866 



NA TURE 



December 30, 1922 



have covered over 100 miles of coast in just about as 

 many days. All the lines of migration meet at a point 

 in the Moray Firth. Why ? We do not know, but 

 it is something gained to have established the fact of 

 the migration." 



Another interesting discovery is a method of purifying 

 mussels (and, probably, oysters too) by treating them 

 with chlorinated water and thereby inducing them to 

 cleanse themselves of sewage bacteria. Researches in 

 plankton are proceeding vigorously at many research 

 stations. This, of course, provides the most funda- 

 mental problem of all. Just as the harvest of the land 

 depends, ultimately, cm the activities of certain micro- 

 scopic organisms in the soil, so the harvest of the sea 

 depends, in the long run, on the microscopic organisms 

 it contains. It is interesting to learn that, equally with 

 the soil workers, fishery investigators are giving much 

 attention to hydrogen ion concentration. In sea water, 

 this measure of acidity appears to be correlated with 

 the content of organic matter. Perhaps the most 

 important fishery problem is connected with the 

 herring. The mysterious movements of this fish, 

 affecting as they do the livelihood of thousands of 

 persons, have been celebrated in song and story. Shoals 

 may suddenly desert waters which they have frequented 

 for centuries. The Hanseatic League (a German 

 domination of England) was terminated in the fifteenth 

 century largely by the failure of the herring fishery 

 in the Baltic ; within living memory, the herring has 

 deserted Loch Fyne in Scotland. As the Scottish song, 

 " Caller Herrin' " runs : 



"You may ca' them vulgar farin', 

 Wives and mithers, maist despairin', 

 Ca' them lives o' men." 



The problem is as yet unsolved, but it is the business 

 — and the certain hope — of science to solve it. 



Of the many forms of State organisation of research, 

 that under which fishery investigations are regulated 

 appears to be one of the best. In outline there is 

 provision for (1) " free " and (2) " directed " research. 

 The latter is devoted to the solution of definite economic 

 problems, whereas the former is concerned with the 

 study of fundamental problems which lie at the root 

 of any advance in the practical sphere. But no attempt 

 has been made to lay down a definite border line. 

 Controlling both there is an Advisory Committee of 

 scientific men, the advice of which the Commissioners 

 appear to accept unhesitatingly. 



We notice that the various Agricultural Research 

 Institutes continue to produce much valuable work, 

 though the section of the report devoted to agricultural 

 research does not include much new matter of interest. 



The report does not contain, as in the past, an 

 account of the present finances of the Fund. In an 

 NO. 2774, VOL. I io] 



article published in Nature for April 8 (vol. 109, 

 p. 433) some apprehension was expressed on the score 

 of the low ebb which last year's report showed the 

 Fund had reached. Having survived the attack of the 

 Geddes Committees, it would be indeed unfortunate 

 if the future of fishery research should prove to be still 

 uncertain, while it is equally necessary that the valuable 

 researches of such institutions as the Plant Breeding 

 Stations should be continued and placed on a permanent 

 basis. 



The Petroleum Industry. 



The Petroleum and Allied Industries : Petroleum, 

 Natural Gas, Natural Waxes, Asphalts and Allied 

 Substances, and Shale Oils. By James Kewley. 

 (The Industrial Chemistry Series.) Pp. xi + 302. 

 (London: Bailliere,Tindall, and Cox, 1922.) 12s. 6d. 

 net. 



THE literature concerned with petroleum and its 

 products is becoming almost as extensive as 

 that which relates to coal. But whereas that of coal 

 is the growth of some centuries, the literature of petro- 

 leum has been accumulated within living memory. 

 This is due, of course, to the extraordinary develop- 

 ment of the use of petroleum as a source of light and 

 heat. The growth of motor transport has been 

 remarkable, due in no small measure to the influence 

 of the Great War, directly and indirectly. Aviation 

 has arisen wholly within our own time, and is one 

 of the most striking of the new departures which the 

 twentieth century has witnessed. The exploitation of 

 our oil-fields has become a question of national im- 

 portance, and, it may be added, of international diffi- 

 culty. The growth in the use of petroleum is well 

 illustrated by the subjoined table, taken from the 

 recently published Report of Lloyd's Register of 

 Shipping for the year 1921-1922, showing the pro- 

 gressive demand for oil-carrying vessels : 



Oil-tankers. 



July 1914 . • 1,478,988 gross tons. 



July 1919 • • 2,929,113 



July 1920 . . 3.354.3H 



July 1921 . . 4,418,688 



July 1922 . .. 5,062,699 



It is further shown by the increase in gross tonnage of 

 vessels either originally fitted to burn oil fuel or sub- 

 sequently converted for that purpose : 



July 1914 

 July 1919 

 July 1920 

 July 1921 

 July 1922 



1,310,209 gross tons. 



5.336.678 



9.359,334 

 12,796,635 

 14,464,162 ,, 



Additional evidence is furnished by the large increase 



