Letters: Flushed with pride
Your correspondent, Poul Yding (Letters, 14 December 1991) may be correct
in his assumption that the verb ‘to crap’ in American usage is derived from
the name of T. Crapper, which was preserved in porcelain on his company’s
products. I have a history of the man and his firm which suggests that the
word was carried back to the United States by servicemen returning after
the First World War (Flushed with Pride – the story of Thomas Crapper, by
Wallace Reyburn, currently published in a new edition by Pavilion books,
拢5.99). This splendid volume contains a wealth of information about
Crapper and the products of his factory, including a description of the
method of testing new designs using imitation ‘soil’. There are many illustrations,
including photographs of Crapper and of his Chelsea factory (long gone unfortunately).
He was responsible for the plumbing of Westminster Abbey and of Sandringham
House and was ‘By Appointment’ to Queen Victoria.
However, and as the book goes on to point out, the word was current
in England long before Crapper’s time. Partridge’s Dictionary of Slang and
Unconventional English (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1949) states
that it has been used, in its current meaning, since the 18th century. It,
and its variant ‘crop’, were also used to mean the gallows or hanging, printers’
type that had become disordered and, from the 17th century, money.
What drove Crapper to fulfil his destiny, shown by the previous use
of his name in this context, is not certain (he did not come from a family
of plumbers). Perhaps it is an unusual example of Sheldrake’s ‘formative
causation’ at work.
John Cockaday Fulham, London
Letters: Flushed with pride
One of the range of humorous books edited by the late Eric Parrott and
published by Viking/Penguin is entitled How to be Absurdly Well-informed
about the Famous and Infamous. It has a psuedo-obituary on Thomas Crapper
for a fictitious plumbers’ journal and is written by Brenda Whinchup.
Although full of double entendres, it is, in general, obviously factually
true. It reveals that Crapper lived from 1837 to 1910 and earned the title
of ‘Royal Plumber and Sanitary Engineer by Appointment’.
Arthur Cox Alton, Hampshire
Letters: Identity crisis
We were interested to see that the dispute between the Chartered Institute
of Patent Agents (CIPA) and this law firm, Dibb Lupton Broomhead and Prior
(DLBP) has reached the pages of your journal (Patents, 30 November 1991).
You imply that solicitors have been able to act as patent agents and
that the CIPA is only objecting now because the solicitors of this firm
have started calling themselves ‘patent agents’ and advertising their services
as a ‘patent agency’. This is completely incorrect. All of the patent work
handled by DLBP is undertaken by qualified patent agents – qualified under
the CIPA’s very own qualifying examinations.
Therefore, what is this dispute about? It is about whether CIPA-qualified
patent agents can call themselves a patent agency if they operate as a specialised
department within a generalist law firm.
Traditionally, British patent agents have operated within the legal
departments of industrial companies or in private practices of patent agents.
The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 has laid the foundation for
the formation of mixed practices such as those between patent agents and
solicitors. The advantages of a mixed practice from a patentee’s point of
view are obvious. By its present rearguard action, the CIPA is trying to
maintain what is essentially a closed shop and to enforce restrictions on
where and how its members can practise.
The patent agents of this firm (and many others to whom we have spoken)
do not welcome CIPA’s actions.
Victor Caddy Dibb Lupton Broomhead and Prior Leeds
Letters: Ill-prepared
Britain was hardly more prepared for a Japanese attack on Singapore,
despite having been at war with the Axis powers for over two years, than
was America at Pearl Harbor (Forum, 7 December 1991).
I was on guard duty at one of the rear gates of the Changi barracks
complex on the night of December 7/8 1941. We were two able seamen, each
carrying a Lee Enfield rifle with no ammunition and instructions that ‘in
the event of an air raid the gates were to be locked and no one allowed
to pass through without the presence of the officer of the guard’ – and
he was a couple of miles away.
An air raid warning had sounded and bombs were already dropping on the
city of Singapore, when we saw a vehicle, headlights blazing, heading toward
the gate which we had already closed. A shooting brake stopped and a male
civilian jumped out demanding access. Although agitated he showed his pass
when requested to do so. This identified him as being the engineer in charge
of the Changi complex. My mate phoned the guardhouse and after some delay
reported to the Officer of the Guard, who eventually turned up at the gate.
