The Reparation Act and Scientific Research

PROF. PARTINGTON'S letter (NATURE, May 26, p. 394) interested me, because some months ago I pointed out in NATURE how harmful any restriction of the importation of scientific apparatus would be to some scientific laboratories, and how unreasonable the claims of the English instrument-makers appeared to me. However, no one else wrote in support of what I said and several makers wrote against it (though carefully refraining from answering my criticisms), and I almost began to think that my experience might be unusually unfortunate and that other workers were not affected, especially as NATURE in certain leading articles supported the protection of "key industries". The Gilbertian "Reparation" Act is of later date, but instances of its working are supplied in the letters of Prof. Gardiner and Prof. Partington.