June 24, 1915] 
NATURE 
457 

NOTES. 
Mr. Lroyp GeorGE, the Minister of Munitions, 
stated in the House of Commons on June 17 that he 
had been in communication with the Secretary of 
State for War with reference to the appoinment of a 
small advisory body of men of science to advise the 
Government during the continuance of the war as to 
the fullest employment of all the resources of chemical 
and mechanical science and invention in aid of mili- 
tary operations. Such a committee, if rightly con- 
stituted, should be of service in expressing opinions 
upon suggested means of offence or defence, but what 
is wanted is a working department of the War Office 
to organise and use the scientific and expert know- 
ledge of the country in much the same way as the 
medical forces have been organised by Sir Alfred 
Keogh. The leisurely consideration by an advisory 
committee of proposals placed before it is not appro- 
priate to the times, which demand immediate action 
by an energetic head who will not only use con- 
sultants but also organise scientific men into a corps 
‘on special service either at the Front or at home. 
Until this is done, it cannot be suggested that science 
is being fully employed in the nation’s needs. We 
referred last week to Mr. H. G. Wells’s letter to the 
Times upon the need for the mobilisation of scientific 
and expert knowledge to match and overcome like 
forces arrayed against us by Germany. In a further 
letter to our contemporary (June 22) Mr. Wells out- 
lines a responsible official bureau having the same 
constitution and functions as those of the working 
department suggested above. Such a bureau with a 
capable director could do for the neglected scientific 
forces of the country what has already been done for 
the fighting and the medical forces. By all means 
let advisory committees be appointed as suggested by 
Principal Griffiths and Prof. Armstrong, but it is 
of even greater importance to have a well-informed 
central office which understands how to make the best 
use of the specialised knowledge of men of science 
individually or collectively, and knows the resources of 
laboratories and institutions available for national 
service. Sir Thomas Rose, in a letter which appears 
elsewhere in this issue, has misunderstood Mr. Wells, 
and our article last week, when he suggests that 
purely scientific investigation with no definite practical 
purpose is being urged. Intensive work with a definite 
object is as much the province of the man of science 
as of the inventor, and our plea is that such work 
should be instituted if the nation is to obtain the 
fullest advantage from scientific: men and methods. 
MucH anxiety for inventors seems to be felt in many 
quarters, the idea being that brilliant schemes and 
devices may possibly not receive sympathetic con- 
sideration from Government officials or their advisers. 
In reply to a question in the House of Commons on 
June 22, the Prime Minister stated that the technical 
branches of the Admiralty and the War Office have 
very complete facilities for examining not merely com- 
pleted inventions, but promising suggestions which by 
the application of trained electrical, chemical, or 
mechanical skill may be made effective. Mr. Asquith 
also took the opportunity to acknowledge the very 
NO, 2382, VOL. 95] 

valuable assistance received from the Royal Society 
in this connection, saying that the society has con- 
tributed to the Government several important inven- 
tions which it would not be in the public interest to 
disclose. We have no fear that any really practical 
suggestion or effective weapon of warfare will be over- 
looked at the present time, but we need more than a 
sorting office and consultative committees if we are 
to ensure the utmost gain from the application of 
scientific knowledge to practical problems. In an 
efficient system, every man and every intellect should 
be used in work for which they are best adapted by 
training and attainment. It is for the Government to 
see that this principle is actively applied to the 
organisation of our scientific forces in order to hasten 
the country’s triumph. 
AN excellent suggestion was made at a special meet- 
ing of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on 
June 11 (reported in the Engineer for June 
18) to the effect that all gauges and special tools 
required in the manufacture of munitions should be 
constructed in a special factory and thence distributed 
to contractors. Gauge-making is a very special art, 
requiring highly skilled workmen and special tools and 
arrangements for finishing accurately very hard mate- 
rials. Very few general factories are equipped for 
work of this kind, and to expect such to provide their 
own gauges means considerable delay, which could be 
avoided easily by carrying out the above suggestion. 
The proposal was well received by the meeting, and 
we trust that the Minister of Munitions will take early 
action to carry it into effect. 
To further the output of war materials in London 
and the surrounding districts the Ministry of Muni- 
tions has authorised the formation of a body to be 
called the Metropolitan Munitions Committee. The 
committee comprises the presidents of the Institutions 
of Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineers, other 
prominent members of the engineering professions, 
trades, and manufactures, and representatives of the 
public utility services in London. It also includes 
representatives of the London County Council and of 
the London Chamber of Commerce. The committee 
is at present engaged, with the help of the Ministry 
of Munitions, in dividing London into various districts 
with small local committees and managers in order 
to collect information of the possibilities of the dis- 
tricts, so that the committee may report to the 
Ministry in what way London can help. Until further 
notice, communications should be addressed to the 
hon. secretaries, Metropolitan Munitions Committee, 
Great George Street, S.W. 
Tue value of youth as a national asset forms the 
subject of the leading article in Engineering for June 
18. All the resources of the nation must be concen- 
trated upon the overthrow of the enemy, and, natur- 
ally, a great part of the burden and sacrifice must 
fall upon youth. At the same time, it is wise that 
each unit of the public should be chosen for that 
function for which he (or she) is best suited, not only 
by reason of physical qualities, but also by mental 
capability. In this matter, attention should be given 
