March 9, 19 16] 



NATURE 



47 



. So Mr. Clark ceased to regard the group as decadent 

 or degenerate, and became convinced that recent 

 Crinoids play as important a role in the econom\- of 

 the sea-floor' as do the other Echinoderms. He has 

 written his monograph, therefore, under the influence 

 of a studv of recent forms rather than of extinct forms. 

 - The present . instalment contains a general introduc- 

 ■ ., a history of investigation, a most elaborate 

 -sar}-, and a general account of Crinoid structure 

 waich Is strongest as regards skeletal parts, dealing 

 rather sketchily with the "innards" and the develop- 

 •"• pt. We regret to see that the learned author de- 

 !< the extraordinary- view that Echinoderms are 

 ...liiated to Crustaceans and to barnacles in particular. 

 To support this by " the ven,' close correspondence be- 

 tween the development of the larvae of the Echinoderms 

 and that of the larvae of certain tv^pes of Crustaceans," 

 or by the correspondence between the crustacean eye 

 and the asteroid eye, or by comparing the genital plates 

 of a sea-urchin to the protopodites of the walking legs 

 of a crayfish, or indeed by any of the arguments used, 

 seems to us an extraordinary perversion of morpho- 

 logical judgment. Attention should be directed to the 

 numerous graphic figures drawn by Miss Violet 

 Dandridge for the text. 



CHEMISTS AND THEIR TRAINING. 



SPEAKING at the thirty-eighth annual general 

 meeting of the Institute of Chemistr}', held on 

 I March i, Sir James Dobbie, the president, referred 

 j briefly to the work of the institute during the war 

 mi the importance of the services of professional 

 nists to the nation, particularly in the production 

 -lunitions and other material of war. His address 

 [ is here summarised. 



j Both in the interests of the profession and of the 

 i industries of the countrv', the institute has encouraged 

 j by everv' means possible the production of laboratory 

 I requirements of all kinds hitherto obtained almost 

 "rely from Germany and Austria. In co-operation 

 '. the Society of Public Analysts, steps have been 

 p. to ensure supplies of satisfactory chemical re- 

 us, and a number of British firms have under- 

 c.,^.,n their manufacture according to standards pre- 

 ! scribed by a joint committee of the two societies. 

 j The work of the Glass Research Committee of the 

 ! institute has been remarkablv successful. At the end 



of six months' work formulas were produced for 

 tically all the various kinds of glass required in 

 nical operations, in addition to glasses for miners' 

 [ lamps, pharmaceutical ampoules, and X-ray tubes. 

 I .\ number of manufacturers who have taken up these 

 I industries are now able to supply immediate require- 

 J ments, and there is good reason to expect that within 

 I a short while they will have - completely mastered the 



technique involved in the production of such articles. 



The credit for this achievement is due to Prof. Herbert 



Jackson, of Kiner's College, London, assisted by Mr. 

 \ T. R. Merton. The work of the committee has received 

 ! the recognition of the Advisorv- Council on Scientific 

 \ and Industrial Research, from whom grants have been 

 ' received for the furtherance of investigations with a 

 ; view to the determination of formulas for other glasses 

 1 required for scientific purposes, including certain forms 

 j of optical glass. 



i As to the necessity for taking adequate measures for 

 1 equipping ourselves for the economical struggle which 



must ensue when peace is restored, the discussions 

 i which have taken place on the subject have revealed 

 : a wide divergence of views, both as to the cause of the 

 j unsatisfactory position in which we found ourselves 



and the steps required to remedy it. In chemical in- 



I NO. 2419, VOL. 97] 



dustries, however, it is generally agreed that the rela- 

 tions between chemical science and chemical manufac- 

 tures should be more intimate in the future than they 

 have been in the past. That condition can be fulfilled 

 only if the countr}- possesses an ample supply of highly 

 trained chemists. Dr. Beilby has expressed the belief 

 that the remarkable development of chemical industry 

 in Germany resulted much more from the large com- 

 mand of chemists and engineers of sound professional 

 training than from the possession of an even larger 

 supply of research chemists of mediocre ability. That 

 opinion should not, how^ever, be taken as giving the 

 impression that the value of research is to be under- 

 rated. So far as the suppljr of chemists of sound 

 professional training is concerned, we can face the 

 future with some confidence, particularly as the facili- 

 ties for training chemists have been remarkably in- 

 creased. It has to be admitted, however, that the 

 great public schools are, for the most part, unsvTn- 

 pathetic towards the study of science, and, even when 

 thev are excellently equipped for the purpose, the 

 results are meagre and unsatisfactory. 



As to the older universities, it must be allowed that 

 Cambridge has lately achieved an extraordinary 

 measure of success in adapting its teaching to the 

 needs of modern times, while the fact that Oxford is 

 rousing herself to meet her responsibilities is shown 

 bv the terms of a memorandum issued by the Natural 

 Sciences Board in support of a reform in the regula- 

 tions for the honours degree in chemistry, whereby 

 research will become a compulsory part of the curri- 

 culum. What must be advocated is a system of 

 general education on broad lines throughout, including 

 both classics and science, up to the proper age for 

 specialisation. Should the expectation of the country 

 in this matter not be realised, the inevitable result will 

 be that schools established on more modern lines will 

 gradually replace the old public schools as the training 

 ground of the leaders of the nation. 



The council of the institute is about to give further 

 consideration to the problem of promoting a more 

 complete organisation of professional chemistrv* in the 

 interests of the industries of the countn,'. Chemistrv' 

 is a comparatively young profession, which is gradu- 

 allv establishing itself in the knowledge and the good 

 opinion of the community. It will be successful in 

 this in proportion as it attracts men of strong char- 

 acter and individuality, efficient and capable of holding 

 their own as professional men. As it gains in strength 

 its services will become more widely recognised and 

 will meet with the same appreciation as thai accorded 

 to the older learned professions. The fact that the 

 title chemist has long been identified in this countrv-. 

 alone of all European countries, with the craft of 

 pharmacy is responsible for much of the confusion 

 existing in the ptiiblic mind, but the public is learning 

 at present so much about the work of the chemist that 

 we need not despair of seeing the day when it will be 

 common knowledge that while in law all pharmacists 

 are chemists, all chemists are not pharmacists. 



We extract from the report of the council a state- 

 ment as to the work on glass research to which Sir 

 James Dobbie referred in his address. 



The Advisory Council on Scientific and Industrial 

 Research has allotted the institute a grant of 400/. 

 for one year's research work on laboratory glass of 

 : various kinds, and a grant of 500Z. for research on 

 I optical glass, covering a period up to March 31, 1016. 

 j The grants are made on certain conditions, providing 

 j for the use of the results bv British firms on terms to 

 be arransred b^^tween the Advisorv- Council, the Glass 

 ! Research Committee, and the manufacturers con- 

 cerned. The Glass Research Committee has latelv for- 