After further parleying the gate was opened to allow the engineer to
go about his business, which was to start up the generators supplying power
to the long wave transmitters so that London and the rest of the world would
know that we were at war with Japan. This delay in communication was not
entirely unlike the American experience though the immediate effects were
so very different.
A. W. Butler Littleholm, Clydebank
Letters: Just waving
Philip Drazin’s article on solitons (‘The life of a solitary wave’,
30 November), while intriguing, failed to mention a well-known example of
the phenomenon. I speak, of course, of the ‘Mexican wave’, seen at sports
stadiums around the world. This wave exhibits several interesting properties
(such as being at once both standing and in motion), and is as yet unexamined
by the scientific community.
The Mexican wave, while potentially of infinite duration, is, like the
wave observed by Scott Russell in 1834, limited by the viscosity of the
medium. This viscosity is in inverse proportion to the amount of (alcoholic)
liquid imbibed by the crowd; as the level of inebriation increases, so does
the duration of the wave.
I shall be studying this phenomenon intensively during the antipodean
cricket season. I doubt, however, that my data will prove as interesting
as those of my northern colleagues. Given the almost legendary capability
of English holidaymakers to drink themselves silly, the Barcelona Olympics
may provide some of the longest waves yet.
Michael Honey O’Conner ACT, Australia
Letters: Just waving
The breakthrough in the study of nonlinear equations was ascribed by
Philip Drazin to the use of computers. The renaissance of interest in solitary
waves, however, can be traced back to an analytical paper by J. H. Adlam
and myself published in 1958 in Philosophy Magazine. This dealt with a solitary
wave propagating through a collision-free plasma, the direction of propagation
being perpendicular to the magnetic field. A second paper in 1960, in Proceedings
of the Physical Society, dealt with the excitation of a train of ‘solitary
waves’ by rapidly compressing a plasma.
The name ‘soliton’ was coined by Norman Zabusky and Martin Kruskal in
their paper of 1965. The message to young researchers is clear. They must
invent a suitable name if they discover, or think they have discovered,
an interesting phenomenon.
J. E. Allen University of Oxford
Letters: Slippery question
In Genesis chapter 3, verse 14, I read: ‘God said unto the serpent .
. . thou (art) cursed . . . upon thy belly shalt thou go . . .’
My question is: how was the serpent moving before the curse?
Perhaps a palaeontologist could help.
A. Wathelet, Queensland Australia
Letters: One way forward
Your Comment and feature article ‘Last chance for Britain’s industry’
(30 November 1991) rightly underline the need to revive Britain’s badly
damaged manufacturing sector.
Surprisingly, however, you do not mention the key potential role of
environmentally friendly technologies, goods and services. Current estimates
show the world market for these products as running at over 拢100 billion
and rising fast. It is therefore encouraging that a modest government initiative
to promote environmentally friendly industrial R&D has been announced,
together with modest moves by the research councils to promote similar R&D
in British universities.
But, as in other areas, we badly lag behind Japan, where the government
is currently committed, in long term partnership with Japanese industry,
to spending 拢225 million on researching technical solutions to global
environmental problems. Industry will for its part pay at least as much.
Much of this research is concentrated in areas where no other country is
currently seriously involved, such as technologies for CO2 fixation
and utilisation.
A British policy which followed suit would reap real industrial and
employment benefits for Britain, as well as making a serious contribution
to the environment.
John Gordon Global Environment Research Centre London
Letters: One way forward
You are absolutely right that the issue of Britain’s declining manufacturing
industry must be kept at the top of the political agenda in the run-up to
the next general election.
As a union with many members in manufacturing as well as service industries,
we fully recognise that Britain’s underlying economic problems cannot be
tackled without a revival of manufacturing industry. Our members in the
scientific field have constantly warned us that the inability to innovate
is one of the prime causes for its decline.
That is why this union has consistently campaigned to ensure that the
subject is a matter for public debate. Unfortunately some of the employers’
organisations are distracted by their political views into half-hearted
condemnation of Government inadequacy.
No one can now doubt that unless there is a proper industrial strategy
this country will continue to suffer. The root cause of the failure has
been the lack of investment. The figures you give – that total investment
will be almost 20 per cent lower than in 1990, and is due to fall further
in 1992 – should be highlighted in every discussion about this country’s
future.
Roger Lyons Manufacturing, Science, Finance Union London
Letters: Costly mistake
In the In Brief section (30 November 1991), reference was made to the
entry of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Iceland into COST, the organisation
which fosters European cooperation in the field of scientific and technical
research. COST was established 20 years ago by European science ministers,
and the four new members bring the total number of participating countries
to 23. It is therefore much larger and longer established than the article
leads one to believe.
