OOTOBEB 30, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



587 



During the past few months we have 

 read in the daily journals— and we sin- 

 cerely hope it may be true — that there are 

 signs of the commencement of a great de- 

 velopment of the resources of this island; 

 as such a desirable event must be closely 

 connected with, and, indeed, may even be 

 dependent on, the vitality of the chemical 

 industries of the country, the moment 

 seems opportune for the consideration of 

 a subject which has a direct bearing on 

 both commerce and chemistry. 



Although this section is chiefly occupied 

 with matters relating to pure science, the 

 discussion of industrial questions is also 

 regarded as one of its important functions ; 

 it does not attempt to distinguish pure 

 from applied chemistry, and any problem 

 which concerns either is deemed worthy of 

 its attention. 



From this point of view I propose to 

 consider whether any steps can be taken to 

 place the chemical industries of the United 

 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in a 

 more prominent position than that which 

 they now occupy in the world of commerce. 



The subject is not new ; it has been dealt 

 with by many, but principally by those 

 more directly interested— prominent mem- 

 bers of the Society of Chemical Industry, 

 who are far better qualified to express 

 opinions on commercial matters than am 

 I. It is perhaps presumption on my part 

 to attempt to add anything to what has 

 been said by such leaders of industrial 

 chemistry, but I propose to deal with the 

 subject from a very different standpoint— 

 namely, from that of the teacher in the 

 class-room and laboratory. Even if I fail 

 to make a single suggestion of immediate 

 practical value, the question is one of such 

 magnitude and so many-sided that I feel 

 justified in bringing it under the notice of 

 this section. It is not merely a matter of 

 money, of a few millions or of a few tens 

 of millions sterling. There are few 

 branches of industry to which chemistry, in 



one way or another, is not of supreme im- 

 portance. Whether we look to the great 

 shipbuilding interests, dependent on the 

 progress of metallurgy; to our cotton and 

 linen trades, where cellulose reigns su- 

 preme ; to our dye-houses or to our brewer- 

 ies, or to any other industry, great or 

 small, there do we find problems in chem- 

 istry awaiting solution, and the nation 

 which solves them will not only progress in 

 civilization and contentment, but will also 

 justly claim to have taken a leading part 

 in the advancement of science. 



It is unnecessary to trouble you with 

 any detailed comparison of the position 

 which we occupy to-day with that which 

 we have taken in the past. The fiftieth 

 anniversary of the epoch-making discovery 

 of mauve was held only two years ago, and 

 the proceedings are still fresh in our recol- 

 lection; the pEeans of congratulation ad- 

 dressed to the discoverer (now, alas! no 

 longer with us) were marred by a plain- 

 tive note, a note of lamentation over our 

 lost industry, the manufacture of dyes. 

 The jubilee of the founder of the color in- 

 dustry in this country was also the occa- 

 sion for pronouncing its funeral oration. 

 If this were the full extent of our loss we 

 might bear it with equanimity; but it is 

 not so much what has already gone as 

 what is going and what may go that are 

 matters of such deep concern. Those who 

 doubt the seriousness of our condition may 

 find statistical evidence, more than suffi- 

 cient to convince them, in the technical 

 journals and in the board of trade reports 

 of recent years. 



The new Patent Act which came into 

 force this year, and for which the country 

 is so much indebted to the strenuous advo- 

 cacy of Mr. Levinstein and Sir Joseph 

 Lawrence, seems to many to have inaugu- 

 rated a new era, and to have removed one 

 of the principal causes of the decline of 

 our chemical industries ; if this be so, it is 

 all the more important that the representa- 



