Current Topics and Events

Abstract

PROF. LYDE'S leading article in last week's NATURE points to the need for a scientific basis for any programme aiming at the development of Empire resources which may result from the deliberations of the Imperial Economic Conference. A satisfactory organisation for effecting this purpose should embrace three main lines of work, namely, the exhibition of Empire raw materials, the technical examination of “new” or little-known products, and the systematic collection and dissemination of information relating to raw materials, their marketing and industrial use. An organisation originally designed for the purpose exists in the Imperial Institute. The Public Exhibition Galleries provide what is unobtainable elsewhere, namely, a permanent exhibition, under one roof, of the resources of all the countries of the Empire, so organised that a visitor desiring special information is, on inquiry, referred to the appropriate department of the Institute. These collections should be of great value to the business man, and their educational importance to the university student, no less than to the scholars who visit the Galleries in large numbers, conducted by the official guide, is obvious. Special lectures for the general public are also given by recognised authorities. The complement of the collections is the Scientific and Technical Department, the investigations of which-specially planned to meet the needs of the case-in conjunction with the assistance of the technical and commercial committees of the Institute, have served the economic development of the Empire to a degree unsuspected by the general public. The essential link in the scheme, namely, the collection and dissemination of technical and other information, and an organisation for dealing with the constantly growing stream of inquiries, exists in the Technical Information Bureau, which forms the intelligence department of the Institute and has proved of great practical service.