March 23, 1911] 



NATURE 



129 



itself, where the object is simply to elucidate a given 

 problem. But when it comes to the contact between 

 science and industry, an entirely new factor appears. 



The discovery of the atmospheric burner was not an 

 accident. It arose from the desire of Bunsen to have a 

 gas flame that would not smoke his flasks, and it was 

 contrived by a stroke of genius. But what an accident 

 for you that a man of genius should want a smokeless 

 flame! When I was a student in Bunsen 's laboratory 

 there came to it Carl Auer von Welsbach, in the spirit of 

 an unalloyed philosopher, eager to solve some problems 

 about the group of chemical elements that seemed, of all, 

 the most remote from any daily human needs. He noticed 

 the remarkable glow of the mixed oxides when a flame 

 impinged upon them, and so begat the mantle. Again, I 

 say, no accident for him ; but, again, what an accident 

 for you, that a man of genius should want to investigate 

 the mystery of rare earths ! 



I need not ask you where the gas industries would be 

 to-day without these windfalls from the tree of scientific 

 knowledge, the scientific branches of which, be it remem- 

 bered, wave most vigorously in the upper air. By what 

 definite planning are you to get discoveries of this kind 

 made ? The answer is, I think, by treasuring your men 

 of genius and letting them work in the light of their 

 genius. Surely the time has gone by to wonder whether 

 true scientific work, carried on in the spirit of a philo- 

 sopher by a man of genius with his feet upon the earth, 

 subserves the material needs of humanity. Who is there 

 that will dare to set his finger on any patch of new natural 

 knowledge and say : " This may be edifying, but it is 

 nothing to us "? 



When, therefore, you seek to bring science into your 

 service, beware of unduly fettering the minds and dis- 

 criminating the topics. This seems to be the hardest 

 lesson of all for the Englishman to learn. His very 

 straightforwardness and stern common sense, his business- 

 like ways, may all conspire to make him unbusinesslike 

 in matters of education and research, to which, believe me, 

 a man must serve a long apprenticeship before he becomes 

 a master craftsman. I will listen eagerly to a business 

 man whilst he tells me what he wants ; I will eagerly 

 seek the real knowledge that he has to give ; I will eagerly 

 lean upon him in the manifold business of administration ; 

 I will eagerly take his money ; but when he wants to tell 

 me that I shall teach this and not teach that, that this is 

 useful, the other useless, above all, when he talk? as if a 

 well-constituted university should give proficiency in the 

 practice of trades and render apprenticeship superfluous — 

 well, I do not listen to him very patiently, and I say to 

 myself, " Alas, that this man should think himself 

 practical ! " 



If we on our side come to take a more sympathetic 

 and direct part in bringing science to your service, I plead 

 that you on yours shall show a larger measure of faith, of 

 hope, and, I might almost say, of charity. Do not try 

 to constrain us in our own proper business ; do not be 

 impatient of returns. They are sure to come ; history has 

 abundantly proved it ; but you must freely cast your bread 

 upon the waters. 



I have chosen in this address to take what may be 

 called a materialistic view of education, and I am not 

 ashamed. I do not forget that education has many pur- 

 poses to serve, and that man does not live by bread alone. 

 But without bread man becomes a shadowy or a rebellious 

 being, an ascetic or an anarchist. He must have bread, 

 and he must get it by the sweat of his brow. English- 

 men collectively must havi' work, the nation must have 

 industries, and 1 take it as no degradation of cducalidn 

 to contrive that it >hall minister directly to their preserva- 

 tion, their prof^i-e-,^, and tlieir prosjjerilv. Rather would 

 I say this — that iherehv vou dignify labour, refresh the 

 toiler with the fniiis df knowleilj;,-, and infuse into his 

 daily work the (lelij4lu <,| ^...-ino heneath its grime and dust 

 a play of stupendous forces witiiin majestic- laws. 



