NATURE 



[November 21, 191 8 



Parliament. "We have," the King said, "to 

 create a better Britain, to bestow more care on 

 the health and well-being of the people, and to 

 ameliorate further the conditions of labour. May 

 not the losses of war be repaired by a better 

 organisation of industry and by avoiding the waste 

 which industrial disputes involve? Cannot a spirit 

 of reciprocal trust and co-ordination of effort be 

 diffused among all classes? May we not, by rais- 

 ing the standard of education, turn to fuller 

 account the natural aptitudes of our people and 

 open wider the sources of intellectual enjoyment ? " 



The labour aspect of the matter was touched 

 upon by the Minister of Reconstruction in the 

 peroral inn of the statesmanlike pronouncement in 

 which he explained to the Mouse of Commons and 

 the country the plans of the Government for the 

 demobilisation of the Army, the re-settlement of 

 officers and men in civil life, and the re-establish- 

 ment of industry on a normal basis. Lengthy as 

 the statement was, Dr. Addison could only deal 

 with broad general principles, leaving the details 

 to Tie worked out by the various administrative 

 bodies which are charged with the duty of de- 

 mobilisation and re-settlement. Considering the 

 suddenness of the chief enemy's collapse, the 

 Minister is to be congratulated on the compre- 

 hensiveness of his survey, and on the thorough- 

 ness with which the main features of the problem 

 have been thought out in the comparatively short 

 time that his department has been in existence. 

 It says much for our business ability as a people, 

 and for our powers of organisation in a national 

 crisis, that a scheme so elaborate and so far- 

 reaching should have been launched so promptly 

 when the need for it had arrived. 



We are, however, only on the very fringe of 

 this great problem. There is still much to do 

 before it is finally solved. However expeditiously 

 the work of demobilisation and re-settlement may 

 be done, the business will necessarily occupy con- 

 siderable time. It will doubtless tax the energies 

 and the patience of all concerned, and we must 

 be prepared for the "grousing " which is a 

 national characteristic, and not infrequently at 

 times when there is really the least occasion for 

 it. It may be pardoned, however, as one sign of 

 reaction from the intense strain which the nation 

 has suffered during the long and weary years 

 which are past. When a patient begins to 

 grumble, the tactful nurse is assured that the 

 crisis is well past, and that renewed vigour lias 

 set in. And this observation reminds us that in 

 the scheme of re-settlement Dr. Addison made no 

 reference to the special case of the medical men. 

 During the four years of war the country has 

 suffered no small amount of inconvenience owing 

 NO. 2560, VOL. I02] 



to the calling up of large numbers of medical prac- 

 titioners for service in the Army. This was in- 

 evitable, and as it was necessary the deprivation 

 was borne with patience and resignation. To 

 what extent the national health has suffered it is 

 impossible to say, but there is good reason to 

 believe that the great mortality from the recent 

 epidemic of "influenza" might have been largelj 

 obviated had medical advice and skill been more 

 readily available. It is notorious that in some 

 districts medical men were utterly unable to cope 

 with the outbreak, owing to the fewness of their 

 numbers. Its virulence would appear to be de- 

 clining, but it is only scotched, not killed, and with 

 much of the winter still before us, with food and 

 fuel still short, and with the consequent lowering 

 of the general vitality, it is a paramount necessity 

 that the medical men should be released and re- 

 settled as promptly as possible. 



AN AMERICAN CHEMICAL DIRECTORY. 



Annual Chemical Directory of the United States. 

 Second edition, 1918. Pp. 534. (Baltimore, 

 Md. : Williams and Wilkins Co., 191S.) 



THE present issue of this work, of which the 

 first edition appeared in 1917, differs only 

 in certain minor details from the plan and arrange- 

 ment of its predecessor. Its contents are grouped 

 under nine main divisions or chapters. Chap. i. 

 contains a list, in alphabetical order, of all 

 chemical substances, made or imported, necessary 

 for laboratory, technical, and industrial purposes, 

 with the names of manufacturers and dealers 

 placed geographically, first by States, and then by 

 cities, and grouped alphabetically. The retailers, 

 dealers, and agents are distinguished, so far as 

 possible, from the manufacturers by an asterisk. 



Chap. ii. consists of an alphabetical arrange- 

 ment of the names of manufacturers and dealers 

 under the alphabetical order of the States and 

 their cities. Chap. Hi. gives a list of chemical 

 and chemical engineering apparatus, mechanical 

 equipment, and machinery used in chemical 

 works, arranged alphabetically and in general 

 accordance with the method adopted in chap. i. 

 as regards chemical products. 



Chap. iv. consists of an alphabetical list of 

 manufacturers and dealers in such apparatus and 

 machinery, arranged on lines similar to those of 

 chap. ii. Chap. v. gives the names (1) of 

 American analytical and consulting- chemists, and 



(2) of chemical engineers, listed geographically 

 and grouped alphabetically as in the preceding 

 chapters. Chap. vi. is a list of (1) industrial 

 laboratories, (2) institutional laboratories, 



(3) Federal and State laboratories, (4) municipal 

 laboratories, and (5) commercial laboratories. 

 Chap, v ii. gives the official names, arranged alpha- 

 betically, of technical and scientific societies con- 

 cerned with the study of pure and applied 

 chemistry, both in the United States arid abroad. 

 Chap. viii. deals with publications relating to 



