310 

positions. Chemical research, as indeed all re- 
search, is of two kinds; capital discoveries are 
made by some, and in this Great Britain probably 
leads. But the patient development of known 
ground requires men of a different calibre—men 
of more ordinary attainments; such men are 
lacking in numbers in Great Britain. 
3. Men of the first rank exist both in the uni- 
versities and in industry. It is of these that the 
Chemical Council should consist. About twenty 
men of this class could easily be named, of the 
highest reputation and of great experience. 
Among them every one of the numerous branches 
of chemistry could be covered; one or more of 
them would be competent to give expert opinion 
on every subject which falls within the purview 
of chemistry. 
4. The manufacturing chemists in Great Britain 
are, generally speaking, not combined. It is true 
that the alkali-makers work on a mutual under- 
standing; so do the ironmasters. But chemical 
products are so varied that it may be truly said 
that industrial chemists work isolation from 
each other.. It is also generally true that there 
is little contact between industrial and scientific 
chemistry. The teachers and students in universi- 
ties and colleges know little of what passes in the 
world of manufacture, nor do industrial chemists, 
as a rule, consult the heads of scientific labora- 
tories. This, again, does not obtain abroad. 
5. A Chemical Council for the United Kingdom 
or for the Empire should comprise both classes of 
men: scientific investigators and those who apply 
scientific discoveries to industry. It should con- 
tain about twenty-four members, of whom one- 
third should technical chemists, one-third 
scientific investigators, and one-third analytical 
and consulting chemists. 
6. Its duties should be :— 
(a) To ascertain from every chemical factory in 
the kingdom (1) the nature of its raw material; 
(2) the nature and amount of its finished products ; 
(3) the nature of its by-products and what becomes 
of them. Also to learn by inquiry of the pur- 
chasers and users of chemical products—(1) what 
articles they obtain from home manufacturers; 
(2) what articles they purchase from abroad; and 
(3) the causes which induce them to encourage 
foreign rather than home industries. 
(b) To establish connection with the chemical 
laboratories of universities and colleges, and to 
bring chemical researchers into contact with manu- 
facturers, so that the latter should indicate to the 
former what problems. await solution; and the 
former should keep the latter posted in any dis- 
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NATURE 

[May 20, 1915 

coveries which appear to promise to be of technical 
value. 
(c) To advise the Government on questions 
involving a skilled knowledge of chemistry and 
its applications. 
7. It would 
services of the 
not be desirable to enlist the 
members of such a committee 
free of remuneration; a small annual retainer 
would, however, be sufficient to create a feeling 
of responsibility. It would, of course, be neces- 
sary for the Council to employ agents, who must 
| also be skilled chemists, to carry out such work 
as visiting factories and interviewing the heads 
of departments both of-factories and colleges; 
also some andy typewriters would be 
essential. 
8. It would make for efficiency if a certain pro- 
portion of the members of such a committee were 
to offer themselves for retirement annually, as do 
the directors of a company. It would be open to 
the remaining members to recommend their con- 
tinuance in office or their replacement by fresh 
blood. If the Council consisted of twenty-four, 
eight members might retire each year, with the 
possibility of re-election. 
g. This Council would resemble to some extent 
clerks 
| a Royal Commission, but it should be appointed 
for a term of years, say ten, with the possibility 
of continuance as a permanent body should its 
work be successful. It must be remembered that 
the progress of science and its applications has 
no end. j 
10. The Committee should report once a year at 
least, or even at shorter intervals, to the Crown. 
It would appear advisable not to attach it to any 
Government department, but to associate it with 
the Board of Trade, the Board of Agriculture and 
Fisheries, the Local Government Board, the Board 
of Education, and also with the Government 
laboratories. 
11. As it is clearly of advantage that such a 
committee should be non-political, it would be well 
if it were appointed by and were directly respon- 
sible to the Crown. 
To whom is the nomination of the first members 
of such a committee to be entrusted? For on that 
will depend its success or its failure. I suggest that 
the President of the Royal Society, himself a most 
distinguished chemist, should be asked to nominate 
from the Fellows four persons, two scientific 
chemists and two technical chemists; and that 
they, under his chairmanship, should select the 
names of twenty other persons, themselves con- 
stituting four members of the Council. It is un- 
likely that Sir William Crookes could be prevailed 


