651THE INVESTIGATION OF ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION.

realise this of their own accord and will set to Iwork to learn the proper use of their limb, butothers think that the artificial arm is going to

replace the natural one without any effort of adapta-tion upon their part. Such men must be taughtto use their limb by an actual training, first in thegeneral use of the artificial arm, and then in itsadaptation to their special trade. Until an artificialarm has been tested by such methods as these itshould not be condemned as useless. It would

seem that provision for training in the use of

artificial arms, either in the hospitals which fit thelimbs, or else in local schools or workshops, is

required if much of the money which is beingspent upon these appliances is not to be thrown

away, and if the full work of the armless man is tobe secured. A Bill is before Parliament for the

representation on Local Pensions Committees ofthe disabled men themselves, and we trust thatthey will give careful attention to this need.

Annotations.

THE INVESTIGATION OF ATMOSPHERICPOLLUTION.

" Ne quid nimis."

WE publish this week in a special supplementthe second report of the Committee for the Investi-gation of Atmospheric Pollution, the observationsrecorded being those made during the year 1915-16.The first report appeared in our columns of Feb. 26th,1916, but since that date an important change hasbeen made in the whole scheme of investigation.The work is now done under the aegis of theMeteorological Office and the original committeehas been constituted an "Advisory Committeeon Atmospheric Pollution" to that office. Theundertaking thus receives official recognition and iproperly enjoys a status which association with an Iimportant Government department confers. The Icommittee has received from the Department ofScientific and Industrial Research a grant in aid ofthe expert work involved in the investigations, andthus the pecuniary assistance needed to carry onthe practical work should be assured. The presentposition is one on which the pioneers of the move-ment are heartily to be congratulated : it amountsto a well-deserved official recognition of workinstituted and sustained by what was hitherto apurely voluntary body.In the present report many interesting observa-

tions are made, though the reduction in thenumber of observers, that has taken placeowing to the demands of the war has curtailedactivities in some directions. But, as is appositelypointed out, the connexion between atmosphericpollution and fuel economy is of vital import-ance just now, for such inquiry brings to lightthe loss of combustible matter represented bythe soot suspended in the air. The economicbearing, in other words, has assumed an increas-ingly serious aspect owing to the call for utilisingthe energy of coal on a more scientific basis.This question is receiving the attention of theFuel Research Board which, amongst other things,is considering whether the 35 to 40 million tons ofraw coal, which is used every year for domesticheating in this country, can be wholly or partially

replaced by smokeless fuel, solid and gaseous,prepared by the carbonisation of this coal. Theimportance of such an inquiry was urged long agoby the Committee for the Investigation of Atmo-spheric Pollution, and practical investigations haveabundantly shown what an appalling waste of’fuel, with consequent pollution of the air and’injury to health, our present methods of domesticheating involve. In last year’s report it was shownthat taking the case of the County of London alonethe total quantity of matter deposited from the airduring the year was approximately 54,200 tons,practically all derived from coal smoke. The presentreport shows, broadly, that far from an improve-ment having been effected, there has been at certainseasons of the year a heavier deposit in 1915-16than in 1914-15. A detailed analysis of these casesis set out in the report and they afford an interest-ing study of the probable causes which underliethe variations in kind and amount of the deposit,collected at different seasons. To quote examplesshowing the months of highest and lowest depositfor each element of pollution prepared from anaverage of 23 stations, we find that the items,loss on ignition and ash of the soluble matter, aswell as sulphates, show the highest deposit inDecember, the second highest in January or

February, and the lowest in March, April, or June,thus corresponding closely with the months of

greatest and least rainfall. This clearly establishesa relationship between the deposit of soluble matterand rainfall. Tar and total solids have theirgreatest deposit in December and least in Septemberand August. Generally speaking, maximum depositsoccur in the winter months and minimum depositsin summer. It is suggested that a preponderanceof insoluble ash in the summer may be account edfor, not by smoke pollution, but by dust, and thesoluble matter is more affected by rainfall than theinsoluble. There is a mass of valuable material inthis report, and it represents careful work in manydirections, but there are still some factors missing,and this fact precludes positive assertions beingmade as to the exact meaning of the results at thepresent stage of the inquiry. For example, the factthat measuring deposited impurity cannot providecomplete information as to the degree of atmo-spheric pollution is admitted in the report. Tosome extent such estimation leaves out all con-sideration of more or less permanently suspendedmatter, and particularly gases, such as sulphurdioxide and ammonia. In dry weather these gaseswould not reach the gauge. The attention of thecommittee is being given to this matter. Thestatistics placed on record by the committee are,however, extremely instructive, and as further workis carried out the results obtained will bring nearerthe possibility of making the conclusions definite.

THE COMING MINISTRY OF HEALTH.

Mr. Bonar Law, Chancellor of the Exchequerstated in the House of Commons last week thatthe creation of a Ministry of Health is under theconsideration of the Government, but that at

present no general solution of many obvious diffi-culties had been agreed upon. In these circum-stances it is clearly wise not to introduce a Bill,but we cannot help feeling that a discussion in theHouse might tend to remove some of the causes ofdiscord. Steps are being taken, the House wasinformed by Mr. Bonar Law, under which agree-ment will be ensured among those who are actively