SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
the German universities, and it is to be noted that the possession of a 
degree only is not aecepted by the large firms as a warranty of fitness 
for a position ou their staff, and in most cases a post-graduate course of 
two years which has been devoted almost wholly to research is insisted 
upon. The gateway to positions on the staff is through the research 
laboratory, and a further sifting out of the men takes place here before 
they are passed on to a post of departmental control in the works. 
The remuneration of chemists in the research departments of the 
large works has not been on a lavish scale, for prior to the war the com- 
mencing salary was, on the average, 3,000 marks, rising to 5,000 marks 
at the end of four or five years. The first year of employment has 
always been recognised as a trial period, after which, under satisfactory 
conditions, a service agreement for a further four years is entered into. 
It has been the usual practice to reward a chemist for successful re- 
search which has been translated to the works by paying him a per- 
centage of the profits which have accrued to the firm as a result of this 
work, but this form of return has for some time been looked upon as un- 
satisfactory, for a variety of reasons, but mainly on account of the diffi- 
culty of determining the fair proportion of the actual work done in 
bringing a discovery to fruition which is the result of the ability of any 
single individual. The tendency, therefore, has been to reduce these 
rewards to a very considerable extent, especially since, in some cases, 
the reward to the chemist has been out of all proportion to the actual 
work done. It has been recognised also that many brilliant pieces of 
work have gone without return to the chemist, merely because they have 
been unproductive; and in such cases a bonus has been voted to him, 
the amount of which is determined by the nature of the work carried 
out. The necessity for such a return is evident if the percentage 
principle is adopted, since a brilliant chemist would be penalized by 
having the most difficult problems set to him, whilst a man of less 
ability might be in the fortunate position of being set an easy task, the 
solution of which would bring him a high monetary reward. 
The result of much inquiry concerning chemical engineers has led 
to the general statement that the men who can be designated by this 
description are the product of the works themselves. Certainly they 
are not accepted as such when they enter the works, although they may 
have taken courses at the universities specially designed to fit them for 
this particular branch of engineering work. The requirements as to 
_ their training are the same as those of the research chemist, but on 
entering the works they are attached to one of the engineers already on 
the staff, so that they may make a full study of the work they will be 
required to carry out. Usually a year or more elapses before they are 
given an independent piece of work to carry out for themselves, and one 
has only to see the results of their work to judge of the efficiency to 
which they attain. It is to be noted here also that it is always the 
chemist who holds the right of final decision as to the arrangement and 
construction of plant, the engineer being held responsible for the engi- 
neering work only, 7.e., in such matters as strength of materials, 
efficiency of power, application, and the like. 
An outstanding fact which is constantly being forced upon one’s 
notice in these large works is the extraordinary way in which the purely 
chemical industry, in its development, has carried forward with it other 
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