The Dominion TUESDAY, JULY 6, 1915. WAR AND INVENTION.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2506, 6 July 1915, Page 4

The Dominion TUESDAY, JULY 6, 1915. WAR AND INVENTION.

The cablegram which we publish /in another column announcing that Lord Fisher_ has gone back to the Admiralty will be read with general satisfaction. Whan this distinguished naval _ export resigned his position as First Sea Lord owing to disagreements with. Me. Winston Churchill it' seemed extremely unfortunate that the Empire should be deprived of the benefit of liis long experience, and great ability. He has for years closely watched the development of Germany's naval strength,. Ho has occupied much the same/position in relation to the British Navy as Admieal Tiepitz has occupied in regard to the' Navy of Germany. It is said that. Lord. Fishee foretold the present war some nine years ago, and predicted, that Admiral Jellicoe, who was'then a captain, would bo in supreme command of the British Fleet. The advice of an authority of eminence such as Loed Fisher is recognised'to be must be of incalculable value at the present crisis, ■ and most people , felt that some office would be found for him in which he would be'able to afford the nation the benefit of his extensive knowledge of; various aspects of naval . warfare.. He should find ample soopo abilities in his new position as chairman of the Invention' Boar ( d whioh assists the Admiralty to co-ordinate and encourage. scientific effort in relation to the requirements of tho naval service. With Me. Balfour as First Lord of the Admiralty there is not- likely to •bo any further complaints of civilian incursions into the sphere of the experts,, and it may be taken for granted that 'L6rd Fisher will be consulted in regard to all important developments of naval'strategy. It is to bo hoped that he will be able to inspire the Invention Board with real life. There is plenty of inventive skill in the British Empire, and'there is ample room for its exercise in connection with the present war. Every effort should be made to set the whole., brain power, of the nation to work with the object of .perfecting our methods and weapons of war. _ The official mind is too much inclined to . throw cold water on new ideas that do not move along_ the' traditional grooves.. Even if ninety-nine inventions out of a hundred are failures, the'success of'the hundredth would in many eases more than/repay the authorities, for _ all their trouble. The spirit of invention should be foster-ed,-and the-authorities cannot afford to run the risk of missing any chance of acquiring some new device which .may give us an advantage over ,our enemies. The wonders of modern science remind lis that nothing should be regarded as impossible until it Bas been proved to be so. .Science knows no such thing as finality.., Discoveries are being made every year. A more powerful explosive, a protection against submarine attacks, a. new type of aeroplane, or an improvement in some part of a. machine-gun—these are all .possibilities; and even while the war is going on Lord Fisher may havo submitted to him. from : some unexpected - quarter an invention which may .revolutionise naval .warfare. ' . '

Ever since the war began complaints 1 have been made that the British. Government is not making full use of/the scientific resources of the country.... Science has hot been altogether The inedical work in Britain and France has been well organised and valuable investigations are being made. The experience gained is being put. to good use for the benefit of tho sick and wounded soldiers there. But 'British-science as/a whole has not been utilised as systematically as German science for war purposes: And yet in many respects this is a war of science. In the course of a recent debate in the House'of Lords regret was expressed by Lord BRYCE that a mire generous use was not being made of the services which our leading scientists are eager to give. Lord Parmoor said that one of ablest- scientists is at present serving with the Red Cross, having_ vainly sought for some work in which his expert knowledge might prove, valuabler Scientists of world-wido fame -like Sir William Mather, Sir Philip Magnus, and Sir William Ramsay havo publicly condemned the inaction of the Government, which contrasts strongly with the attitude of the French and German authorities. The British Government now seems to realiso that more must be done in this direction. . A- few weeks ago Ms. Pease, the President of the Board of Education, announced that he proposed to appoint an Advisory Council on Industrial Research. As an illustration of the value of scientific research he mentioned that , at. the outbreak of the war the cost of one of the materials .used in. the manufacture of lyddite _ went up from sixpence to fivo shillings, but by means of a discovery made in an English laboratory the cost was reduced to one shilling. Industrial research is, of course, extremely important; but it is not so'important at the present moment as the ; defeat of the enemy on land and sea. 'AVhat steps have the War Office taken in order to counteract the deadly devices which German science has provided for the' uso of the German armies? Professor Haldane fias made investigations regarding the asphyxiating gases by which many of our soldiers have been killed. What further action • is -to be taken we do not know. Months beforo these poisonous fumes were made use of on tho battlefield German scientists were experimenting j/ith thgrn os__do&s., JJ&p Boici^a,pl

Germany has' been organised for war. .Her scientists and inventors are working in a, systematic manner with tho object of making the German armies more efficient iristrume_nts_ of destruction. They laugh at Britain's "muddling through" methods. vYet no country in .the world has greater scientific resources than the British Empire. Somo of our most distinguished men of science- are eager to place their talents at the disposal of'the authorities, but they are practically told that the country has no use for them. It seems strange that' in "this war of science the British scientist should be compelled to complain that so little can bo found for him to do. lied Cross work is very necessary, but one would think that ono of our ablest scientists might be more usefully employed.