NATURE 
25 
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 
12, 1903. 
THE SCIENTIFIC WORK OF THE IMPERIAL 
INSTITUTE. 
Imperial Institute: Technical Reports and Scientific 
Papers. Edited by Wyndham R. Dunstan, M.A., 
F.R.S., with a preface by the late Sir Frederick 
Abel, Bart., G.C.V.O., K.C.B., F.R.S. Pp. xlvii+ 
613. (London: Imperial Institute, 1903.) 
F the several purposes which the Imperial Insti- 
tute was designed to serve, there is probably 
none which has been less regarded by the general 
public than that of scientific and technical research. 
Such work, however, was definitely one of the objects 
the advisory committee had in view when considering 
the proposed building some seventeen years ago; for, 
as the late Sir Frederick Abel has recorded, this com- 
mittee was of opinion that the Institute would ‘‘ afford 
accommodation for comparing and examining samples 
by the resources of modern science.’’ In the further- 
ance of this design there has been gradually evolved 
an experimental branch, which eventually became 
known as. the ‘‘ Scientific and Technical Department ”’ 
of the Institute. At the present time the staff includes 
ten assistants under the direction of Prof. Dunstan, 
and the chemical laboratories entirely occupy the upper 
floor of one wing of the Institute buildings, whilst the 
help of outside specialists, manufacturers, and com- 
mercial experts is invoked as occasion requires. 
How this department struggled into existence is 
described by Sir Frederick in the preface to the volume 
under notice. It is rather pathetic reading sometimes. 
There was a difficulty in making any start at all, and 
to satisfy the ‘‘eternal want of pence ’’ afterwards 
was a harder task still. Hat in hand the committee 
had to go, begging for money here and for professional 
help there, first getting, for example, ‘‘ rupees to the 
value of 641. 8s. 2d.’’ from the Indian Government; 
then a grant of 3o0ol. from the Commissioners of the 
1851 Exhibition; next, ‘‘ small gifts of money, and of 
some indispensable instruments ’’ from such  well- 
wishers as Sir Lowthian Bell and Dr. Mond; then a 
donation of 1oool. from the Goldsmiths’ Company ; 
and so on. How often, in those days, must. the 
organisers have sighed for a sympathetic millionaire ! 
Still—solvitur laborando—the thing was eventually 
done, and in 1896 the department, now on something 
like a stable footing, was taken in charge by Prof. 
Dunstan as director. 
For the subsequent maintenance of the laboratories 
thanks are largely due to the Commissioners of the 
Exhibition of 1851. Acting with a wise liberality, the 
Commissioners in 1896 made the department a grant 
of 1000l. per annum for a term of years, and to this 
was added a second grant of a like amount two years 
later. 
In view of the work accomplished, this contri- | 
bution of 2000]. per annum has been continued, and is | 
still enjoyed by the department. 
One question, however, may naturally be asked in 
connection with this matter. Should not the Govern- 
ment, now that it has taken the Institute under its 
wing, be induced to place the scientific department on 
NO. 1776, VoL. 69] 
a permanent footing—or at least to become wholly 
responsible for its support? There appears to be no 
reason why the Commissioners of the 1851 Exhibition 
should still assist in carrying on the work. 
What has been accomplished by the scientific staff 
since 1896 is mainly set forth in the present volume. 
Part i. comprises a large number of technical reports 
upon various industrial products sent from India and 
the Colonies, with the view of ascertaining their com- 
mercial value and whether there was likely to be any 
market for them in this country or elsewhere. Minerals 
of several kinds (including coal, clay, iron-ores, and 
mica), fibres, oils, rubber, gums and resins, tanning 
materials, medicinal and food plants, timbers, and 
miscellaneous articles such as wines, aloes, and 
capsicums, have been examined and reported upon 
more or less exhaustively, with the practical result that 
in some cases a commercial demand has arisen for the 
article in question, and in others arrangements have 
been made for a regular supply of the substance, or, it 
may be, for its improved production and utilisation. 
Especially noteworthy would seem to be the recogni- 
tion of Caesalpinia digyna as a tanning agent, and of 
Podophyllum emodi and Hyoscyamus muticus as 
sources of the drugs podophyllin and hyoscyamine 
respectively. 
An interesting paper on the coal resources of India 
is included as an appendix to Part i. To those of us 
““ who only England know,”’ it may come as a surprise 
to learn that the coal output of the Indian collieries 
in 1900 exceeded 6,000,000 tons, or about 1/35th of that 
of the United Kingdom. In quality the coal is 
generally inferior by about 20 per cent. to that of this 
country, but on account of its cheapness it is largely 
used by steamships plying in Indian waters, and the 
output has increased six-fold since 1880. The supply 
is considered to be practically inexhaustible. Those 
amongst us whose geology is local rather than cosmo- 
politan will learn with interest that these immense 
Indian deposits are all of much later date than our 
own Coal-measures, for they occur in the Permian, 
Triassic, Jurassic, and even Cretaceous and Tertiary 
formations. 
In Part ii. are collected some thirty-five papers of a 
more purely scientific character. These embody the 
results of special chemical researches upon various 
plant-constituents by Prof. Dunstan and his co- 
adjutors, and -of investigations into a number of 
colouring-matters, chiefly by Profs. Hummel and 
Perkin. Readers of the Chemical Society’s publi- 
cations will be familiar with most of these researches, 
all of which are interesting, whilst some are of par- 
ticular importance. The investigations upon the con- 
stituents of Indian and American podophyllum, on the 
aconite alkaloids, and on cyanogenesis in plants may 
be specially indicated as good examples of the work 
which has been carried out. In some cases—as, for 
instance, in the paper on the action of alkyl haloids on 
aldoximes and ketoximes—it is not quite clear how 
the chemical question involved was connected with the 
| special work of the Institute, but no doubt such 
general points would often arise during the progress 
of researches upon specimens forwarded for examin- 
ation. On the whole, these ‘ scientific papers ’’ strike 
Cc 
