6 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh [Sess. 
those same ores ; barytes and fluorspar have been left underground or 
thrown on the waste-heaps, but are now being recovered. It has become 
apparent also that some of our home products would be at least equal to 
material we have been importing, provided that they could receive equally 
careful preparation for the market, and that with improved treatment and 
greater facilities for transport they would be fit to compete with some 
of the foreign materials/’ From these observations it is clear that manu- 
facturers have not made the most of our home resources when supplies 
could easily be obtained from abroad. Sir Robert Hadfield, in his opening 
statement as Chairman of the Ferrous Section of the Metallurgical Com- 
mittee appointed by the Advisory Council, has called attention to the value 
of these reports, and has urged that similar information for the whole 
Empire should now be made available through one central source. 
In this connection reference oucdit to be made to a scheme for the 
creation of a Government department of minerals and metals which has 
been submitted to Sir William M‘Cormick as Chairman of the Advisory 
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. The request is made by a 
powerful combination, including the Iron and Steel Institute, the Institute 
of Metals, the Institution of Mining Engineers, and the Institution of Mining 
and Metallurgy. The memorandum points out that at present various 
Government departments are concerned with the collection of information 
relating to the sources of supply of minerals and the production of metals 
which has led to considerable overlapping and duplication of effort. There 
is much force in this contention. The proposed department should include 
the geological surveys of the United Kingdom ; it should collect and co- 
ordinate information bearing on the occurrence, uses, and economic value of 
minerals and their products ; it should investigate all questions relating to the 
utilisation of the mineral or metallurgical resources of the Empire ; it should 
circulate information on the development of mineral areas, output, capital 
employed, and markets ; it should review from time to time the developed 
and undeveloped mineral resources to ensure that the mineral wealth of the 
Empire is being exploited with due regard to Imperial interests. This 
comprehensive scheme deserves careful consideration. If it were adopted, 
it would remove the overlapping in Government departments as regards 
these industries, it would bring about effective co-ordination of the institu- 
tions representing these industries, it would prevent the periodical scares 
as to coal supplies which have led to prolonged inquiries by Coal Com- 
missions in the past. 
Special acknowledgment ought to be made of the services rendered by 
the Royal Society to the Government and the nation at this critical time in 
