NOTES 291 



manufacturers, wage- earners, and salaried workers as regards the expenses 

 allowable as a charge against income. It was, however, open to the societies 

 represented to produce a formula for the amendment of the existing law, 

 which would receive the attention of the Commissioners. (This course is 

 now being pursued.) 



It appears, therefore, that the following expenses of salaried workers 

 may, under certain circumstances, be considered as coming within the scope 

 of the existing income-tax laws as regards claims for abatement, provided 

 that they can be proved to be " wholly, exclusively, and necessarily connected 

 with employment " : 



1. Subscriptions to scientific bodies, such as the Institutes of Chemistry 

 and of Civil, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineers, since membership of these 

 institutions constitutes a professional qualification, and is often a condition 

 of employment. 



2. Renewals of books and apparatus and purchase of materials. 



3. Travelling expenses to fulfil a single professional engagement, such as 

 an examination. 



4. Provision of special clothing. 



5. Other expenses involved in research, where such research is essential 

 to the holding of a post, and explicitly stated to be so in the terms of agreement 

 or letter of appointment of an employee. 



From reports received, it is evident that such claims are now receiving 

 more favourable consideration from the local assessors. 



The Income-tax Payers' Society 



A Society with this name has been formed under the Presidency of Lord 

 Inchcape, and with a large number of leading men as members of the General 

 Committee. The object is to look after tax-payers' interests and to advise 

 them when necessary. The subscription is only five shillings. All inquiries 

 should be addressed to the Secretary of the Society at Iddesleigh House, 

 Westminster, S.W.i. Men of science may be interested in this matter if 

 their incomes are large enough to pay any income-tax at all. 



The Burton Memorial Fund 



The Burton Memorial Fund Committee are soliciting subscriptions, and 

 have requested that their appeal shall be made known through the medium 

 of Science Progress. We pubUsh it, therefore, in its entirety. 



" At a meeting recently held at the Royal Asiatic Society it was decided 

 to celebrate the birth-centenary of the late Sir Richard F. Burton, by the 

 institution of an Annual Memorial Lecture, by a medal bearing his effigy, 

 and in other suitable ways. Recent correspondence in the Press has proved, 

 if proof were needed, that deep and wide-spread interest is still taken in one 

 who was among the foremost men of his generation. And what were Burton's 

 claims to fame ? Above all, he was a great pioneer. He led the way as an 

 explorer of the first rank. He also studied his fellow-men profoundly, and, 

 by liis marvellous interpretation of the inner life and literature of the Arabs 

 and other races, and his unsurpassed linguistic powers, helped to bridge the 

 gulf between East and West for those who would cross it. He was the 

 moving spirit in founding the first Society for the study of anthropology in 

 this country. But perhaps he appealed most to the world by the daring of 

 his journeys to Mecca and to Harar, the Unknown ; by his intense sympathy 

 for the weak ; by his contempt for cant and sham ; by his romantic character, 

 and by the many indefinable qualities that constitute genius. It is the 

 privilege of the present generation to raise a memorial to this great pioneer, 

 and thereby to secure that Burton's spirit and Burton's vision shall inspire 



