>9S 



NATURE 



[July 30, 1908 



contained in the report before us : — " Attention is now- 

 called to the remarkable specimen of leaf (/. suma- 

 traiia) . . . yielding in the air-dried condition, on 

 aiialvsi:? bv the isatin process, almost twice as ntuch 

 indigotin as the best specimen of Java leaf " (p. 109). 



This particular specimen appears to have been 

 grown in southern India. 



It is, unfortunately, only too notorious that those 

 whose interests have been most severely assailed by 

 the synthetical product, viz. the planters themselves, 

 have assumed an attitude of hostility towards these 

 later attempts to place their industry on a scientific 

 basis. Thev have been advised, as the result of inde- 

 pendent investigations by their own experts, that their 

 present method of manufacture leaves no room for 

 improvement. If this be the real state of affairs, then 

 it mav safely be asserted that the days of the native 

 indusirv are' numbered. The case has been further 

 complicated by a most regrettable antagonism of 

 parties, and at one period assumed a polemical aspect 

 most detrimental to the real cause at issue. That 

 cause is. in brief, the survival or extinction of the 

 Indian indigo planter. It has transpired in the course 

 of the development of the case that the decision 

 whether the planters have been doing themselves 

 justice as manufacturers has been of necessity thrown 

 back upon the accuracy of certain analytical methods. 

 It is on this verv point'that there has, unhappily, been 

 conflict of evidence, and the planters have chosen, 

 perhaps not unnaturally, that verdict which appeared 

 to mitigate their past neglect of the scientific side 

 of their industrv. But if they have been wrongly ad- 

 vised, their advisers have made themselves answer- 

 able to the Indian Government and to the Indian 

 nation on the very serious charge of having deliber- 

 atelv brushed aside the one chance of re-establishing 

 the native industrv which might fairlv be expected 

 to follow from the practical development of the results 

 now made known. There are many scientific chemists 

 in this country who, with full knowledge of the facts 

 of the case, are distinctly of opinion that even a 

 partial realisation of these results would enable the 

 natural colouring matter to compete successfully with 

 its chemical rival. R. Meldola. 



THE DUBLIN MEETING OF THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 



ALL indications point to a successful meeting in 

 Dublin this year for the British Association. 

 The number of visitors already announced renders it 

 verv probable that the attendance will largely exceed 

 that at the last Dublin meeting in 1878, and will 

 compare favourably with many of the more recent 

 meetings. 



The Hst of papers to be read is practically complete, 

 and the time allotted to scientific proceedings will be 

 fully occupied, as will be seen from the provisional 

 programmes of the sections given below. In Irish 

 circles great interest is displayed in the discussion on 

 the working of the Land .Acts and the relation of 

 railwavs to "the State, problems on which the average 

 Iiishman is rather more of an expert than the ordinary 

 citizen. That Sir Horace Plunkett will preside at the 

 agricultural subsection, which deals with cooperation 

 and allied matters, is a happy touch. Sir Horace 

 founded, in 1896, the Recess. Committee of Irish Par- 

 liamentarians, a non-political body convened for the 

 purpose of gaining information with regard to the 

 best methods of cooperative agriculture carried on 

 abroad. That body subsequently led to the foundation 

 of the Irish Board of Agriculture and Technical In- 

 struction, which took over the whole of the work of 

 the Science and Art Department in Ireland and a 



NO. 2022, VOL, 78] 



number of new duties, with the immediate result of 

 regaining for the Irish producer much of his pre- 

 eminence in the butter and egg market. Sir Horace 

 Plunkett was the first vice-president of the new board, 

 and although Ireland was considered to be " boarded 

 over " alreadv to suflocation, the new office had no 

 difficulty in making itself beneficially felt from end to 

 end of the country. 



A considerable number of manufacturing establish- 

 ments will be open to the inspection of members who 

 visit Dublin. Foremost among these is Guinness's 

 great brewery at St. James's Gate, one of the largest 

 works of the kind in the world. These works will be 

 open daily from it to 3, but the special British 

 .Association day will be Thursday, September 3. 



The Dublin Corporation will show its electric light 

 works daily from 10 to 4. These are situated on the 

 site of the old Pigeon House Fort, on the south wall 

 of Dublin Harbour. They lie right out in the sea, in 

 the centre of Dublin Bay, surrounded by the unsur- 

 passable scenery of the Dublin coast. The generating 

 station of the Dublin L'nited Tramway Company at 

 Ringsend is also well worth a visit as the first repre- 

 sentative of the three-phase system of traction in the 

 Inited Kingdom. Dublin has every reason to be 

 proud of its tramways. 



Small parties of twelve will be admitted to Perry's 

 planing and saw mills in Camden Row. I under- 

 stand that ladies will not be encouraged to visit these, 

 on account of the dangers threatened by the 

 machinery. 



No such restriction applies to Atkinson's poplin 

 factory in Thomas Court, where visitors will be wel- 

 comed on the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. 

 Poplin is a peculiar mixture of silk and linen, which 

 combines most of the advantages of both materials. 

 Its manufacture was introduced into Dublin by the 

 Huguenot refugees in the eighteenth century, and has 

 flourished ever since. Irish poplin is always among 

 th; materials worn at the Royal and Viceregal courts 

 on Irish occasions. 



.Among the other establishments to be visited are 

 Peterson's pipe factory, Jacob's biscuit works, Power's 

 distillery, Winstanley's boot works, the Alliance gas 

 works, and the great railway works of the Great 

 Southern and Western Railway at Inchicore. 



The social gatherings are numerous and attractive, 

 as befits the gay city on the Liffey. On Wednesday, 

 September 2 (tlie opening day), the Lord Mayor and 

 Lady Mayoress will be at home at the pretty Mansion 

 House in Dawson Street from 3 to 6 p.m. 



On Thursday, September 3, the Provost and senior 

 fellows will give a garden party at Trinity College 

 from 3.30 to 6.30 p.m. This w-ill be followed at 

 8 p.m. by a conversazione at Leinster House, the 

 spacious and historic home of the Royal Dublin 

 Society in Kildare .Street. Smaller receptions will be 

 given on Friday, September 4, by the Dean of St. 

 Patrick's at his deanery, by the Irish Astronomer 

 Royal at Dunsink Observatory, and by Miss White 

 at .Alexandra College. On the same day, at 2.30, a 

 special matinde performance of Irish plays will be 

 given at the Abbey Theatre (the Irish national 

 theatre) of Yeats's Hour Glass and Riders to the Sea, 

 and Lady Gregory's comedy Spreading the News. 

 These should prove particularly enjoyable to those who 

 look for a refreshing native atmosphere. 



Saturday will be largelv devoted to excursions, but 

 a smaller conversazione will be given in the evening 

 bv the Classical .Association of Ireland in the hall of 

 the Royal College of Physicians. 



For Sunday, September 6, special services will be 

 arranged in various churches, and a special sacred 

 concert, open to all members, will be given at the 



