ENDOWMENT FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. 031 



eessively in a scliolmsliip. a Icllow sliip, and ;hs jnot'cssoi at Trinity 

 College at Cambrid.uc Besides those aids. The Koyal Connnissioners 

 of the Exliibition of IS,")! institnted last year (18i>l) ^'ExhibdicMi 

 scieiiee scholarsliips'' for advanced students, to Avliicli $25,000 yearly 

 is to be ai)plied in sums of §7."iO ea<di. Last year sixteen appointments 

 were made, to be held for two and pi'obabl\' for three years by students 

 wlio show capaeity. and '-who achanee science l>y experinuMital work."'* 



On this sul)ject a most interesting" discussion took place last year in 

 the French Academy of Science. On April 27, ISOI, the Secretary 

 read the following extract from the will of tlie late M. Cahours, a de- 

 ceased member of the Academy: 



"I have frequently had the opi)ortunity of observing, in the course 

 of my scientific career, that nmny young men distinguished and en- 

 dowed with real talent for science found themselves obliged to aban- 

 don it, because before beginning they had no efficacious help which 

 provided them with the first necessities of life, an<l allowed them to 

 devote themselves exclusively to scientific studies. 



" With the object of encouraging such young workers, who for want 

 of sufficient resources find themselves powerless to finish works in 

 course of execution, - - - I becineath to the Academy of Sciences 

 - - - 100,000 francs, - - - the interest to be distributed yearly 

 by way of encouragement to any y(ning men who h.ave made them- 

 selves known by some interesting Avorks, and more pai'ticularly by 

 chemical researches; - - - as far as jiossilde to young men with- 

 out fortune, not having salaried offices, and who, from want of a sufti- 

 cient situation, would find themselves without the i»ossibility of follow- 

 ing up their researches. These pecuniary encouragements ought to 

 be given for several years to the same young men, if the Commissioner 

 thinks their pnxhictions Inne sufficient value; - - to cease 



when they shall Ikim^ other sufiiciently remunerative p<isitions.'" 



M. -lanssen, tlien addressing the Academy, said: 



'•This affi)rds an examjde to all who hereaftei' may desire to encour- 

 age the sciences by their liberality. M. Cahours, who knew the urgent 

 necessities of science, had, like most of iis, become convinced of the 

 need of introducing a new form of scientific recompenses. 



"Our ]n-izes will always continue to meet a great and noble necessity. 

 Tlieir value, the dilliculty of obtaiuing them, and the eclat tliey take 

 from the illustriousness of the body that grants them, will always make 

 them the highest and most valuable of re<'omi)enses. But the value 

 also of the works it is necessary to i)roduce in order to lay claim to 

 them, forbids them to beginners. It is a lield oidy accessible to ma- 

 tured talents. But ther<' ai'c many y()ung men endowed with ])recious 

 a]>titudes, inclined to i)ui(' science, but tuined \-ery often from this 

 envied career by tlie diriicuities ot existence, and taking with regret 

 a direction towards moie immediate results. And yet many among 

 *Per Sir WiUiam 'riionipsoii, J'rocccdings, Royal Socicly, 1891, vol. i,, p. 225. 



