January 3, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



11 



Position of thk Six Largest Color Works in Germany in the Year 1900. 



Mnister, 



Lucius and 



Biiining. 



Farben Fa- 



briken Bayer 



and Co. 



Far werk 



Muhlheim 



Leon hard t, 



and Co. 



Total of 



Six FirmB 



about. 



Capital 



Number of Chemists... 



Kiimber of Engineers, 

 X>.vers and other Teeh 

 nolofiists 



Coraiuercial Staff 



Woik People 



Dirideyids ( per cent. ) 



1H97 



1898 



1899 



1901) 



£1,050,000 

 148 



75 



305 



6,485 



£833,000 

 120 



36 



211 



3,555 



26 

 26 

 26 



20 



£882,000 

 145 



175 



500 



4,200 



18 

 18 

 18 

 18 



£441,000 

 55 



31 



150 

 1,800 



( Private \ 

 \ coDcern J 



170 

 1,800 



£157,000 



£3,500,000 

 500 

 350 



1,360 

 18,S60 



total number of chemists employed cannot 

 be more than thirty or forty. 



A similar relative proportion is main- 

 tained in patents : 



Comparison of Number of Completed English 

 Patents for Goal-tar Products taken dur- 

 ing 1886-1900 by Six Largest Eng- 

 lish and Sioo Largest Ger- 

 man Firms. 

 German firms: 



Badische Anilin Works 179 



Meister, Lucius and Bruning 231 



Farbfabriken Bayer & Co 306 



Berlin Anilin Co 119 



L. Cassella & Co 75 



Farbwerk Milhlheim Leonhardt & Co. 38 



Total of six German firms .... 948 

 English firms: 



Brook, Simpson & Spiller 7 



Clayton Anilin Co 21 



Levinstein 19 



Read Holliday & Co 28 



Glaus & Ree 9 



W. G. Thompson '. . . 2 



Total of SIX English firms 86 



Nor does this represent the sum total of 

 our losses. The new coloring matters, 

 made chiefly in Germany, have in many 

 cases been introduced as substitutes for 

 natural products, which were staple arti- 

 cles of English commerce. Madder and 

 cochineal have been replaced and logwood 

 and indigo are seriously threatened. The 

 capture of the indigo market by the syn- 



thetic product, which would mean a loss to 

 our Indian dependencies of three million 

 pounds sterling a year is regarded by the 

 Badische Company as so absolutely certain, 

 that having already invested nearly a mil- 

 lion pounds in the enterprise, they are at 

 present issuing 750,000 pounds of new 

 bonds to provide funds to extend their 

 plant for tliis purpose. 



Again, besides the loss of material wealth 

 which the neglect of the coal-tar trade has 

 involved to the country, there is yet another 

 aspect of the question which is even of 

 more importance than the commercial one. 

 There can be no doubt that the growth in 

 Germany of a highly scientific industry of 

 large and far-reaching proportion has re- 

 acted with beneficial effect upon the uni- 

 versities, and has tended to promote scien- 

 tific thought throughout the land. By its 

 demonstration of the practical importance 

 of purely theoretical conceptions, it has had 

 a far-reaching effect on the intellectual life 

 of the nation. How much such a scientific 

 revival is wanted in our own country the 

 social and economical history of the past 

 ten years abundantly testifies. For in the 

 struggle for existence between nations the 

 battle is no longer to the strong in arm, 

 but to those who are the strongest in knowl- 

 edge to turn the resources of nature to the 

 best account. 



