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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVIII. No. 722 



tives of chemical science should be ready 

 and willing to join hands with the manu- 

 facturers in order to assist in the process 

 of regeneration. 



The principal changes which have been 

 introduced by the new law are, of course, 

 familiar to all. The most important one, 

 which came into operation on August 28 

 last, is that which requires that the article 

 or process which is protected by the patent 

 must be manufactured or carried on to 

 an adequate extent in the United Kingdom 

 after the expiration of four years from 

 the date of the patent. If this condition 

 is not fulfilled, any person may apply for 

 the revocation of the patent. 



Some of the results of this amendment, 

 and some indications of the great indus- 

 trial changes which it will bring about, are 

 already obvious. Foreign firms or indi- 

 viduals who hold British patents and who 

 have not sufficient capital to work them in 

 this country, or who do not think they are 

 worth working here, are attempting to sell 

 their British patent rights. Others are 

 building or buying works in Great Britain, 

 and it has been estimated that in the im- 

 mediate future a sum of at least 25,000,- 

 0001. of foreign capital will have been thus 

 invested in order to comply with the new 

 law. 



"We need not stop to consider the eco- 

 nomic effects of this transfer of capital on 

 the general trade of this country, but we 

 may well pause a moment in order to try 

 and forecast the consequences of these new 

 conditions in so far as they concern our 

 chemical industries. 



The prospective establishment of 

 branches of two of the largest German 

 chemical works at Ellesmere Port and at 

 Port Sunlight, respectively, is already a 

 matter of common knowledge, and it may 

 be presumed that these firms will avail 

 themselves to a large extent of British 

 labor. If this be the case, and if they are 



successful— as they, no doubt, will be— the 

 complaint that the inferior technical edu- 

 cation of our artisans is responsible for 

 our lack of success will thereby be proved 

 to be groundless. Even if we admit that 

 at the present time the British workman 

 is an inferior operative in a chemical 

 works, and only capable of undertaking 

 the less-skilled labor, these firms will 

 gradually raise a considerable number of 

 trained men who will be ready to under- 

 take more responsible duties under our own 

 manufacturers when the good time comes; 

 a school for chemical operatives will be 

 created in our midst, and, as in the past, 

 we shall reap the benefit of knowledge and 

 experience brought to our shores. It also 

 seems reasonable to expect that, as is the 

 case abroad, these works will be equipped 

 with laboratories and staffed by chemists, 

 although possibly only so far as is neces- 

 sary for routine work. Many of these 

 chemists may settle permanently in our 

 midst, become members of our Chemical 

 Society and Society of Chemical Industry, 

 and thus infuse us with their patience and 

 perseverance. It is not beyond the bounds 

 of possibility that these great firms may 

 even employ British chemists in their 

 works, if we can supply men sufficiently 

 weU trained to be of value. On the other 

 hand, as experience seems to have shown 

 that industrial chemistry can not succeed 

 with imported scientific labor, it is not 

 very probable that many posts in the 

 laboratory will be filled by our country- 

 men, who, in this connection, must be re- 

 garded as foreigners. 



Now at the present time most chemical 

 products can be manufactured more 

 cheaply abroad than here, otherwise we 

 should not have any reason to consider our 

 position. Even if, owing to inefficient 

 labor, higher wages, freight and other 

 economic conditions, production is more 

 costly here, the superior efficiency and sci- 



