 Shawinigan Falls, 200,000 h.p. 



Developments in Australia are not nearly so 

 marked ; indeed, there is little additional informa- 

 tion forthcoming. The chief electrical engineer 

 of New South Wales estimates that 300,000 h.p. 

 is continuously available from eighteen schemes 

 already investigated. The chief of these are the 

 Snowy River (137,400 h.p.) and the Clarence 

 (100,000 h.p.). 



There is little also to record from South Africa. 

 In New Zealand there is some activity over a 

 scheme by which 130,000 h.p. will be developed 

 at three important sites on North Island. 



The report of the Committee of the Conjoint 

 Board concludes with an admonition to the engi- 

 neers of Great Britain to be ready to take their 

 part in inevitable and impending enterprises of 

 great magnitude in hydro-electrical engineering.. 

 The Committee utters a warning that Canadian,, 

 American, and Continental engineers will continue 

 to exercise a controlling interest in such projects 

 unless an effort be made to contest the situation. 

 It also* directs attention to the lack of facilities 

 at British universities for giving the necessary 

 specialised scientific training to those seeking to 

 enter this field of engineering, and it points to 

 the example set by Cornell University, U.S.A., 

 in laying itself out to meet the demand which is 

 bound to arise for a training of this description. 

 Brysson Cunningham. 



CHEMICAL SCIENCE AND THE STATE. 

 TT may still be doubted whether the public gene- 

 -»■ rally has any clear idea as to the occupation 

 of the chemist and the purposes to which his work 

 is directed. Usually he is confused with the dis- 

 penser of medicine, the pharmacist, who displays 

 in his window the familiar globes of coloured 

 water. By way of variety and as soon as his 

 services -were urgently required for purposes con- 

 nected with the war he was classed by officials 

 in the War Office with the labourers in the Arsenal 

 at Woolwich, and he was paid at the same rate. 

 It has, however, been gradually forced on the 

 attention of the official classes that it is only the 

 skilled scientific chemist who is qualified to devise 

 and manufacture explosives, dyes, and drugs of 

 the modern type, and that he alone can provide 

 poison gases in warfare and their antidotes. 



The Institute of Chemistry, of which the offices 

 and laboratory are situated in Russell Square, 

 W.C., was founded in 1877, and chartered in 1885. 

 It is a body of professional men, all of whom have 

 passed through a course of study and training ex- 

 tending over several years, with additional experi- 

 ence gained in practice as analysts and consult- 



