NATURE 
621 


AUGUST 5, 1915] 

Hydrogenite—a mixture of ferrosilicon with dry 
caustic soda, which only requires addition of 
water for generation of the gas—has been used 
in the French service. One cubic metre of the 
gas is produced from 3 kilos. of the hydrogenite. 
The German Schuckert process employs silicon 
alone, an expensive material, and one which re- 
quires external heating of the generators. 
Two other most interesting processes for the 
preparation of gas for balloons are mentioned. 
The decomposition of acetylene in strong steel 
cylinders by electric sparks is of particular in- 
terest by reason of the gas prepared in this way 
having been used at the Zeppelin factory at 
Friedrichshaven. The process gave rise to a 
serious explosion in 1910. The finely divided 
carbon deposited in the decomposition cylinders 
is used for the manufacture of printers’ ink. 
Another process, of Dutch origin, that of 
Rincker and Wolter, has also been used in Ger- 
many. Generators filled with metallurgical coke 
are blown to incandescence, the air blast shut off, 
and suitable oils injected until the fall of tem- 
perature necessitates a further air blast. In a 
portable plant described in a recent issue of the 
Scientific American, one waggon carries two 
generators, with oil tanks, blower, &c.; a second 
car carfies the purifiers. The gas passes through 
the generators in series, and purification is 
effected by sulphuric acid scrubbing, and finally 
by caustic soda to remove carbon dioxide. With 
highly incandescent coke the gas is stated, to be 
nearly as light as hydrogen; it has some illuminat- 
ing value, and is also stated to be suitable for use 
as an auxiliary gas for furnace work. 

SCIENCE, MUSEUMS, AND THE PRESS. 
ECHNICAL workers in science and in allied 
fields are accustomed to say that the general 
Press either pays no attention at all to subjects 
which they themselves believe to have a very 
important bearing upon the welfare of the people, 
and to be if properly treated of great public in- 
terest, or that it seizes upon only some isolated 
facts which are capable of being treated in a sen- 
sational way so as to furnish “good copy,” but 
with the result of conveying an erroneous and 
often harmful impression. It is, we are constantly 
assured, the fact that newspaper editors really 
would like to have good and accurate popular 
articles on various branches of science, both pure 
and applied. The difficulty in obtaining them is 
twofold. First, that the ordinary journalist, un- 
trained in special subjects, cannot be expected to 
see the really essential points or to present them. 
in an accurate manner. Secondly, that the 
scientific worker generally has far too heavy a 
touch to appeal to the public. An attempt is some- 
times made to bring the journalist and the man 
of science into co-operation by means of an inter- 
view, but in this country, at any rate, the scientific 
worker is apt to dread personal advertisement, and 
on the other hand he may not altogether care about 
giving news or opinions of pecuniary value for 
No. 2388, VOL. 95] 

another person to take the reward. At any rate 
the interview generally results in the man of 
science being made to utter some notable absurdi- 
ties. 
There is, however, another intermediary through 
which the technical worker can approach a wider 
public, and that is afforded by the public galleries 
of our museums, which are coming more and more 
to rank as educational establishments of prime 
importance, catering not only for advanced 
students, but also for school children, and for 
many who might object to any title so serious as 
that of students. In so far as the exhibited series 
of our museums are intended to appeal to this 
wider and less educated public, they must do so by 
means of striking objects, attractive installations, 
and specially prepared labels. To these may be 
added: printed guides, which are purchased by a 
very small percentage of the visitors, and in any 
case are not as a rule written in a style alluring 
to those who seek amusement rather than instruc- 
tion; human guides, who may take a perhaps 
larger but still a small percentage of the visitors 
round the galleries; and lastly, lectures with the 
added attraction of lantern-slides, dealing with 
special portions of the collections. 
Many museums, both in Europe and America, 
are working hard along these lines, and have 
effected a considerable increase in the number of 
their visitors. | But when all is said and done the 
proportion of visitors to the number of the sur- 
rounding population is indeed a small one. Some 
American museums claim a proportion as high 
as 35 per cent., but this, it must be remembered, 
refers to the number of visits, not to the number 
of visitors, which is certainly considerably less. 
Now it is absurd to spend money, time, and 
trouble in producing an attractive exhibition and 
then to leave members of the public to find out 
the fact for themselves. The museums must not 
be above taking the same steps as are taken by 
all other caterers for public amusement and in- 
struction. In some form or other the museum 
must advertise. Here, then, may possibly be 
found a solution of the difficulty with which we 
started. Let the museum frankly admit that it 
must advertise, and let it take the Press for what 
it is, as the best advertising agent. The Press, 
on the other hand, welcomes good copy, and in 
return for that will not in the least mind directing 
attention to a public non-commercial institution. 
To accomplish this, the museum should have under 
the control of the director, a Press department, 
composed of the best writers on the staff, each 
of whom should be instructed as part of his official 
duties to draw up striking articles, not falsely 
sensational, but none the less abounding in 
“crispness,” ‘“‘snap,” and “ go.” 
Some such course as that just advocated is now 
being taken by the Smithsonian Institution, which 
for the past year or two has distributed to the 
general and scientific Press free articles written 
in lucid, popular fashion, dealing with all kinds of 
matters of novel interest in the United States’ 
National Museum, and with other branches of the 
. 
