A NEW compound of exceptional interest to both chemists and textile manufacturers is the subject of an exhibition housed at Dorland House, S.W.I, on October 5–8. This preparation, which has been given the name "Velan", has been developed during the past three years at the Manchester laboratories of Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., as a universal water-proofing agent for textile goods. Information concerning the chemical composition of Velan is not yet available, but it would appear to be a complex organic substance which reacts with both hydroxyl and amino groups and on that account is able to combine with both animal and vegetable fibres. For the impregnation of textiles, Velan is used in the form of aqueous dispersions, which are readily pre-parable from the substance without the aid of supplementary agents. The impregnated fabrics are dried, and combination between the reagent and the textile fibres is afterwards effected by heating at a temperature of 100 °-150 ° C. It is the last stage of the process which gives permanence to the proofing.