642 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1140 



long been alive to the need and value of scien- 

 tific research; while the chemical trades for 

 the most part are so divided and individual in 

 outlook that the various professional societies 

 have had neither the influence nor the means 

 necessary to enable them to take any large 

 share in promoting research in connection 

 with those industries." Simultaneously the 

 council undertook a very important project — 

 the formation of a register of all researches 

 actually being conducted on the outbreak of 

 the war. They have also been busy in form- 

 ing standing committees to advise them on 

 special subjects. One on metallurgy, one on 

 mining, and one on engineering have been set 

 up, with sub-sections of each; and others are 

 in contemplation. The question of aid to re- 

 search in educational institutions is likewise 

 engaging them. It will thus be seen that they 

 have broken a good deal of ground during the 

 year. But their main task is still ahead; and 

 on this they make some careful observations. 

 There are two aspects of it — on the one 

 hand, the sheer deficiency of scientific re- 

 search and training in the country, and on the 

 other, the failure of manufacturers to appreci- 

 ate the conditions under which science can 

 help them. The first is to some extent a quan- 

 titative matter, upon which an increase of en- 

 dowments can do a great deal. The second is 

 very intricate, since there is no problem of 

 industrial structure — whether the relation of 

 firms to other firms, or that of firms to their 

 employees — which has not its bearing upon it. 

 The council point out that a state of things, 

 under which a number of relatively small 

 firms in a country are more bent on cutting 

 each other's throats than on promoting the 

 success of the national industry against or- 

 ganized foreign competition, can rarely if 

 ever be conducive to scientific advance in an 

 industry. A certain amount of willingness to 

 pool researches and results is almost indispen- 

 sable to such an advance; and the more there 

 is, the more advance can be hoped for. Quot- 

 ing a famous American example the council 

 distinguish three sorts of laboratories which a 

 trade requires: (1) An ordinary works labora- 

 tory, such as a firm needs for routine tests and 

 controls; (2) an "efficiency" laboratory, 



studying improvements in products and proc- 

 esses; (3) a laboratory devoted to more funda- 

 mental research, whose fruit is less immediate, 

 though over long periods it will prove su- 

 premely important. Only a very large firm or 

 else a combination of firms can be expected to 

 undertake all three; and thus the future of in- 

 dustrial science is very closely linked to that 

 of industrial combination. Another factor 

 upon which the council lay hardly less stress is 

 that of solidarity between firms and their em- 

 ployees, such as only a thoroughly generous 

 and enlightened treatment of the employees 

 can secure. It is not an accident that the firms 

 which have been most conspicuous in the 

 world for their scientific advances — such as the 

 Carl Zeiss firm of Jena — have also been most 

 conspicuous for enlightened and generous con- 

 ditions of employment. The connection be- 

 tween " welfare work " and a more scientific 

 industry is close and vital. — The London Daily 

 Chronicle. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



The Turquoise. A Study of its History, Min- 

 eralogy, Geology, Ethnology, Archaeology, 

 Mythology, Folklore and Technology. By 

 Joseph E. Pogue, Ph.D. Third Memoir, 

 Vol. 5IL, National Academy of Sciences, 

 Washington, D. C, 1915. Pp. 162. 22 pits. 

 4to. 



While not ranking in intrinsic value with 

 the precious stones par excellence, diamond, 

 ruby, sapphire and emerald, no gem-material 

 has longer enjoyed favor for personal ornament 

 than the beautiful turquoise. Three thousand 

 years before the beginning of our era, the 

 Egyptians adorned their jewels with turquoise 

 from the mines of the Sinai Peninsula, from 

 very ancient times the famous Persian deposits 

 at Nishapur have yielded material of the 

 finest quality to the Orient, and in our own 

 land, for the aborigines of the southwest and 

 for the Aztecs of Mexico, the turquoise was at 

 once a gem of exceptional beauty and one to 

 which they attributed talismanic powers. 



Hence it is that no more attractive subject 

 for a monograph can well be imagined than 

 the history and study of the turquoise, and 



