33 2 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



On the ist July the Guild held its General Meeting of 

 Members at the Institution of Electrical Engineers, with the 

 Right Hon. Sir William Mather in the Chair, and Sir Boverton 

 Redwood, who moved the adoption of the Ninth Annual Report, 

 summarised some of the more notable activities of the Guild. 

 These included the successful efforts of the Medical Committee 

 to quash the unpatriotic campaign of the Anti- Vivisection So- 

 ciety against the anti-typhoid inoculation of the British troops, 

 and a scheme to induce users of scientific glassware to give a 

 guarantee of continued support to the industry — a plan which 

 has already achieved satisfactory results. The great feature 

 of the meeting, however, was the able speech of Sir William 

 Ramsay on the Organisation of Science. While giving due 

 praise to the efforts of all the separate scientific societies during 

 the past ten months to utilise to the full Britain's scientific 

 assets, he pointed out, and emphasised the fact, that nothing 

 of a really effective nature could be done until such societies 

 were made subservient to one central body of scientific men, 

 to whom the Government Departments should be compelled 

 to apply for advice and assistance. He said that the Roj^al 

 Society was eminently fitted to play such a part, and read a 

 scheme drafted by Lord Sydenham which showed how such 

 an idea could be made practical. Sir William Ramsay, in his 

 attempt to rouse his audience to an adequate sense of the 

 importance of such an undertaking, did not hesitate to bring 

 to light all the shortcomings of our country by comparing it 

 very unfavourably with that of France. He narrated how 

 our Ally, as early as August 4, had called a general meeting of 

 her Academy of Sciences, which decided to offer the whole 

 scientific resources of the country to the French Government, 

 and pointed to the lamentable fact that on the ist July, eleven 

 months later, such measures in England were still conspicuous 

 by their absence. As a striking illustration of the slowness of 

 Britain to alter its ideas he read an extract of an address, given 

 sixty-three years ago by Lord Playfair on " Industrial Instruc- 

 tion on the Continent," which is equally applicable at the 

 present day. In it Lord Playfair remarked, " For many 

 years foreign States, acting upon the facilities for communi- 

 cation, have expended annually large sums in sending highly 

 enlightened men to our country, for the purpose of culling from 

 our experience, and of importing it into their own land ; and 



