B— CHEMISTRY 51 



are linked to one another in Local Sections, which are not confined to 

 Great Britain, and by Subject Groups, which provide a common meeting 

 ground for those interested in Chemical Engineering, Road and Building 

 Materials, Plastics, and Food, respectively. 



In addition to these three main bodies there are numerous smaller 

 organisations concerned with chemistry in one way or another, such as the 

 Biochemical Society, the British Association of Chemists, the Faraday 

 Society, the Institute of Brewing, the Institution of Chemical Engineers, 

 or the Society of Public Analysts, and the number of these is in itself a 

 testimony to the variety of the chemist's activities. 



Within the last two years a notable step has been taken towards the 

 consolidation of the science and profession of chemistry by the formation 

 of the Chemical Council, which is based on the three chartered organisa- 

 tions already mentioned, as well as on the Association of British Chemical 

 Manufacturers, representing important industrial and commercial interests. 

 The Chemical Council, set up in the first instance for a period of seven 

 years, aims at securing a joint foundation for undertakings which have 

 hitherto been the concern of separate organisations, and at enlisting the 

 support of industry in this matter. The publication of new knowledge, 

 either in the form of original communications or in the form of summaries 

 of papers which have already appeared, is of the first importance in a 

 science growing so rapidly as chemistry. For every chemist, whatever be 

 his particular field of work, some acquaintance with new views, new 

 discoveries, new applications, is essential, and the publication of new 

 knowledge in the appropriate form is really a concern of the whole pro- 

 fession. The successful prosecution of this enterprise is a vital matter 

 also for the industries which depend for their smooth running and their 

 progressive development on the application of chemical knowledge and the 

 furtherance of chemical research. 



If the newly established Chemical Council can unite the chemical 

 profession and the chemical industry in support of publications and other 

 objects of similarly wide appeal, such as a central library, it will have 

 achieved a notable advance. Its formation is the earnest of further moves 

 in the direction of consolidation and unification of the chemical profession, 

 such as the acquisition of adequate central premises and the establishment 

 of a complete register of trained chemists. 



This leads me to consider the kind of preparation which is necessary 

 in order that a man shall be qualified for such registration. The training 

 of chemists, as of other professional men, has for its necessary basis a 

 broad general education for character, culture and citizenship — in the 

 achievement of which the teaching of science can play a distinctive part. 

 Regard for accuracy in observation and in statement, understanding of 

 logical reasoning, interest and delight in the natural world, appreciation 

 of scientific discovery and its meaning for human life — all these are, in 

 some measure at least, within the grasp of the child under the guidance of 

 a live teacher. In this connection it is unfortunate that the elements of 

 biology are taught in comparatively so few schools. It is admittedly 

 easier to arrange for elementary instruction in the physical sciences than 

 in biology, but, as things are at present, boys, especially, see as a rule 



