ESSAY-REVIEWS 675 



There is not much need, in the light of recent events, to debate these alterna- 

 tives. The slightest reflection forces us to conclude that the latter is the only one 

 possible. 



It has already been proved beyond cavil that science is able to accommodate 

 itself to the conditions prevailing in India, and to make the most of the natural 

 resources and the climatic advantages which there exist. What is wanted, there- 

 fore, is a thorough organisation of the various branches of scientific research so 

 that our knowledge of Indian resources may be made the most of. 



Consider the existing organisation. At the India Office there is no officer of 

 high standing at the head of a branch or department of scientific work. The 

 India Council itself — though a body of men of great experience and ripe judgment 

 in administrative, legal, and military affairs — comprises no one whose authority 

 on Indian scientific matters is of sufficient weight to carry influence in scientific 

 circles. It is highly desirous that there should be a scientific member on the 

 India Council, and it goes without saying that such a member should be a man of 

 high scientific attainments with a wide experience gained in India of the necessi- 

 ties and requirements of Indian science. 



In India itself there is a " Board of Scientific Advice " which meets annually 

 under the chairmanship of one of the higher civilians attached to the Central 

 Government, usually the Secretary for Revenue and Agriculture. The Board 

 consists of the heads of the various services more particularly engaged in work of 

 a scientific nature ; for instance, the Surveyor-General, Inspector-General of 

 Forests, Director of the Geological and Botanical Surveys, Director-Ceneral 

 of Observatories, the Agricultural Adviser, and now a Director of the Zoological 

 Survey. It has always been difficult to estimate to what, if any, extent the 

 deliberations of this body assist the progress of scientific investigations in India. 



Although the results of the deliberations of this Board are practically unknown 

 outside of India, the work of the various departments referred to are well known, 

 except that of the Zoological Survey, which is a new-comer. 



The Zoological Survey of India was founded in July 191 6. Previously zoologi- 

 cal research had been carried on by naturalists " who had laboured in official 

 obscurity for nearly one hundred years." The only official or semi-official body 

 which concerned itself with a zoological survey was the Trustees of the Indian 

 Museum. The staff and organisation of the Zoological and Anthropological 

 section of the Museum have now been taken over by the Central Government as 

 a Zoological Survey, a scientific Department of the Government of India under 

 the direct control of the Department of Education just as the Botanical Survey is 

 under the Department of Revenue and Agriculture. The gazetted staff for the 

 new survey consists at present of a Director, a Superintendent, and two Assistant 

 Superintendents, who occupied analogous positions on the Museum staff. 



The first annual report of the Zoological Survey, though covering a period of 

 eight months only, is a document of extraordinary interest to all naturalists. The 

 first Director (Dr. Annandale), to whose energy, common sense, and tact we 

 attribute the foundation of the Survey, is inclined to emphasise the purely scientific 

 nature of the Survey, and in this we think he is wise. It is a mistake for scientific 

 men to guarantee, as was done by the British naturalists (or some of them) who 

 commenced the fishery researches for the International Council for the exploration 

 of the North and neighbouring seas, definite results of economic importance 

 within a brief and definite interval. An error of that kind seriously discredits 

 scientific investigation. 



On the other hand we hope that Dr. Annandale will not go to the other extreme 



