July 27, 1916] 



NATURE 



453 



r 



7 \IE SOCIETY OF CHEMICAL INDCSTRY. 



HE annual g/eneral mct:ting of the Society of Chem- 

 ical Industry was held in Edinburgh on July 19-21. 

 meeting this year took the form of a congress on 

 progress made since the outbreak of war in British 

 inical industry-. The following papers were read 

 i discussed : — 



! ) Fuel. — Fuel economy : a national policy re- 

 red, Prof. H. E. Armstrong; Some recent improve- 

 nts in coke works practice, Dr. G. P. Lishman ; 

 .ste in coal production, Prof. H. Louis. (2) Shale 

 Oil.— The shale oil industry, D. R. Steuart. (3) Tar 

 Distilling. — A short review of the influence exerted 

 by the war on the tar distilling industry, W. H. Cole- 

 man ; ITie extraction of tar fog from hot gas, G. T. 

 Purves. (4) Dyes. — The difficulties of coal-tar colour- 

 making in war-time, C. M. Whittaker (British Dyes, 

 Ltd.). (5) Fine Chemicals. — Notes on the production 

 of alkaloids as affected by the war, D. B. Dott; The 

 manufacture of synthetic organic drugs as affected by 

 the war, F. H. Carr; The manufacture of fine chem- 

 icals in relation to British chemical industry, C. A. 

 Hill and T. D. Morson. (6) Paper-making.— The 

 paper-mill chemist in war-time, J. F. Briggs. (7) 

 Patent La-w. — The overhauling of our Patent Law, 

 J. W. Gordon ; The influence of the Patent Laws upon 

 industry, W. F. Reid ; Proposed amendments to Eng- 

 lish Patent Law, W. P. Thompson. (8) Rare Earths. 

 — The progress of British rare-earth industry during 

 the war, S. J. Johnstone. 



To illustrate the progress that has been made, an 

 exhibition was held, at the same time, of specimens of 

 British-made coal-tar dyes, glass, porcelain, and filter 

 paper, along with several other interesting substances 

 now made in Edinburgh. Among these may be men- 

 tioned cobalt-blue — a substance never before manufac- 

 tured in this country- — now made by the Beaverhall 

 Colour Co. ; trinitrotoluene by the Lothian Chemical 

 Co. ; erasers, etc., manufactured by the North British 

 Rubber Co., the supply of which formerly was en- 

 tirely imported from Germany. The papers, and the 

 discussions upon them, will be printed in the Journal 

 of the Society of Chemical Industry. 



TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY. 



AT the annual conference of the Association of 

 ■^~*- Teachers in Technical Institutions on June 24 

 Dr. W. Garnett read a paper on technical instruction 

 after the war. His arguments and examples, drawn 

 from his long experience of the administration of 

 technical education in London, should convince states- 

 men and manufacturers of the imperative need for 

 a close rapprochement of industry and science. Dr. 

 Garnett thinks that one of the most important effects 

 of the war has been the bringing together of men of 

 science and leaders of industry. Manufacturers have 

 learned more clearly than before that scientific men 

 can help them in the solution of technical problems 

 of industry, and men of science appreciate more fully 

 that the world of manufacture provides problems 

 worthy of their best attention. Urging the necessity 

 for industrial research, he said the greatest need of 

 the teachers in technical institutes is more time and 

 facility for research, and the greatest need of British 

 industry is that more research should be devoted to it. 

 Dr. Garnett also dealt comprehensively with the 

 organisation of technical training, the need for 

 changes in the character of the science teaching in 

 secondary schools, and the part that science should 

 take in Civil Service examinations. 



The principal points of the paper are summarised 

 as follows : — 



NO. 2439, VOL. 97I 



(i) Leaders of industry must place a higher value 

 on industrial scientific research, which is the greatest 

 need of British industry. 



(2) Teachers in technical institutions must be more 

 closely associated with industrial leaders. 



(3) Time and other necessary facilities must be 

 given to teachers in technical institutions to enable 

 them to carry out industrial research. 



(4) Consumers must be willing to make a sacrifice 

 in order to contribute to the nursing of infant in- 

 dustries, so as to avoid entire dependence on foreign 

 sources for the necessaries of life or civilisation. 



(5) The war has shown that our universities and 

 technical schools are able to render services to the 

 State which very few persons two years ago believed 

 to be possible. 



(6) Trade associations and technical institutions 

 should combine to co-operate with the Advisory Coun- 

 cil for Research. 



(7) A better connection is required between the 

 elementary school and the technical institute, and 

 this will, in part, have to be supplied by a com- 

 pulsory continuation school for boys leaving the day 

 school at fourteen, and by extension of the leaving 

 age in central and higher elementary schools. 



(8) A more complete organisation of the educational 

 system is required so as to provide suitable training 

 for all ranks of industrial workers, making appro- 

 priate distinction between the manual workers and 

 the thinkers. 



(9) A more liberal system of scholarships is neces- 

 sary, especially to enable university students to 

 engage in post-graduate research. 



(10) Reasonable prospect of suitable promotion 

 must be offered to students who have passed through 

 a course of training intended to prepare them for 

 higher industrial appointments. 



(11) Science should be taught to all the pupils of 

 secondarv schools, but the course of instruction 

 for boys in classical forms should differ from that 

 for boys who are intending to pursue the study of 

 science after leaving school. 



(12) In Civil Service and other public examinations 

 a general knowledge of physical phenomena and the 

 applications of science to industry should be required 

 of all candidates ; but science should not be pitted 

 against the humanities in competitive examinations. 



(13) With elementary students practice must almost 

 always be in advance of theory ; and theory should 

 not be introduced into elementary teaching until the 

 pupils have been led to recognise its necessity. 



(14) Much of the equipment of the schools and some 

 of the methods of instruction will be modified in 

 consequence of experience gained during the war; 

 and it is desirable that all teachers in technical 

 institutions should be prepared for these changes. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Leeds. — The University has decided to institute a 

 new course of study in scientific and technical subjects 

 preparatory to military duties, and to accept this 

 course as a part of the intermediate course for degrees 

 in arts, science, law, and commerce. The new course, 

 while counting as a degree subject, will be carried 

 out in conjunction with the work of the Officers 

 Training Corps. 



Mr. W. Morrison, to whose personal interest in 

 its library the University is under obligation, has 

 given loooZ. for the development of the new School of 

 Russian Studies, of which the Sir James Roberts 

 professorship of Russian language and literature will 

 be the centre. 



