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The conversion of the Rutherford Laboratory Library catalogue to the computer is described. An existing program package, FAMULUS, already running on central laboratory computers, was used in preference to the purchase of a small computer system just for the library work. In addition to the two catalogue sequences, there is access to the KWIC index, which saves the effort needed to prepare a subject index to the specialised holdings.

The design engineer no longer relies on the cathodic protection engineer as half‐back to provide a cure for his corrosion problems. He must ensure their prevention from the outset. However, since he is now brought in at the design stage, the cathodic protection engineer must be capable of assessing the final prevailing conditions and requirements and assessing the economic advantages of protection. This brief historical summary, as well as stating the position of the cathodic protection engineer, outlines the inherent problems of the subject.

Last month we published abstracts and summaries of some of the papers presented at the Congress, which was held at the Imperial College of Science and Technology from April 10–15 under the auspices of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. In this issue we publish further abstracts and summaries together with illustrations of many of the corrosionists attending and photographs of some of the many visits which were arranged to works and laboratories. The Congress attracted over 800 delegates.

Certain classes of organic chemicals that can behave like carbon black in protecting polythene from thermal degredation have recently been developed at Bell Telephone laboratories in the U.S.A. Mrs. A. Worthington and Dr. W. L. Hawkins described their discovery at a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society in New York. They demonstrated that a number of compounds containing alternating unsaturated bonds provide excellent thermal anti‐oxidant properties in combination with previously reported sulphur‐bearing compounds.

The corrosion behaviour of lead and its alloys in sea‐water is of great commercial interest in view of the considerable use of submerged telecommunications cables and the growing use of lead anodes for cathodic protection of marine structures. This article is concerned with the corrosion of lead in sea‐water and saline solutions and with the anodic behaviour of lead in chloride solutions.

In the first part of his article, which appeared last month, Dr. Shreir discussed underground corrosion and theoretical principles. In this concluding part he describes methods of cathodic protection and then considers the application of the method in chemical and process engineering. Figs. 1 to 6 and references 1 to 16 appeared in the first article.

In Part 1 the author described the corrosion problem in Israel as it affects buried pipelines, and the measures now in hand to protect the extensive irrigation networks. In Part 2 he now turns to two other problems: that of protecting the growing Israeli fishing fleet and that of protecting domestic water systems.

As this three‐part article illustrates, the versatility of lead in preventing corrosion of other more prone materials seems to have few bounds. This second part considers lead as cable sheathing, piping and in cathodic protection applications. Its use in chemical plant cannot be overlooked and is also covered in this section. As with most other metals, adverse conditions, though relatively rare, can cause serious damage to the metal and whatever it may be protecting.

Cathodic protection is an electrical technique for preventing the rusting of iron and steel, a phenomenon which is usually considered a chemical reaction. Because of this the subject advances hand in hand with developments in electrical engineering and in the electrochemical industry and is modified in conjunction with advances in the chemical techniques for preventing corrosion. Magnesium, aluminium and zinc can be used as sacrificial anodes to provide cathodic protection and the greatest advance in this field has been the discovery of a new series of aluminium alloys which in sea‐water become cheap and effective sacrificial anodes. Impressed current techniques require a permanent anode and the plating of a very thin film of platinum on to a titanium substrate has been found to make an ideal anode. Much of the exploitation of this anode has taken place with new electrical techniques such as automatic control, the individual adjustment of anode current and a considerable improvement in the instrumentation. The extended experience of cathodic protection has given the contracting industry a very much greater knowledge of the design problems, of the spread of protection, of the degree of control and of the economic balance between the various techniques. A wider use of cathodic protection to supplement organic coatings and the development of coatings which work more readily with cathodic protection are two of the exceptional economic advances. Cathodic protection, unlike most anti‐corrosive treatments, is a continuous process, and as such it has to be maintained: the realisation of this has perhaps done more to produce the good results of which cathodic protection is capable, than any other single scientific discovery.