284 



DISCOVERY 



en. 



produced having particular properties for microscope 

 lenses, for photographic lenses, for thermometers, or 

 any other special purpose. Works were established at 

 Jena, and they soon became the chief centre of optical 

 glass manufacture in the world. On account of the 

 indifference shown to scientific theory by its manu- 

 facturers and State officials, England lost an industry in 

 which it was once pre-eminent. 



This has not only been the case with glass manufacture, 

 but also is largely true of the construction of photo- 

 graphic lenses. The principles of the design of such 

 lenses were worked out by Sir John Herschel, Sir 

 William Hamilton and Sir George Airy, but their 

 significance was not appreciated by practical opticians 

 in the country of their origin, and it was left to optical 

 experts of another nation to apply them to practical 

 needs. Empirical methods followed by British opticians 

 have achieved some notable successes in optical instru- 

 ments, but the guidance of theory is essential for steady 

 advance, and scientific knowledge is necessary to see any 

 close relation between theory and practice. In origin- 

 ality and inventiveness, the English mind will compare 

 favourably with that of any race, but its attitude to 

 scientific theory is supercilious, and the nation suffers 

 loss by it. If England does not lead yi industrial 

 development, it is not because of lack of new ideas, but 

 on account of want of scientific insight among her 

 manufacturers, and want of faith in the ultimate value 

 of organised industrial research. We commend to the 

 men who have the nation's future in their keeping the 

 words of a president of the Royal Society : 



Sciencia vinces whether it be on the field of battle, on the 

 waves of the ocean, amid the din and smoke of the workshop, 

 or on the broad acres under the light of heaven ; and assuredly, 



