NA TURE 



[July 22, 1922 



Glasgow Meeting of the Society of Chemical Industry. 



THE forty-first annual meeting of the Society 

 -*• of Chemical Industry, which was held in 

 Glasgow on July 4-11, was the fourth occasion on 

 which the Society has visited Glasgow, the last visit 

 being in 1910. Last year the Societv met in Canada, 

 under the presidency of Sir William Pope, and at 

 this year's meeting it has been honoured by the 

 presence of its Canadian president, Prof. R. F. 

 Ruttan, of McGill University, Montreal, with a party 

 of visitors from Canada and the United States. 



The president addressed the Societv on " Some 

 Aspects of Scientific and Industrial Research," and, 

 after referring to the influence of the war in directing 

 academic research into industrial channels, spoke 

 of the lesson of co-operation which had thereby been 

 learned, and the prominence now being given to 

 internationalism in science. This was expressed 

 notably in the establishment at Brussels in 1919 of 

 the International Research Council of the Allied 

 and Neutral Nations. The Council includes the 

 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, 

 and its ultimate goal is to make a World Parlia- 

 ment of Sciences. This organisation, said the presi- 

 dent, should do more than any other for the 

 unification -of mankind, because its underlying 

 principle is the universalism of science and the 

 catholicity of truth. The organisation in Great 

 Britain of a State Department of Scientific and 

 Industrial Research has given rise to similar Depart- 

 ments in the Overseas Dominions and the United 

 States. In consequence, a dearth has been revealed 

 of men sufficiently trained and laboratories suitably 

 equipped for research. One of the first problems 

 to be faced by the research organisations is how 

 permanently to associate those pursuing abstract 

 science with those concerned with its application. 

 Universities must be regarded as holding their labora- 

 tories and equipment in trust for the community ; 

 and they are responsible for inculcating the principles 

 and habits of work which underlie all research. The 

 countries of the Empire expect capacity for research 

 from the scientific departments of their universities, 

 and the universities must therefore have adequate 

 State aid to discharge these responsibilities. Further, 

 Prof. Ruttan advocated the establishment of a State- 

 aided Research Institute in Great Britain, where 

 future scientific and industrial research would be 

 suitably blended. A compromise must be made 

 between scientific ideals and industrial needs ; and 

 scientific research should become an accepted responsi- 

 bility of the State, as certain and permanent as that 

 of national education. 



A noteworthy feature of the present meeting has 

 been the inauguration of the Messel Memorial 

 Lectures, established by means of a legacy to the 

 Society of Chemical Industry by the late Dr. Rudolph 

 Messel, which wastobeappliedfor " . .. the furtherance 

 of scientific research and such other suitable objects 

 as the Council of the Society may determine." The 

 first Messel Medal was presented to Prof. H. E. 

 Armstrong, who delivered a lecture entitled " Rhap- 

 sodies culled from the Thionic Epos." 



The title of Prof. Armstrong's lecture is explained 

 by the fact that Dr. Messel was the pioneer in the 

 manufacture of sulphuric anhydride by the aid of a 

 platinum catalyst. Besides discussing the mechan- 

 ism of catalysis and the influence of water in chemical 



NO. 275 I, VOL. I 10] 



change, the lecturer made an earnest plea for clear 

 thinking in science, for free criticism and exchange of 

 opinion, and for the development of a philosophy ol 

 science based on experience. Prof. Armstrong said he 

 was glad that, after the great attention which had been 

 paid to the physical aspects of chemistry, a return 

 was now being made to the consideration of molecular 

 structure, and the inner meaning of chemical 

 phenomena. Advance in the domain of organic 

 chemistry has outstripped that in other branches, 

 because in them there had been little effort to develop 

 a theory of chemical change on the foundation laid 

 by Faraday. 



Papers were read by Dr. J. W. M'David on " A 

 Rapid and Accurate Method for the Calibration of 

 Storage Tanks," a method which depends on the time 

 taken to fill the tank to a given level by water forced 

 through an orifice by a constant head ; and by Dr. 

 R. A. Joyneron " The Viscosity of Cellulose in Cupram- 

 monium Hydroxide," a novelty described being the 

 preparation of the reagent by dissolving finely 

 divided copper in aerated ammonia solution. 



The remaining papers of scientific interest were 

 provided by the Engineering Group, which, in its 

 fifth conference under the chairmanship of Mr. J. A 

 Reavell, considered the subject of evaporation and 

 distillation. 



In an introduction to an abstract of the papers the 

 relation between evaporation and distillation with 

 reference to modern types of plant was emphasised. 

 Mr. P. Parrish presented a paper on the design of 

 ammoniacal liquor stills, in which the origin of the 

 present type of still was traced, details of the com- 

 position of ammoniacal liquor were given, and the 

 distinguishing features of the various kinds of still 

 were discussed, together with the physico-chemical 

 principles involved in their use, and the probable 

 lines of future development. Mr. W. A. YValmsley 

 dealt with tar distillation. In this paper the 

 differences in composition between tar from hori- 

 zontal and from vertical retorts were considered, 

 and details were given of experiments on the con- 

 tinuous distillation of tar, which yields a greater 

 output than the intermittent process. The treat- 

 ment of tar fractions was outlined, experiences 

 with modern distilling columns were described, 

 and lines of desirable progress suggested. 



The general problem of evaporation was reviewed 

 by Prof. J. W. Hinchley. The influence of various 

 conditions of temperature, atmospheric pressure, 

 and hygroscopic state, radiation, and air-contact 

 upon evaporation was considered. Appropriate 

 evaporation formula; were developed, their applica- 

 tion to details of engineering design was discussed, and 

 their economic importance emphasised. Mr. T. H. 

 Gray read a paper on the historical development of 

 the distillation of glycerine in which interesting draw- 

 ings of plant were submitted. The importance of 

 economic working was pointed out and the high 

 state of purity of the modern product emphasised. 

 The value of all these papers was much enhanced by 

 the discussions by which they were followed. 



A handbook of the meeting had been prepared by 

 the local secretary. Dr. J. A. Cranston, which con- 

 tained a useful account of the chemical and allied 

 industries of Glasgow and the West of Scotland, 

 prepared by Mr. W. H. Coleman. R. M. C. 



