October 24. [918 



NATURE 



147 



among young and presumably strong and healthy 

 adults. South Africa and Tangier arc also ex- 

 periencing severe epidemics. 



While in previous epidemics the general pro- 

 5 of influenza has been westwards from Asiatic 

 and European Russia, the epidemic this year was 

 first reported in Spain and travelled northward. 

 It is to be noted, however, that the war has 

 fundamentally changed the general direction oi 

 European traffic that from East to West being 

 suspended, while the North and South traffic has 

 been greatly augmented. It has to be remem- 

 bered, too, that Chinese and other Eastern coolies 

 have furnished Labour battalions behind the lines 

 on the Western front, and it may he quite likely, 

 therefore, that the disease has been imported from 

 1 in this manner. 



With regard to the nature of epidemic influenza, 

 it is undoubtedly a fever of a highly infectious or 



contagious character, and, therefore, caused by 



some micro-organism. In the epidemic oi the 



'nineties I'leiffer discovered a minute bacillus, 

 difficult to grow except on certain specially pre- 

 pared culture media, and even then yielding- only 

 very delicate growths, and unstained by the Gram 

 method of staining. litis is the influenza bacillus 

 which has ever since been regarded as the eausa- 



microbe of epidemic influenza. In the epi- 

 demic of this year, however, Spanish, British, and 

 German investigators have failed to find the influ- 

 enza bacillus except in quite a minority of cases. 



The principal bacteriological findings reported are 

 microbes belonging to the (incus class, either 

 Gram-negative or Gram-positive cocci, and in some 

 of the fatal cases streptococci have been present 

 in the blood. 



The difference in the bacteriological findings 

 between the' 'ninety and the present epidemics 

 suggests that epidemic influenza, so-called, is not 

 a single disease. We have a parallel to this in the 

 case of typhoid and paratyphoid fevers, which in 

 symptoms closely resemble each other, but which 

 are due to distinct microbial agents. There are 

 also certain differences in the symptoms present 

 in different influenza epidemics which point to the 

 same conclusion. 



The principal factor influencing the spread of 

 influenza seems to be close aggregation of in- 

 dividuals. It is the crowded oflice, workshop, 

 barrack, or camp that suffers most from the 

 ravages of influenza. Dilution with plenty of air 

 mitigates the infectious properties, and free ven- 

 tilation is therefore important. In the July out- 

 break favourable reports were- given of the value 

 of systematic spraying of the air of offices and 

 workshops with an atomiser spray, using some 

 volatile disinfectant, such as bacterol, in largely 

 preventing the spread of infection, Fatigue and 

 debility are always conducing factors to infection, 

 and the young and the old are generally more 

 prone to contract the disease. Whether anv drug 

 - alb any power to prevent infection is ques- 

 tionable, but in the 'ninety epidemics there was a 

 general impression that systematic daily doses of 

 quinine were of some use. R. T. Hewlett. 



NO. 2556, VOL. I02] 



/ ///-. s [LTERS U S / 1 1 1 TE OF INDUS- 

 TRIAL CHEMISTRY. 



THE Salters' Company has during- many years 

 given evidence oi its interesl in the promo- 

 tion of scientific education and research by the 



provision of fellowships tenable bj post-graduate 

 workers. It has now taken a further very import- 

 ant step in announcing a scheme for tin- establish- 

 ment of an institute to be called "The Salters' 

 Institute of Industrial Chemistry." The offices of 

 the institute will be for the present at the Sabers' 

 Hall, and the s. heme will be administered by a 

 director, who will lie selected on the ground of 

 qualifications based on a distinguished academic 

 career in chemistry coupled with extensive tech- 

 nical experience. An Advisory Board composed 

 of representatives of the- Salters' Company, the 

 universities, and the Association of British 

 Chemical Manufacturers is also under considera- 

 tion. 



The- Company proposes to establish two types 

 of fellowship, for which post-graduate students 

 of British nationality will be eligible whether 

 graduates of a British university or of a university 

 in the United States or elsewhere. There are 

 to be (1) fellowships to enable post-graduate 

 students to continue their studies at an approved 

 university or other institution under the general 

 supervision of the director of the institute, and 

 (2) industrial fellowships to enable suitably 

 equipped chemists to carry on research for any 

 manufacturer under an agreement entered into 

 jointly by the institute, the manufacturer, and the 



fellow. 



It will be observed that the Company does not 

 at present contemplate the erection of any building 

 or the equipment of any laboratory. Its aim is, 

 therefore, somewhat different from that of the 

 founders of such establishments as the Davy- 

 Faraday Laboratory attached to the Royal Insti- 

 tution in London, or the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute 

 opened in 191 2 near Berlin. The intention is to 

 add to the number of first-rate chemical techno- 

 logists available for the service of industry in this 

 country, a class of men which at present scarcely 

 exists and is sorely needed. It is hoped to offer 

 such attractions to some of the best students that 

 on completing their university course they will 

 seek to apply their knowledge to manufacture and 

 industry generally, and that employers will recog- 

 nise promptly the necessity for such assistance so 

 that openings lor such men with suitable remune- 

 ration will be provided concurrently with the 

 supply. Hitherto almost the only career available 

 for the honours graduate in chemistry has been 

 in connei tion with the teaching profession. Prob- 

 ably in future such men will be divided into two 

 classes according to their personal predilections, 

 some going to the works, while others will prefer 

 teaching. In both directions the opportunities 

 provided have been insufficient in number and 

 inadequate in remuneration, so that many cases 

 have occurred in which a man with distinct 

 scientific gifts has been forced by circumstances 



