I 04 



NA TURE 



[July 29, 1922 



these will have no effect. Assuming that there are 

 no dark stars or bodies the average masses of the stars 

 are found to fall off from 2-2 near the sun to 1-4 in 

 the outer regions. The mean is i-6, practically the 

 same as Jackson and Furner found from a study of 

 binarv stars. This seems to show that the amount 

 of dark matter in the system is relatively small ; we 

 may infer that the duration of the system in the 

 past is not greatly longer than the luminous period 

 of individual stars. The two star-drifts are ascribed 

 to rotational movements of the stars in opposite 

 directions about the galactic polar axis, an idea that 

 was also suggested by Eddington in the Jubilee 

 Number of Astronomische Nachrichten. 



Kapteyn shows that the supposition explains not 



only the observed directions of the drifts but also 

 their numerical amounts, namely, 40 km. /sec. for the 

 relative velocity of the drifts. It is noted that if the 

 drifts are really due to circular motion the more distant 

 stars should give somewhat different apices from the 

 nearer ones. This will afford a test of the theory. 



Some preliminary statistics based on the study 

 of the " Selected Areas " were used in the paper ; 

 when these data are full}' available it will be possible 

 to give improved values of the star-density in the 

 outer regions. The paper is noteworthv as being 

 one of the earliest attempts to explain dynamically 

 all the star-movements in the system ; while avowedly 

 only approximate, it supplies a foundation on which 

 more exact researches may be based. 



The Oil Palm in French West Africa 1 



THE resources of the French possessions in West 

 Africa in oilseeds and nuts are practically 

 inexhaustible, and considerable attention is now 

 being given by the colonial authorities to the possi- 

 bility of greatly increasing the supplies of these 

 valuable products by scientific research, particularly 

 in the direction of plant-breeding and selection, and 

 the most up-to-date methods of cultivation. In 

 collaboration with the Institut Colonial de Marseille 

 the Governor-General of French West Africa is 

 establishing research stations and experimental 

 plantations in Dahomey and on the Ivory Coast, chiefly 

 for oil-palm study, but work on the cotton plant 

 and ground-nut (arachis) will also be included. It 

 is estimated that, with proper methods, 300,000 

 tons of palm oil per annum could be obtained from 

 the Ivory Coast alone. Two oil-palm experimental 

 stations have been already planned, and a chemical 

 and botanical staff is being engaged for the work 

 under M. Teissonnier, Director of Agriculture of the 

 Ivory Coast. 



The programme of research both at Bingerville 

 and at Dakar will include primarily the improvement 

 of oil-palm varieties, and more particularly the 

 evolution by selection of a variety which will give 

 a maximum yield of palm oil. The aim therefore is 

 to increase the pulp or pericarp at the expense of 

 the kernel, since it is held that palm oil is of more 

 value than palm kernel oil, and is likely to be still 

 more so if the present research work on the produc- 

 tion of an edible palm oil is completely successful. 

 The best varieties at present known, e.g. Pisifera 

 and Ceredia (A. Chevalier), will be used as a starting- 

 point, and it is hoped by judicious selection, breed- 



1 Bull, des Matures Grasses de l'Inst. Col. de Marseille, 1921, 9 and 10, 

 145-158. 



ing, and proper cultivation in plantations, instead 

 of happy-go-lucky native methods, to increase largely 

 the yield of palm oil, and also improve its quality 

 to such a degree that an edible grade can be obtained 

 without the need of any subsequent chemical refining. 

 Another important aim is to achieve a variety which 

 will mature early. At present an oil palm 111 West 

 Africa must be about five years old before commenc- 

 ing to bear fruit, although in the Dutch East Indies 

 (east coast of Sumatra) they are reported to come 

 into bearing at three years. On the other hand, in 

 the East Indies, the seed takes much longer to 

 germinate — six to nine months as compared with five 

 or six weeks in West Africa. 



The possibilities of plant research in connexion 

 with many important economic products are now 

 realised, and these experiments in French West 

 Africa will be watched with interest, although, of 

 course, some years must elapse before certain and 

 definite results can be obtained. 



Reference has been already made to the Dutch East 

 Indies, where similar work has been undertaken both 

 in Java and in Sumatra for many years. Doubtless 

 also the big English firms interested in African palm 

 oil are fully alive to the importance of this kind of 

 research, and as a matter of fact they initiated experi- 

 mental plantations years ago, but no results have 

 been published, for obvious reasons. 



The East Indies and also Malaysia have now 

 entered the lists as serious rivals to West Africa in 

 supplying the world with oil-palm products, and in 

 some respects they seem to have an advantage over 

 West Africa, but assuming that natural conditions 

 of soil and climate are approximately equal, the 

 deciding factor will be the success or otherwise of 

 these plant-breeding experiments. 



The French Dye Industry. 



THE issue of La Nature, April 15, contains an 

 interesting summary of the French dyestuff 

 industry, particular attention being paid to progress 

 made since 1914. In 1913. 2000 tons of dyes, of the 

 value of seven million francs, were imported. Eighty- 

 five per cent, came from Germany and ten per cent, 

 from Switzerland. The balance of the consumption of 

 9000 tons represented French manufacture. It is 

 pointed out, however, that the dyestuff factories of 

 France, of which there were four, were almost com- 

 pletely dependent on Germany for intermediates, the 

 home production of which represented scarcely ten 

 per cent, of the requirements. There were in addition 

 German works which received intermediates or even 

 finished dves from Germany. The article refers to 



NO. 2752, VOL. I IO] 



the ready adaptation of the dye works in Germany to 

 the manufacture of munitions during the war, and 

 does not omit to point out that, without the means of 

 obtaining synthetic nitric acid, which the enemy had 

 also perfected, his dye works would not have been of 

 the slightest use to him. 



The French efforts during the war are described at 

 length. In April 1916 the Syndicat National des 

 Matieres Colorantes was established, which had rela- 

 tions with the State and further arranged to take 

 over after the war the national factories used in the 

 manufacture of explosives. The Compagnie National 

 des Matieres Colorantes et de Produits Chimiques was 

 constituted in January 191 7 and at once set to work, 

 rwo 1 i< lories rapidly grew up, the first at Nogent- 