Mary Kavanagh COST Bern, Switzerland
Letters: Acid and Liberty
Ariadne’s column (14 September 1991) mentions my geochemical model of
the effect of acid rain on the patina of the Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately,
Ariadne also repeats a false accusation about my research. This is that
I failed to consider the possibility that evaporation could increase the
acidity of the rain and therefore produce damage to the patina. In fact,
my model was based on the evaporation process for a solution saturated with
the various copper minerals that might be found in the statue’s patina.
The most common of these minerals is the basic copper sulphate, brochantite.
As this saturated solution evaporates, the copper and sulphate concentrations
increase, while the pH decreases. Eventually, the point is reached where
the solution also becomes saturated with respect to anterlite. On the phase
diagram for this evaporation process I then superimposed a line representing
the ionic composition of acid rain as a function of pH. This line also describes
the effect of evaporation on acid rain. The pH in the rain in New York City
never drops below 3.5. As explained in the article to which Ariadne refers
(Environmental Science and Technology, August 1991), the acid rain would
have to be concentrated to a pH of 1.9 before it could cause the mineral
assemblage of the patina to change from brochantite to antlerite.
However, the idea that acid rain lying on the statue’s surface could
become concentrated through evaporation is fundamentally unsound. Since
the rainwater forms only a thin layer in contact with the patina, it rapidly
comes into equilibrium by reaction with the brochantite. Consequently, the
evaporation process would simply be the same as that for the saturated solution
as described above. Any effect on the solution composition created by the
neutralisation of the acidity is negligible compared to the effect of the
deposition of sulphur dioxide gas.
Finally, as a test of the geochemical model, I proposed in my article
that samples of copper artificially patinated with the various copper minerals
be exposed at a number of locations around the statue representing different
microclimates. This would show which minerals are stable over time as a
function of the local environmental conditions.
Richard Livingston Washington DC
Letters: Give them oxygen
As a hyperbaric physician, I would like to compliment Lesley Newson
on her article (‘Breathing new life into oxygen therapy’, 23 November 1991).
I agree more research is undoubtedly warranted into this valuable mode
of treatment. However, the categories of conditions for which hyperbaric
oxygen therapy is the primary effective mode of treatment are established,
and groups of conditions for which hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a useful
adjunct to conventional therapy are also identified. A separate group for
which there is a reasonable theoretical basis for using hyperbaric oxygen
therapy is identified and it is here that a particular research focus is
warranted.
Throughout the many disciplines in medicine and surgery few procedures
taught as orthodox and acceptable treatment have been subjected to the most
searching scientific scrutiny; this is not to say these procedures should
be banned until such unequivocal evidence is available. If this demand was
put into effect, valid work throughout all major hospitals worldwide would
abruptly cease and a great deal of suffering, sickness and death would result.
To suggest, for example, that double blind trials be conducted on patients
with severely ischaemic and threatened limbs, in which hyperbaric oxygen
has been shown to save the limb, is unacceptable and ethically unsound.
I am concerned that the existing demonstrated benefits of hyperbaric medicine
not be withheld from patients because of unrealistic concerns.
Peter McCartney Hyperbaric Unit Royal Hobart Hospital Australia
Letters: Bomb alert
Your correspondent Donald Stewart is quite wrong to claim that ‘the
isotopic spectrum of reprocessed plutonium from ‘burnt’ fuel is such that
its use for weapons or military purposes is well-nigh impossible’ (Letters,
7 December 1991).
First, although the higher percentage of plutonium-240 in ‘reactor grade’
plutonium compared to ‘weapons grade’ does make it more difficult to make
weapons out of it, it is still quite feasible to do so. Both the Americans
(Bravo test, Nevada) and the British (one of the Monte Bello series) have
demonstrated such weapons. They need 50 per cent more plutonium, have tighter
timing constraints, and are considerably dirtier, but they do work.
Secondly, the work on laser isotope separation by the Lawrence Livermore
laboratories has shown that it is possible to achieve isotope separation
with a much smaller and cheaper plant than was previously required. With
this technology, reactor grade plutonium can be regarded as equivalent to
a kind of weapons grade which just requires a little extra fairly cheap
processing before manufacture.
Ivan Dixon Exeter, Devon