34 



NATURE 



[September 12, 1918 



hydro-electricity, and in the industries themselves. 

 j hi- 01 which is destined to play a decisive 



part in thi establishment of scientific industry in 



las .1I1 eady been .11 hii ved in thi manu- 

 factun ol optical glass was explained b) Sir Herbert 

 Jackson in his lecture .11 the exhibition, when the 

 chair was appropriate!} occupied ■>} sir William 

 1 mirk, administrative chairman 'of the Depart- 

 ment of Scientific and Industrial Research. It is not 



1 M it to say that this is a new industry, for during 

 iboul seventj years the firm ol Messrs. 1 hance Bros 

 and Co., Ltd., of Birmingham, has been making 

 optical glass of high quality. The progress made 

 during the war has been very great indeed, and there 

 is some sense, perhaps, of humility, along with the 

 feeling of pleasure, that this country has been able 

 to do what it has in the matter of oplieal glass through 

 tin pressure of the war. Apart from optical glass, 

 very great strides have been made in what may be 

 generally described as the scientific glassware industry, 

 and Sii Herbert Jackson predicts that the time is 

 rapidly approaching when we shall meet our entire 

 needs for this type of glassware by home manufac- 

 ture. For this result credit must be given to the close 

 C( -ordination between the Ministry of Munitions, 

 manufacturers, and research workers. Indeed, this 

 industry can well serve as an object-lesson for other 

 industries in respect of the application of scientific 

 research to manufacturing processes. The dependence 

 of the chemical glass industry upon the ready supply 

 of raw materials, which with proper attention can 

 be produced here, is illustrated by the difficulties which 

 have had to be overcome in connection with certain 

 raw materials, notably potash. Investigation has 

 shown that for producing some glasses, and X-ray 

 glass is one of them, there are considerable advantages 

 in the use of potash. When this has not been obtain- 

 able in sufficient quantity, much work has been re- 

 quired to produce types of glasses good enough to 

 carry on with containing little or no potash. The 

 position with regard to potash, however, gives no 

 can-.- for fear that in the future, wherever it is re- 

 quired in glass, it will be forthcoming. 



After the war the struggle between the various 

 nations anxious to obtain supplies of essential raw 

 materials will be very keen, and it is necessary, there- 

 fore, that attention should be given to the develop- 

 ment of home resources. Copper is a metal for which 

 the demand will be exceedingly great. At one time 

 Britain occupied an important place in the list of the 

 world's copper producers. But the British deposits 

 are for the most part small, and many have been 

 exhausted, so that our domestic supplies are almost 

 negligible. On the other hand, as Prof. Henry Louis 

 I id out in his address, the British Empire con- 

 tains a number of highly important deposits, some of 

 which, like those of Rhodesia, have not yet reached 

 their full development. The copper resources of other 

 Colonies notably Canada and Australasia, are bv no 

 means unimportant, so that even if the British Empire 

 cannot cover all its requirements of copper from its 

 own resources, it can go a long way towards so doing. 

 Other minerals which abound in this country are in 

 need for their full exploi n, Prof. Louis remarked, 

 of sound scientifii edm .ill engaged in the 



mineral industry. 



Mr. Leon Gash r ed in a lecture that 



scientific illumination is a lecessitv. He claimed that 



the provision of appliam es ifii ial lighting 



;sentially a key industry, and 1 was able to 



illustrate that in the factory good Hi is essential 



and efficient work, the pn iccidents, 



health of operators. Ilhnnn . , factor 



- iv which has hitherto not met with that 

 1. 2550, VOL. 102] 



appreciation which its importa rits, bu 



sibility oi placing the lighting ol factories and work- 

 shops on th I- heating and ventilation 

 undei the Factory Acts will apprei he posi- 

 tion* of illuminating engineering. Instruments have 

 been develop* d foi the measurement of illumi 



a process essential to scientific method in lighting 

 problems and the work has already proved ol great 

 1 alui hi connect with the war. 



R01 II l \dSTED IN WAR TIME. 

 T"' HE report of thi Rothamsted Experimental 



*■ Station for the three years 10,15 [7 is a -11 iking 

 record ol triumph ovei war-timi difficulties and of 

 adaptability to the circumstances and needs of the 

 times. On the outbreak of war the stall ol thi 

 station was rapidly depleted of two-thirds of its 

 members, whilst the call of various Government 

 Departments lor assistance by way of investigation 

 has steadily grown. Largely through the assistance 

 of women the emergency ha- been successfully met 

 and the more important lines of inquiry have been 

 maintained, although the programme of work is 

 naturally undergoing modifications as new problems 

 arise out of the changing agricultural conditions. At 

 the present time the inquiries fall naturally into four 

 groups : the economical use of manures, the plough- 

 ing up of grassland, the control of soil organisms, and 

 the nutrition of plants. With regard to the first-named 

 group of inquiries, the summary given in the report 

 of progress made with investigations of the economy 

 of the manure-heap indicate- that along two indepen- 

 dent lines of inquiry methods have been developed 

 whereby an actual enrichment of the manure-heap 

 or of straw with nitrogen drawn from the atmosphere 

 may be effected. These methods are at present l>< Lng 

 tested on the semi-practical scale, and, in view ol 

 very large issues involved, the final report will be 

 awaited with the greatest interest. 



In connection with the ploughing up of grassland, 

 the problem of coping with wireworm attack is being 

 dealt with, partly by a study of the natural habits 

 of the wireworm in the soil and partly by way of 

 search for some insecticide or method of treatment 

 which will destroy the wireworm and leave th. -oil 

 suitable for crops. The interesting question of the 

 weed Horn of newly broken old grassland is also 

 receiving attention. 



The studv of the organisms of the soil, which has 

 been so prominent a featun of the work at Rotham- 

 sted in recent years, has been steadily maintained, and 

 substantial progress made in the correlation of the 

 protozoan fauna with bacterial activity. 



In addition to the foregoing, an astonishing variety 

 of problems has been dealt with in the period under 

 review, and the long list of papers published and of 

 inquiries undertaken it Government request reveals 

 an activity which only the most efficient organisation 

 and strenuous effort on the part of the staff could 

 maintain. 



Not least among the achievements of the war period 

 has been the development of the library from a small 

 collection into an imposing array of some 10,000 

 volumes dealing with agriculture and the cognate 

 sciences, and including an extremely valuable collec- 

 tion ol the earliest works on husbandry. Those who 

 have seen th" library in it* handsome setting and 

 have had occasion to I. -t til. merits of the -vstem of 

 indexing so thoroughly carried out will testify to the 

 d.l.t ..f gratitude which agricultural research workers 

 owe to Dr. Russell for the great work he has accom- 

 plished in building up this library at a time when the 

 normal work of the station must have made the 

 demands upon his energies. 



