806 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. i 



there is a limit to expenditure for these 

 ends, which limit is in the hope of profit 

 to be derived. After all, all industry de- 

 pends upon the production or exchange of 

 articles that are desirable, and the desira- 

 bility of an article is a determining factor 

 in its value. But not merely must a prod- 

 uct be desirable, it must be produced with 

 proper economy, for that is a limiting 

 factor affecting its marketability. 



We have discussed this subject in an ab- 

 stract manner. Many illustrations could 

 have been introduced of how industries 

 have profited through the assistance of 

 chemistry. "We have thought it better, how- 

 ever, to omit such illustrations btit hope 

 that during the coming year we shall have 

 many papers practically demonstrating 

 ::tliat what we have presented in the abstract 

 ;5s concretely true. When we speak of 

 •^chemistry as affecting the profitableness of 

 findustry, we must bear in mind that, while 

 all chemical knowledge may be said to come 

 from the chemist, such knowledge is often 

 made use of with profit by those who are not 

 chemists. This is something that is un- 

 avoidable, and it seems to me no attempt 

 should be made to make it avoidable. The 

 benefits which chemists derive from the 

 more general diffusion of chemical knowl- 

 edge are very much greater than would be 

 the case if chemists were successful in an 

 attempt to make their profession esoteric. 

 The progress of humanity can not be accom- 

 plished by making the study of chemistry 

 and the benefits that come from it profit- 

 able only to the chemist. It is proper that 

 the chemist should seek to obtain profit 

 from his knowledge and ability, but he can 

 not hope to do this except in some few 

 eases, unless he is willing to give to others 

 at least a portion of the knowledge that he 

 possesses. All industries and occupations 

 are interdependent. All industry depends 

 ;upon the chemist, and the chemist depends 



upon all industry. The more this interde- 

 pendence is recognized, the greater the 

 profit accruing to industry, and the greater 

 the return to the chemist. 



G. W. Thompson 



INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE 

 STBVCTUSE OF MATTEBi 



The first International Conference in Brus- 

 sels on the Theory of Radiation in 1911 owed 

 its inception to Mr. Ernest Solvay, and proved 

 a great success. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Sol- 

 vay generously gave the sum of one million 

 francs to form an International Physical In- 

 stitute (Nature, Vol. XC, p. 545), part of 

 the proceeds to be devoted to assistance of re- 

 searches in physics and chemistry, and part 

 to defray the expenditure of an occasional 

 scientific conference between men of all nations 

 to discuss scientific problems of special inter- 

 est. In pursuance of this aim the second 

 International Conference or Conseil Interna- 

 tional de Physique Solvay, was held in Brus- 

 sels this year on October 27-31, under the able 

 presidency of Professor Lorentz. On this 

 occasion the general subjects of discussion 

 were confined to the structure of the atom, the 

 structure of crystals, and the molecular theory 

 of solid bodies. 



Reports were presented by the following: 

 The structure of the atom. Sir J. J. Thomson; 

 Interferenzerscheinungen an Rontgenstrahlen 

 hervorgerufen durch das Raumgitter der Kri- 

 stalle. Professor Laue; the relation between 

 crystalline structure and chemical constitution, 

 W. Barlow and Professor Pope ; some consider- 

 ations on the structure of crystals, Professor 

 Brillouin, and Molekulartheorie der Festen 

 Korper, Professor Gruneisen. 



Among those present at the meeting were 

 Professors Lorentz, Kamerlingh Onnes, Sir J. J. 

 Thomson, Barlow, Pope, Jeans, Bragg, Ruther- 

 ford, Mme. Curie, Gouy, Brillouin, Langevin, 

 Voigt, Warburg, Nernst, Rubens, Wien, 

 Einstein, Laue, Sommerfeld, Gruneisen, Weiss, 

 Knudsen, Hasenohrl, Wood, Goldschmidt, 

 Verschaffelt, Lindemann and De Broglie. 



1 From Nature. 



