524 
cation are of the utmost importance to the Empire; 
and the efforts being made by the Chemical Society 
with these ends in view will give satisfaction to all 
who realise the difficulty of the problems before us. 
Whilst much has been done to assist the Govern- 
ment in many of the scientific problems arising from 
the war, the technical knowledge and talent of the 
nation are not being utilised to their utmost. No one 
knows what is being done, and there is no way of 
finding out what problems in chemistry, physics, and 
engineering are urgently requiring solution. The 
practical man with his problem has no means of 
getting in touch with the inventor who delights in 
grappling with practical difficulties, or with the man 
of science who can bring his expert knowledge to 
bear upon it. Further, it is realised that an over- 
worked War Office is not the place at which original 
methods or devices can be given adequate and com- 
petent consideration. 
In order to remedy this unsatisfactory condition 
of affairs some system for organising and co-ordinat- 
ing the inventive power of the country must be 
devised. With the object of doing this for chemistry 
and its allied sciences, the Chemical Society has put 
forward its scheme. The society will have the co- 
operation of committees specially qualified to deal with 
individual problems; each of these committees will 
consist of eight members, of whom six will be ap- 
pointed by one of the kindred societies, while the 
other two will be members of the council of the 
Chemical Society, to form a link with it as the central 
body which will forward inventions or suggestions and 
the reports upon them to the proper authority. For 
dealing with questions of the general policy to be 
pursued, both during and after the war, a committee 
thoroughly representative of chemical opinion in all 
its branches will, we understand, be appointed imme- 
diately. 

The Chemical Society, 
Burlington House, Piccadilly, 
London, W. 
Dear Sir,—In March last the Council of the Chem- 
ical Society presented to the Prime Minister a memo- 
rial on ‘‘The Position of the Chemical Industries” in 
this country and asked him to receive a deputation 
from the Society to explain in greater detail the 
opinions set forth therein. A similar memorial had 
also been presented by the Royal Society, and on May 
6th the Presidents of the Boards of Trade and Educa- 
tion received a joint deputation from the two societies. 
The deputation? assured his Majesty’s Ministers of 
the loyal desire of the Fellows of both Societies to 
assist the Government and promised their hearty co- 
operation in all that could be done to utilise the great 
but latent chemical talent of the nation. 
As the war proceeds, the paramount part which 
chemical science is playing and is destined to play in 
the present struggle becomes daily more evident to 
- everyone, and in pursuance of the assurance given to 
the President of the Board of Trade, the Council has 
constituted itself a Consultative Body which will meet 
at frequent intervals to consider, organise, and utilise 
all suggestions and inventions which may be com- 
municated to it, and will report on the same to the 
proper authorities. In this work it will have the assist- 
ance of Committees specially qualified to deal with indi- 
vidual problems, the nature of which will doubtless be 
very diverse. The Council is of opinion that much can 
be done in this way to relieve the overwrought Govern- 
ment Departments of work which would probably 
appear less complex to such Committees of chemical 
experts. 
1 A report of the proceedings will appear in the Transactions for July. 
NO. 2384, VOL. 95] 
NATURE 

[JuLy 8, 1915 

This Consultative Body having now been formed, 
the President and Council invite the Fellows of their 
own and kindred societies to forward in strict confidence 
suggestions and inventions for its careful considera- 
tion. However trivial some of these suggestions may 
appear if taken alone, it is always possible that when 
brought into correlation with others they may lead to 
results of great value, and it is this process of correla- 
tion and subsequent presentation to the suitable 
Government authorities which the Council has in view. 
All suggestions should be addressed to the Council of 
the Chemical Society, Burlington House, London, W., 
and will be regarded as confidential by the Council, 
which feels that it may rely on the loyal and energetic 
co-operation of the Fellows in this attempt to render 
assistance to the Empire. 
It is of great importance that the Council should 
kknow on whom it can rely for help and the nature of 
the services each Fellow can render; it will be of con- 
siderable assistance, therefore, if you will kindly fill in 
and return the form attached. 
Issued by the authority of the Council, 
ALEXANDER SCOTT, 
President. 
July 1, 1915. 

THE RESEARCH DEFENCE SOCIETY. 
ie are those scientific societies which have not 
been thrown out of work by the War, but have 
found something that they can do for the country in 
its time of suffering. The Research Defence Society, 
if its only occupation were to denounce and oppose 
anti-vivisection, would have been well-nigh useless 
since last August; none of us, now, is thinking of this 
old adversary of science. But the Research Defence 
Society found plenty of work; it set itself to the busi- 
ness of explaining and commending, to audiences of 
soldiers, the protective treatment against typhoid 
fever, and, at its annual general meeting on June 30, 
it was able to give a good report of this part of its 
work. 
Last October, with the approval of the War Office, 
it published a four-page leaflet, “‘ Protection Against 
Typhoid Fever.’’ Consignments of this leaflet were 
sent, with the help of the War Office, to be distributed 
through the Army. Many scientific or philanthropic 
bodies also helped in the work of distribution. About 
350,000 copies of this leaflet have already been issued. 
It has been translated into French, and 20,000 copies 
of this translation have been distributed, by the help 
of M. Maton, Belgian Military Attaché in England. 
Copies of the leaflet can be had on application to the 
hon. secretary of the society, 21 Ladbroke Square, 
London, W. The society also has given a great many 
lectures to soldiers, illustrated with lantern-slides and 
moving pictures, on wound infection and on the infec- 
tive diseases, with special reference to the protective 
treatment against typhoid fever. 
The opposition to this treatment, happily, is nearly 
over. It would not stand against the facts of the 
case, and there is an end of the matter. Mr. Tennant, 
in the House of Commons, on July 1, gave the latest 
figures relating to it, and they leave nothing to be 
said. But there is another disease, tetanus, which has 
been fought, and beaten, among the Expeditionary 
Force, by a protective treatment. None of us can 
soon forget the terror of the news, early in the war, 
that tetanus was frequently occurring. We feared lest 
it should be again as dreadful as it was in the 
American Civil War. Everything was in its favour: 
the soil was heavily charged with tetanus-germs, many 
of the wounds were deeply lacerated, and the vast 
majority of them were septic. It is impossible to 
