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NATURE 
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with nearly all the fine chemicals. As a result of | control; chemists are the heads of departments, and 
allowing these trades to pass so much out of our 
hands, we are faced with the position that stocks are 
rapidly diminishing and prices are rising to such an 
extent as seriously to hamper many of our industries. 
The great dyeing industry has been lost to this 
country because we, as a nation, and our manufac- 
turers in particular have failed to understand the 
extreme complexity of the scientific basis of organic 
chemical industry. Science has been neglected in the 
works, and the chemists trained in organic chemistry 
necessary to carry on the industry in successful com- 
petition with Germany were not to be found in our 
universities. In 1870, the time when this industry 
commenced to be transferred to Germany, organic 
chemistry was not recognised by our older universities, 
and the newer universities, which since then have done 
so much for the progress of science, did not exist. 
Many of our universities, and particularly those of 
Oxford and Cambridge and those in Scotland, con- 
tributed practically nothing to the advancement of 
organic chemistry in the latter part of last century, 
and even now their output of research is far less than 
it should be; while in Germany, as soon as the 
importance of the subject became apparent, schools 
especially devoted to the subject were founded by such 
great teachers as Liebig, Wohler, Kekulé, and 
Baeyer. Every effort was made by the establishment 
of laboratories, aided by the State, to help forward 
the new movement, and the step which assisted more 
than anything else was the provision that in every 
German university, research must be an. essential 
part in the training of every student of chemistry, 
who, in order to obtain his degree of Ph.D., spends 
at least one and generally two years in research; 
whilst in this country, students obtain their B.Sc. 
honours degree after a course of three years’ study, 
and the majority are under no obligation to do any 
original research during their university career. 
The recognition of the necessity for research form- 
ing an essential part of the training of the student 
in science has been responsible for the large output 
of original work in Germany as compared with this 
country. The B.Sc. degree, and certainly the B.Sc: 
honours, should not be conferred except on those who 
have undergone a course of research worl, and the 
necessity for a change in this direction is now being 
recognised, though the proportion of graduates who 
engage in research in these circumstances is small 
compared with the number of Germans who qualify 
for the Ph.D. degree. Had there been a supply of first- 
rate chemists at the disposal of the manufacturers of 
this country there can be no doubt that such industries 
as the aniline dye industry and the coal tar industry 
would still be in existence and flourishing here. 
Germany has recognised the value of the closest 
possible contact between the industries and _ univer- 
sities, and the majority of the professors and privat- 
docenten keep in touch with the large factories. 
Appreciation by the manufacturers of the value of 
science in connection with industry is one of the 
reasons for the development of the German chemical 
works. To obtain a share of the wealth and prosperity 
opened by this vast industry, our manufacturer must 
so conduct his works that research is going on un- 
ceasingly; his laboratories must be properly equipped 
and staffed by research chemists of ability, with a 
scientific leader to direct the work; for the first 
essential for the success of a chemical works is for 
it to be under chemical control, and every department 
must be in the hands of an expert. Recognition of 
the soundness of this principle is one of the main 
reasons for the success of the works in Germany, 
where all the principal dye works are under chemical } 
NO. 2370, VOL. 95| 


are included in a large proportion on the board of 
management. 
In order to deal with the problem of the shortage 
of dyes in this country, schemes have been proposed 
by the Government to ascertain the best means of 
obtaining sufficient supplies of chemical products. 
The first scheme recommended by the special com- 
mittee appointed by the Government was not cordially 
received, and in explanation of this it should be pointed 
out that the committee consisted entirely of business 
men. Had a chemical expert been present, such a 
scheme would not have been placed before the public. 
In the memorandum of agreement it is stated that 
the company has been incorporated for the purpose, 
amongst other things, of manufacturing and selling 
dyes, colours, and other chemical substances which, 
previous to the war, were exclusively or principally 
manufactured in Germany, and no mention is made 
of the main object of such a company—namely, the 
employment of a large staff of research chemists 
under leaders of ability for the purpose of making 
discoveries in every possible direction. 
It is not merely a question of producing the dyes 
that are required during the war; the company 
must be able to compete successfully with the German 
industries after the war. No greater mistake could 
be made than to think that in order to manufacture 
a dye it is only necessary to follow the directions given 
in the patent, for the patent is so worded that while 
it satisfies the requirements of the patent laws of the 
countries in which it is taken out, it gives as little 
information as possible, and contains no indication of 
the process used in the actual manufacture. In the 
first place the methods of manufacture and the utilisa- 
tion of by-products must be worked out until. they 
have arrived at the same state of efficiency as in 
Germany. . Another point to be borne in mind .is that 
the Germans supply dyes to practically all the other 
nations, and could well afford to sell dyes at a loss to 
themselves in this country until the English company 
had been ruined. And what will happen after the war 
with regard to using German patents? Will these 
patents again become the sole property of the Germans 
and be worlzable in this country only on the payment 
of royalties or licenses ? 
The application for shares in the proposed company 
was unsatisfactory. The Government withdrew the 
first scheme and substituted an amended proposal 
which is a proof of a desire to meet in a generous 
spirit the criticisms raised against the first scheme. 
The grant of 100,0001. which the Government pro- 
posed to make to the company for research purposes 
would be better employed in subsidising the research 
laboratories of those universities and colleges willing 
to specialise in organic chemistry and to train a 
certain number of students with a view of their 
entering the service of the company. 
The existing dye works in this country compare 
very unfavourably with those in Germany, where 
experience has been in favour of building large works 
and against spreading manufacturing operations over 
small works situated in different parts of the country. 
Moreover, in the manufacture of any substance by- 
products result, which must either be recovered or 
used in the manufacture of other saleable products, 
and in order that these by-products may be used to 
the best advantage, the dove-tailing operations should 
be carried out on the same site, and thus save trans- 
porting the by-products from one works to another, an 
operation that must entail loss. The proposal of the 
Government, therefore, to take over the existing works 
in this country appears a doubtful policy. 
The German works with which the new 

British 
