561 



most formal and deliberate manner, do, as things are now constituted, 

 exercise sufficient influence over the deliberations of Government and 

 Parliament when they are called upon to decide upon questions for 

 the proper determination of which scientific knowledge must be con- 

 sidered as a valuable, and sometimes an indispensable qualification. 

 Among the various causes to which this may be ascribed, it seemed 

 to some that a want of representation of Science in the Legislature 

 was possibly one ; that is, that there was no one in either House of 

 Parliament who was entitled to consider it his peculiar province to 

 watch over the interests of Science and defend them, when, amidst 

 the heterogeneous mass of subjects to which the attention of our 

 Government and legislators is directed, it appeared probable that 

 those interests would suffer, or receive less of that .attention than 

 their importance deserved. 



With the view of remedying this defect, the Parliamentary Com- 

 mittee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 

 was formed ; it consists of seven members of the House of Lords and 

 six of the House of Commons, who are " requested to act as a per- 

 manent Committee to watch over the interests of Science, and to 

 inspect the various measures from time to time introduced into Par- 

 liament likely to affect such interests." 



My excellent predecessor in this Chair, who is himself a distin- 

 guished member of this Committee, thinks there is something in this 

 arrangement "forced and awkward." It may be so, for it is neces- 

 sarily a makeshift, a substitute for a more formal and recognized 

 representation of Science in Parliament ; but perhaps the more mate- 

 rial question is, How has this arrangement hitherto worked ? Has 

 this Committee already done some good service to Science or not ? 

 The following is a short statement of what has been done. 



1st. The Parliamentary Committee, in conjunction with your 

 Council, favoured by the zealous cooperation of the present Chair- 

 man of the Board of Customs, succeeded in carrying out a very bene- 

 ficial arrangement at the Custom House, by which the international 

 communication of scientific publications has been greatly facilitated ; 

 and with the same view they have represented to the Postmaster- 

 General the importance to science of prevailing on foreign countries 

 to permit the extension to themselves of our excellent system of book- 

 postage. A correspondence has been had with the Postmaster- 



