41.2 



NATURE 



[July 24, 1919 



CHEMISTS IN CONFERENCE. 



THE Society of Chemical Industry held its annual 

 meeting in London on July 15-18, and, in order 

 to emphasise the fact that its outlook is industrial 

 rather than academic, the conferences took place in 

 the City, and not, as hitherto, in South Kensington. 

 The opening meeting was held at the Mansion House, 

 and the society was welcomed by the Lord Mayor; 

 other conferences were held at the Salters' Hall, 

 Goldsmiths' Hall, and Clothworkers' Hall, and the 

 foreign delegates were privileged to lunch in the pic- 

 turesque and old-world hall of the Girdlers' Company. 



It has already been announced in these columns 

 that an Inter-Allied Chemical Council has been formed 

 for the promotion of co-operation between the chemists 

 of Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, and the 

 United States. During the last year or so theret has 

 also grown into existence an International Research 

 Council, which has met in Rome and Paris, and is 

 this week holding an important conference in Brussels. 

 This council contemplates the organisation of research 

 and publication in all branches of science and in all 

 countries, except Germany and Austria, and there was 

 a good deal of discussion among the British and Allied 

 chemists at their conferences last week as to how 

 the Inter-Allied Council could fit into the, scheme of 

 organisation contemplated by the International Re- 

 search Council. It was at length decided to announce 

 that the Inter-Allied Chemical Council was of opinion 

 that this body should be the chemical section of the 

 International Research Council, and should do all the 

 work of organisation and publication which was 

 required in connection with chemistry, both plire and 

 applied. A deputation was sent to Brussels to express 

 this view and to co-operate with the other savants 

 there assembled. Amongst the delegates to Brussels 

 we may mention Prof. Chavanne, Dr. Lucion, and 

 M. Timmermans, representing Belgium; Profs. 

 Moureu and B^hal, representing France ; Sir William 

 Pope and Dr. Ruttan (of Canada), representing the 

 British Empire; and Lt.-Col. Bartow, Dr. Parsons, 

 and Dr. Washburn, representing the United States. 

 It is understood that Canada and Poland have ex- 

 pressed a wish to be represented on the Inter-Allied 

 Chemical Council, and are now admitted as such, and 

 that the other Allies who have signed the Treaty 

 of Peace will be asked to become constituent 

 bodies. 



Among the papers read at the Mansion House on 

 July 15 was a very eloquent and interesting apprecia- 

 tion of the late Sir William Ramsay by Prof. C. 

 Moureu, the president of the Inter-Allied Council. 

 Prof. Moureu described the researches of the late 

 Lord Rayleigh on the density of nitrogen, and gave 

 an account of the excitement produced at the British 

 Association at Oxford in 1894 when Lord Rayleigh 

 and Sir William Ramsay announced their discovery ot 

 argon. He mentioned as characteristic of Sir William 

 Ramsay the speed with which he followed up a hint 

 given in a letter from Sir Henry Miers as to a 

 gas contained in cleveite and detected by Hillebrand. 

 This led to the discovery of helium, which,' was 

 spectroscopicallv detected in the sun so long ago as 

 1868. . ■ . 



Prof. Moureu gave some account of his own original 

 work on the occurrence of helium in fire-damp and in 

 the gases given off by underground springs, and 

 sketched the history of the discovery of neon, krypton, 

 and xenon. Only those who have paid attention to 

 the recent publications are aware that helium occurs 

 to the extent of 6 per cent, in the gases given off by 

 the spring at Maizieres, in the C6te d'Or, and to the 

 extent of 10 per cent, in the gas of the spring at 



NO. 2595, VOL. 103] 



Santehay, also in the C6te d'Or. Moreover, krypton, 

 argon, xenon, and neon are usually found in the sub- 

 terranean gases, and the relative proportions of these 

 four gases are fairly constant. The explanation is sug- 

 gested that these gases, binng chemically inactive, 

 have remained in a constant proportion since the davs 

 v.hen our globe was a nebular mass without form and 

 void. It was Sir William Ramsay himself who pre- 

 dicted the use of helium for filling balloons — a predic- 

 tion which has been recently verified by the work 

 done in the L'nited States under the superintendence 

 of Dr. Cottrell. 



An important conference on the production and 

 consumption of sugar within the British Empire was 

 held at the Clothworkers' Hall, the Earl of Denbigh 

 being in the chair. A number of experts took part 

 in the discussion, and a voluminous report is now 

 being prepared for publication. 



A group of papers on power plant in chemical 

 works occupied a whole day ; these included a paper 

 on waste heat boilers by Capt. C, J. Goodwin and 

 a paper on surface combustion boilers by Prof. W. A. 

 Bone and Mr. P. Kirke. Several speakers directed 

 attention to possible economies in the use of fuel — a 

 matter which is now of the utiiiDsl importance to the 

 whole nation. 



The conference on dyestuCfs was largely attended, 

 and a paper by Dr. Herbert Levinstein on the inti- 

 mate connection between the German dye manufac- 

 tures and the supply of explosives and poison gases 

 should make our politicians think furiouslv. Ger- 

 many, notwithstanding the Treaty of Peace, is left in 

 the position that she can easily, at a few hours' 

 notice, commence the manufacture of explosives and 

 poison gas on a very large scale. In this country we 

 have at the moment no manufacture which can pro- 

 ceed during peace and at once be switched on to war- 

 like purposes. Mr. E. V. Evans, in his paper on the 

 manufacture of intermediate products in the dvestuff 

 industry, showed how desirable it is to conduct the 

 manufacture of these in a few works on a large scale 

 rather than, as now, the manufacture on a small 

 scale in many works. 



There were good papers on other topics dealing, 

 perhaps, with rather technical matters, and a number 

 of papers on chrome tanning and on recent develop- 

 ments in the fermentation industries, including one 

 by Sir Frederick Nathan on the manufacture of 

 acetone. 



Industrial chemistry is becoming too large a sub- 

 ject for any individual to master, and the tendencv to 

 specialise is manifested, not only in the grouping of 

 a number of cognate papers into one conference, but 

 also in the activities of the recently formed chemical 

 engineering group of the society. On the whole, the 

 papers were of considerable importance, and show- 

 that, though the chemists may be tired by their 

 war-work, thev are not exhausted. 



PHYSIOLOGY AND METAPHYSICS. 



A JOINT session of the Aristotelian Society, the 

 British Psychological Society, and the ' Mind 

 Association has been held annually, though more or 

 less informally, since 1908. This year an attractive 

 and more extended programme was provided on 

 July 11-14, and hospitality was offered by Bedford 

 College, the most delightfully situated and admirably 

 appointed of the University of London colleges. The 

 result was a very large increase in the membership 

 and a sustained interest in the session. Members were 

 furnished in advance with the whole of the written 

 communications constituting the Proceedings. This 



