412 
of setting up an establishment to which all the 
departments should have, as it were, a right of 
access. The giving of the laboratory an inde- 
pendent position places on the same footing all 
the departments requiring its services. Necessary 
chemical assistance can be applied for as a matter 
of right rather than as a favour asked by one 
department from another, and the director of the 
laboratory has a freer hand in utilising his re- 
sources for the general benefit. 
Thus the functions of the laboratory as now 
constituted may be briefly described as the giving 
of assistance, both experimental and advisory, on 
chemical questions to any other Government depart- 
ment or to any Government committee or com- 
mission which may require its aid. 
The ordinary work includes a good deal of 
routine analysis, which falls chiefly into four 
categories. First, there are analyses made in con- 
nection with the collection and safeguarding of 
the revenue raised from dutiable articles—as, for 
instance, in the assessment of duty and rebates 
upon beer, spirits, wines, table-waters, tobacco, 
tea, coffee, cocoa, sugar, and saccharin. In this 
branch are also included analyses of medicines 
examined under the Medicine Stamp Acts, and 
chemical examinations required in connection with 
licensing regulations and the manufacture and sale 
of excisable commodities. 
A second category includes work done in con- 
nection with the administration of certain Acts of 
Parliament under which chemical analyses are 
prescribed. These comprise, for instance, the 
examination of imported dairy produce under the 
Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1899; analyses under 
the Butter and Margarine Act; samples taken 
under the Public Health (Milk and Cream) Regula- 
tions; disputed analyses of foodstuffs and drug's 
referred by magistrates for independent analysis 
under the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875; and 
analyses of fertilisers and feeding-stuffs submitted 
by. the Board of Agriculture as a preliminary to 
legal proceedings under the Fertilisers and Feeding- 
Stuffs Act. 
A third branch is concerned with analyses 
required in connection with administrative regula- 
tions issued by various State departments. Such 
are, for example, analyses made for the Factory 
Department of the Home Office in reference to 
dangerous trades and to special inquiries affecting 
the health of industrial workers; and those for 
the Board of Trade in respect of medical supplies, 
disinfectants, and lime-juice required to be carried 
on board ocean-going ships. During the war this 
branch of work has _ been largely increased 
by the analyses of many articles submitted in con- 
nection with the issue of trading licences by the 
War Trade Department. 
: In the fourth category is included the examina- 
tion of stores, supplies, etc., required by the 
Various large departments, e.g. the Admiralty, 
War Office, Post Office, and so on. Thus the 
report points out—as indeed would be expected 
from the special circumstances of the time—that 
heavy demands for assistance have been made 
NO. 2465, VoL. 98] 
NATURE 
[JANUARY 25, 1917 
during the year upon the laboratory by the first — 
two of these departments. arly 8300 samples, 
chiefly metals, were analysed for the Engineering oa 
Department of the Admiralty, and 8901 specimens — 
of foodstuffs were examined in connection with 
the supply of H.M. Forces. 
In additioa to the ordinary routine operations, a 
considerable amount of research work is carried 
out by the laboratory in connection with questions — 
referred to it by public departments seeking 
information and advice. 
the composition and properties of celluloid and 
upon the alleged emanation of lead vapours from 
painted surfaces are described in the recently pub- 
lished reports of the Departmental Committees on 
Celluloid and on Lead Paints respectively. Other 
recent researches, carried out for the Board of ~ 
Agriculture, relate to the utilisation of various by- 
products as feeding-stuffs, to the effect of air and — 
moisture upon liver of sulphur during storage, and 
to the solubility of the phosphates in basic slags. 
Apart from experimental work, various chemical 
questions arise on which the laboratory is con- 
sulted by public departments. Thus the report 
notes that numerous references concerning the 
use of alcohol were dealt with for the information 
of the Commissioners of Customs and Excise; 
whilst reports upon a number of subjects, includ- — 
ing the supply of potash and the value of various 
refuse materials as a source of potash, were fur- 
nished to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. 
Many matters relating to contraband trading with 
the enemy (prohibition orders) were also sub- 
mitted for advice. 
In recent years, and especially since the scope — 
of the laboratory has been extended, the work has 
shown rapid growth, both in quantity and in the 
variety of samples submitted. Naturally, there- 
fore, questions of ways and means to cope with the 
increased demands have arisen. The present 
premises at Clement’s Inn Passage were erected 
about twenty years ago, and at that period they 
were sufficient ; but it is understood that they have 
now for some time been inadequate, and that the ~ 
question of building-extension was actually under 
consideration when the outbreak of war caused the 
postponement of the matter. But the demands 
have not been postponed, and it requires no seer 
to foretell that, in view of the importance of science _ 
to administration which recent events have em- 
phasised, the demands will, in fact, continue to 
increase. It is fairly evident that if the chemical 
work assigned is to be properly carried out the 
necessary equipment in buildings, staff, and ap- 
pliances must keep pace with the requirements. 
A department devised to render service on chemical 
matters to all branches of the Executive is an 
excellent conception, but the effective carrying out 
of the idea depends, of course, upon the provision 
of adequate means. It may confidently be hoped 
that the project so well begun will be suitably 
completed, and provision made not only to cope 
with the pressing work of to-day, but to allow 
of the expansion which will certainly be needed 
to-morrow. 
Thus researches upon 
ae i | tS 
