---- Ya YF rer more valuable. We quote the following from Mr. Wakefield's Note on the Industrial Potentialities of Hyderabad:- 'Our investigations commenced on the flowers of the Mohua from which all our country liquor is manufactured. Shortly after I assumed charge of the Department of levenue, it occurred to me that it might be possible to make our own sugar out of these flowers instead yr-r of importing, as we do, more than thirty lacs of rupees worth of sugar annually into the State. With the help of Mr. Mc. Ewen, who was at that time Professor of science in the Nizam College, it was found that the flowers contained a very considerable quantity of sugar, and in addition acetic acid, and also some acetone which is one of the principal ingredients of cordite, We continued to experiment in making sugar, but did not pay much attention to the discovery of acetone until the Great War commenced. Last year the late Sir Alexander Pinhey, with whom I was staying at the time in Ootacamund, was good enough to take me to the Cordite Factory in the Nilgiris at my request, and in the course of eonversation with Col. Babington, the officer in charge, I was surprised to learn that he had to import acetone all the way from Canada, where it was laboriously manufactured out of wood, which rendered only one per cent of acetone, that is to say, to produce one ton of acetone it was necessary to cut down, boil and thus destroy one hundred tons of wood. I acquainted him with our discovery, pointing out the facility of manufacture from the flowers of the Mohua as compared with manufacture from wood, and the fact that the use of these flowers did not entail harmful destruction as did the use of wood. He considered the discovery important and asked me to acquaint the Government of India with it, because they were at that time negotiating with certain people who, in return for large subsidies, desired to make acetone for them out of other materials. He also asked me to send him a consignment ANATH BANDHU. Volume T. as ahel repr Nging sur of the flowers to enable his chemist to examine them also. On returning from Ootacamund His Highness' permission was obtained and the Government of India were informed about the discovery. In the meanwhile we continued to experiment; a chemist from Bombay was retained and spent a few days in Hyderabad advising us. An experimental factory was set up in the Mint because of workshop and power facilities, certain microbes necessary to the process of manufacture were imported from England and eventually with the valuable help of Mr. Gamlen and under the superintendence of Mr. Mutyala, Distillery Chemist, acetone was produced.' Owing to ill-health Mr. Wakefield had to take leave to England, and during his stay in that country he took the opportunity of investigating the utilization and manufacture of the said products of Hyderabad to enable him to be in a position to render advice in the industrial development of the State. He went to the India Office and pressed upon them the importance of the discovery of acetone in Mohua. IIe saw Sir Thomas Holderness at the India Office and told him all about the discovery pointing out that the Cordite Factory at Ootacamund was importing all its acetone from Xanada at great cost. He also told Sir Thomas that the Government of India had lately written to the India Office asking for a chemist to be sent out to India at once to help them to make acetone in Madras out of wood as suggested by Mr. Chatterton of Madras. He pointed out that the making of acetone out of wood was not only a process destructive of much wood, but owing to the bulky nature of the material involved it was a most labourious process and required extensive buildings and equipment. On the other hand the flowers of Mohua were like raisins, a natural product, the use of which was un no way destructive, and manufacture from so convenient a material was a simple, expeditious and inexpensive business
