45 6 



NATURE 



[February 6, 1919 



This section draws up specifications to 



1 the limits of variation of sizes and properties 



standard materials where required, and 



unity of practice throughout the works. It 



undertakes investigations into defective materials for 



which special provision is not made. 



Technical Processes.- Dealing with the development 

 ol new or the improvement of existing processes, par- 

 ticularly those j4 i \ in- trouble in tin hops, and requir- 

 ing thi ervices 01 expert engineers in a suitable 

 laboratory. Technical supervision may also be exer- 

 cised over works processes, such as electro-plating, 

 galvanising, sherardising, • lectric arc, resistance, and 

 spol welding, insulating processes of various kinds, 

 casting, painting and varnishing, and the modes of 

 procedure crystallised in pecifications. The develop- 

 ment of new processes requires the employment of 

 plant of a semi-manufacturing scale aftei preliminary 

 small-scale laborator) experimen! before the process 

 can be placed in tin shops. A mosl important function 

 of this section is to remove, so far as is practicable, 

 all experimental work from departments the true 

 purpose of which is manufacturing. 



By-products, — Responsible for recovering usable 

 products from factory waste and scrap such as oils, 

 metals, and insulating materials. In addition, this 

 section may conveniently be equipped for the prepara- 

 tion of oils, solders, cements, fluxes, special insulating 

 compounds, paints and varnishes where these are 

 "'id to the works or where they can be pre- 

 pared nmte cheaply than they can be purchased 

 outside. 



Psychological and Physiological. — Modern methods 

 pi engaging employees, particularly juveniles, and of 

 determining a basis for promotion involve the develop- 

 ment of psychological tests of intelligence. The 

 evolution of tests of proved validity involves continuous 

 investigation in a laboratory of applied psychology. 



Workshop. — For the manufacture of small parts, 

 instruments, etc., and for the preparation of specimens 

 for physical testing, a small workshop is required, 

 fitted with the commoner types of machines, lathes, 

 drilling, milling, and shaping machines, and hand- 

 tools. 



Intelligence and Information Section. — It is im- 

 portant in a research organisation to prevent the 

 expenditure of time and monev on investigations which 

 have been carried out previously, either inside or out- 

 side the organisation, the results of which can be 

 made available for reference. Information of this 

 character may be collected much more economically 

 and thoroughly by a small trained staff than through 

 icimiscuous efforts of the research workers them- 

 selves. The information thus collected would form the 

 ch library, also under the control of this section. 

 1 section would serve as a focus and a co- 

 in- centre for the research department, and 

 also facilitate relations between the works 

 lepartment and between the department 

 institutions. The section further becomes 

 a rep 1 01 the reports of work done in the 



resean nent. Too much stress cannot be laid 



on the 11 of keeping adequate records, setting 



forth not onl causes bringing about the need for 



>li i" 1 . full details of the investigations, the 



methods empli u apparatus used, the deductions 



drawn from n pecial nob of any further 



earehes arising the particular investigation 



reported. It may not be possible to carry out sub- 

 sidiary investigations : I time, bul they ma 

 of sufficient important considered later. In 



preparing a ret a ■ -lard plan is desirable. 



Idministrative. — Accommodation must be provided 

 in thi laboratory building for the taff dialing with 



NO. 2571, VOL. I02] 



the administration of the research organisation. It 

 will be the duty of part of this staff to maintain a 

 et record of costs of investigations. In some 

 laboratories it is usual for a sum to I" »el aside for 

 ii majoi investigation"; in others, an overall sum is 

 ■ ed each year for the maintenance of the laboratory. 

 Where routine work is done the cost of this maj be 

 charged against the works department on behalf of 

 which the expense is inclined. In am case, a 

 systematic record of all costs, stores, breakages, and 

 wages, subdivided according to the various investiga- 

 tions, is nt greal importance. 



III.— Administration. 



The internal organisation of an industrial research 

 laborator} depends largelj upon the nature of the 

 work undertaken. Where it comprises routine; testing 

 for works departments the nature and number of the 

 tests carried out form a seiies of sections each having 

 a departmental chief responsible to the director, and 

 a si.iti ,,i senior and junior assistants to carrx on Ehi 

 work and to provide lot continuity in case of 'transfer 

 or promotion. Where research work of a kind not 

 immediately related to works practice is concerned, 

 each major investigation should be placed in the hands 

 of a competent research man, working with or without 

 assistance, but directl) responsible to the director. 

 Where work is combined, as will generally In the cast , 

 both methods may be combined. 



In either case, the work of the stall is greatly facili- 

 tated by regular conferences of the departmental cli'n Is 

 and research workers, as in this way the progress of 

 work of interest to more than one section can be dis- 

 cussed and the cumulative experience of the whole 

 stall brought to bear on new problems. Over- 

 lapping and duplication of work can also be avoided, 

 a possibility which may frequently arise when ever) 

 part of a problem has to be .analysed and different 

 aspects minutely studied by different workers. 



IV.— Staff. 



I In- most important feature of a research organisa- 

 tion is that of the staff. This country has for cen- 

 turies produced a succession of distinguished men of 

 science, especially physicists, and at the present time 

 there is no lack of gifted men who are able to extend 

 the boundaries of knowledge. It has, on the other 

 hand, been repeatedly emphasised that there has 

 a lack of technically trained young men who are able 

 to apply the results of scientific research in industry. 

 The demand was not sufficient to stimulate a suitable 

 supply. The experience of the war period lias changed 

 the attitude of industry considerably in this respect, 

 and the inducement offered to university men to enter 

 research work is much greater than hitherto. So far 

 as the limited supply of students pi units, the universi- 

 ties have endeavoured to respond, and the scholarships 

 now being awarded, together with the assistance 

 offered by the Department of Scientific and Industrial 

 Research, should do much to encourage students still 

 further. For a considerable time to come, however, 

 the supply of men will be totally insufficient for the 

 ni d- of industry. 



It is an error to suppose that industrial research 

 liiiuiit be carried on without men of genius of the 

 tvpe which has been responsible for many brilliant 

 advances in the past, frequently under considerable 

 J difficulties and without adequate exper- 

 imental equipment. Such a type, indeed, is generally 

 not at ease in an industrial works, where research 

 1 1 the character of a business, where 



l lui ' can be organised on systematic lines tow aids 



a clearly defined objective, and where progress can bi 



