454 



NATURE 



[August 7, 19 19 



patents are looked at and taken up. It is apparent to 

 everyone, he said, that few inventions of the present 

 day are really meritorious ; he, therefore, regards the 

 theory of renewal fees as a very excellent means for 

 getting rid of patents that are not valuable. Such 

 patents only put a restraint on invention, since im- 

 provements are choked so long as a master-patent 

 remains in force. Lord Moulton expressed his ap- 

 proval of the American file-wrapper system. He 

 pointed out that a patent specification must be drawn 

 up in the utmost good faith in order that the public 

 may have the full advantage of it when the patent in 

 due course lapses; such is not always the case at 

 present, since where the real inventor is a foreign 

 resident abroad complete disclosure of the invention 

 rarely takes place. The 1919 Bill will, in his opinion, 

 constitute a new charter for the inventor. The public 

 is determined, he said, that patents should help the 

 trade of the country, and not strangle it as they have 

 done during the past thirty or forty years. 



J RE LISTER INSTITUTE OF 

 PREVENTIVE MEDICINE. 



THE twenty-fifth annual report of the governing 

 body of the Lister Institute recently issued gives 

 a useful summary of the activities of the Institute 

 during 1918. 



Miss Muriel Robertson has continued her researches 

 upon the anaerobic bacteria which infect wounds, with 

 particular reference to the vihrion septique, the 

 organism of malignant oedema. The reactions of this 

 organism have been worked out, a toxin has been 

 prepared from it, and with the toxin an antitoxic 

 serum has been prepared and the serum issued to the 

 Army., 



Much work has been carried out for the War Office 

 Committee for the Study of Tetanus, presided over 

 by the chairman of the governing body of the insti- 

 tute, Sir David Bruce. Sir David Bruce' has continued 

 his analysis of tetanus cases occurring in home mili- 

 tary hospitals. During 1918 292 cases of_ tetanus 

 occurred among 380,000' wounded men, an incidence 

 of 8 cases per 10,000 wounded. During the first three 

 months of the war the incidence was 74 cases per 

 10,000 wounded. This drop has been chiefly due to 

 the prophylactic use of anti-tetanic serum. The rate 

 of mortality has similarly fallen — from 58 per cent, 

 to 25 per cent. 



Mr. Bacot, of the entomological department, has 

 carried out numerous experimental tests of processes 

 and methods aiming at ridding the troops of lice as 

 a result of which a method for the destruction of 

 lice by a moderate degree of dry heat has been 

 devised and has been practically applied in the field 

 on a large scale. Large numbers of lice have also 

 been reared for use in other investigations concerned 

 with the transmission of disease by these pests, par- 

 ticularly typhus fever and trench fever. 



A number of researches concerned with food 

 problems have also been carried out at the institute. 

 Dr. Harden and Dr. Zilva, in conjunction wither. 

 Still, have prepared a potent extract from lemon-juice 

 for use in cases of infantile scurvy. 



An investigation on the effects of cold storage on 

 the fat-soluble accessory factor of butter is in progress. 



An experimental investigation on scurvy, com- 

 menced in the autumn of 19 16 by Dr. H. Chick, has 

 already yielded valuable results. Thus it has been 

 found that West Indian lime-juice is much inferior to 

 lemon-juice in the prevention of scurvy. Yet in the 

 British Navy and. mercantile marine and in Arctic 

 exploration last century lime-juice was vaunted as a 

 preventive of scurvy. From an historical inquiry con- 



NX 2597, VOL. 103] 



ducted by Mrs. Henderson Smith the important and 

 interesting fact emerges that the " lime "-juice which 

 was employed in these circumstances was actually 

 made from lemons ! 



When during 1917 and 1918 there was a scarcity of 

 oranges and lemons, experiments were instituted in 

 order to ascertain if a cheap substitute existed con- 

 taining the anti-scorbutic properties of these fruits, and 

 swede-juice was ascertained to be most effective and 

 not much inferior to orange-juice. 



This brief summary surveys only a portion of the 

 activities of the institute, but suffices to indicate the 

 valuable work which has been carried out. The 

 governing body proposes that the institute shall in the 

 future be termed the Lister Institute for Medical 

 Research, and suggests that a research hospital in 

 connection with the institute would add greatly to its 

 usefulness. Steps are being taken to give effect to 

 these proposals. 



COLLOIDS AND CHEMICAL INDUSTRY.'^ 



ANYONE familiar, even in the least degree, with 

 the general nature of chemical industry, and 

 the applications of chemical science to other sciences, 

 cannot but be impressed with the importance which 

 colloid chemistry has attained within recent years 

 in these two directions. In order that the signi- 

 ficance of this branch of chemistry, hitherto very 

 largely neglected, particularly in its scientific aspect, 

 may be more fully appreciated and recognised, a 

 committee of the British Association was formed in 

 1917 to consider the problem. 



Last year (Nature, March 28, 1918) attention 

 was directed to the publication of the first 

 report of this committee. The object which the 

 committee has in view is to prepare in the form of 

 sectional reports a summary of information respecting 

 the present position of colloid chemistry and^ its 

 various applications to other sciences, and especially 

 to chemical industry. Each section is written by an 

 authority on the subject treated. The first report 

 dealt with the following technical subjects : — Tanning, 

 dyeing, fermentation industries, rubber, starch, gums, 

 albumin, gelatin, and gluten, cements, nitrocellulose 

 explosives, and celluloid. 



The committee has now issued its second report, 

 which appears under the aegis of the Department of 

 Scientific and Industrial Research. It may be ob- 

 tained from H.M. Stationery Office or through any 

 bookseller. The general arrangement adopted in the 

 first report is adhered to in the present one._ This 

 consists of (i) classification according to the scientific 

 colloid subject, and (2) classification _ according to the 

 industrial process and general application of colloid 

 science to other sciences. Under the first head the 

 subjects treated are :— (i) Peptisation and precipita- 

 tion (W. D. Bancroft); (ii) emulsions (E. Hatschek) ; 

 (iii) the Liesegang phenomenon (E. Hatschek); and 

 (iv) electrical endosmose (T. R. Briggs). Under the 

 second head are : — (i) Technical applications of elec- 

 trical endosmose (T. R. Briggs); (ii) colloid chemistry 

 m the textile industries (W. Harrison); (iii) colloids 

 in agriculture (E. J. Russell); (iv) sewage purifica- 

 tion (E. Ardern); (v) dairy chemistry (W. Claytoni ; 

 (vi) colloid chemistry in physiology (W. M. Bayliss) ; 

 and (vii) administration of colloids in disease (A. B. 

 Searle). . . 



It is only right to point out that the compilation of 

 these sections represents a gratuitous contribution on 

 the part of the compilers for the general benefit of 



1 Second Report of the British Association Committee on Colloid 

 Chemistry and its General and Industrial Applications (1918). (Published 

 for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research by H. M. Stationery 

 Office, 1919.) Price rs. (sd. net. 



