EDITORIAL. 
RESEARCH—WHAT IT IS NOT. 
With the exception’ of a few devoted individuals (professors in 
universities, &c.), having many other claims and small resources, it 
may be said no research which has a direct bearing on the wool-textile 
industry has been carried out at all, excluding, that is, work on dyes. 
At the instance of the Woollen and Worsted Research Association, the 
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research called a conference 
on sheep breeding, and experiments are to ‘be undertaken with a view 
‘to the Improvement of locally-grown wool. From this basis the Associa- 
tion 1s building up a comprehensive scheme of research, including the 
collation of known facts, and fundamental or pure research: Under 
the heading ‘“ Researeh—What it is not,’ the Association, in its last 
annual report, warns its members agaiust expecting the impossible from 
scientific investigation. .. It is pointed out that research is not a mere 
means of detecting and remedying technical faults. It is true that the 
methods of research maybe of great value, say; in determining the 
cause of a faulty piece, but in 99 cases out of 100 such inquiries 
ultimately trace the fault to some error in procedure, a careless 
Jabourer, or fault in materials, such as bad oil. Often an inquiry of 
this kind is difficult and prolonged. because the fault is of irregular 
occurrence; and, when finally traced, no advance in general knowledge 
is made. For this reason, although a consulting staff is being formed 
for the benefit of members, their time will have to be charged if special 
visits, analyses, &c., have to be made. Often such consulting work may 
suggest a line of research, or may bring to light some general and 
systematic error in trade practice. In such a case, the Association 
would, of course,-bear the cost itself. The dividing line in these cases 
will be determined by the answer to the question—Is the matter new; 
does the solution advance general knowledge; is it of interest to the 
trade generally? Broadly speaking, however, this consulting work in 
itself is not research work. Research, also, is not a magic wand that 
may be waved and in a moment alter an industry. There has been a 
tendency in certain quarters to make wild and impossible promises that 
the trade will be revolutionized in a moment. 
NATURAL GAS. 
More than 2,100 cities and towns in the United States are supplied 
with natural gas. The average price per 1,000 cubic feet charged to © 
domestic consumers in the United States, in 1917, was abont 30 cents. 
The average price charged to manufacturers was less than 12 cents. 
The average price of artificial gas is $1 per thousand. Ey, 
~* Most. of the towns and cities supplied with natural gas are in New 
York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kansas, Oklahoma, and 
California. In Ohio, 872,000 domestic. consumers were supplied in 
1917; in Pennsylvania, 480,000; in California, 239,000;..in Kansas, 
188,000; in New York, 164,000; in West Virginia,-129,000; and in 
Oklahoma, 95,000. The industrial consumers, by whom the gas is 
used for nianufactures or for generating power, use twice as much gas 
as the domestic consumers. peta 
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