Of all the men whom I have known, I could ixnnt to 

 no one who, more conipleteK- than Cieorgc I.ive^e\, 

 embodied the finest native -tieneih of the l-'.ni^li-h 

 industrialist. He was one of iho-.' neMi to whom I re- 

 ferred at the beginning of this address, .md wa- Iidund to 

 succeed independently of all thai we (all luiinal educa- 

 tion. Hut vou know that he never breathed an\ such 



vulgar boast. On the contrary, he believed with all his 

 heart in the worth of all things intellectual. He was 

 eager to draw to his aid all the resources of modern 

 science ; he took the broadest, most sympathetic, view of 

 scientific research, and I can, as 1 have said before, 

 imagine no memorial more acceptable to him than the 

 one which, to our great honour, you have set up in this 

 University. In the inspiring address which he delivered 

 to you from this chair three years ago, he lifted your 

 thoughts to the ethical side of industrial life, and preached 

 to you the chivalry which you knew he had practised in 

 his life. Honest dealing, confidence between man and 

 man, care for the workman, national before personal 

 interests — in short, a large-hearted humanity — these were 

 his topics as they were his qualities. I am not without 

 hope that in the universities, old and new, where know- 

 ledge should be cultivated, whatever it may pertain to, in 

 the worship of truth, where young men should see visions, 

 we may help to maintain the fine flower of British indus- 

 try of which George Livesey was so splendid an example. 



VISUM. SENSATIONS FROM THE ALTERNAT- 



ING MAGNETIC FIELD. 

 "P70LL0WING on the experiments reported by Prof. 

 Silvanas P. Thompson in the Proceedings of the 

 Royal Society, B, 82 {557), pp. 396 ff., it is interesting 

 to note the further research in this subject pursued by 

 Mr. Knight Dunlap, an account of which appeared in 

 Science of January 13. 



Prof. Thompson subjected the head to the influence of 

 an alternating magnetic field, which was obtained by 

 means of a coil of thirty-two turns of stranded copper 

 conductor having an internal diameter of 9 inches and a 

 length of 8 inches. The coil was supplied with a current 

 the maximum value of which was 180 amperes at a 

 frequency of fifty cycles per second. 



On inserting the head in the coil under these conditions, 

 a flickering light sensation was obtained, the sensation 

 being more clearly defined in the peripheral part of the 

 field of vision. 



The object of the further experiments by Mr. Dunlap 

 was to ascertain whether or not these sensations were due 

 to idio-retinal light, under the suggestion of the hum of 

 the coil caused by the alternating current. 



A coil was constructed which gave a field of approxi- 

 mately the same density as that obtained by Prof. Thomp- 

 son, and identical results were observed. 



In order to ascertain whether the effects are due to idio- 

 retinal light and suggestion, some experiments were carried 

 out in which suggestion was eliminated to the fullest 

 extent. 



In these tests the transformer was placed near the coil, 

 so that the hum of the coil was completely drowned by 

 the noise of the transformer. Arrangements were made 

 whereby the current could be switched from the coil on 

 to a resistance, the strength being maintained constant. 



The subject's ears were plugged up, and a telephone 

 receiver connected to the transformer was hung on the 

 coil. 



Under these conditions it was absolutely impossible to 

 tell bv the sound whether the current was on or off the 

 coil ; each of the observers was able, however, to identify 

 the flicker with absolute precision when the current was 

 switched on to the coil. 



With a field alternating' at a lower (twent\-live cv( le> 

 per second) frequency, it was found that -'-n 

 much more pronounced and intensely di-ai;! e.aMe 

 whole visual field quivering as if illuniinatrd hy a r. 

 intermittent light. 



The effect was at all linvv vei-v inien-e when thr 

 of the head was presented to the coil, hut on looking 

 the coil it practically disappear-, l-'ioni this Mr. Diuilap 

 infers that the sensation is due to currents induced in \h- 

 optic pathway; he states that whether these currents excit ■ 

 the occipit.al 'cortex directly, oi- e\ciie the retiii.i priniarih , 

 is a matter for conjiciure; the fait that the llicker is pro- 

 ,lui eil liv .ilt.iMiions faster than the fastest flicker from 

 normal lieht stimulation heiiie, ii i., st.iied, no I'videnc- for 

 the non-retinal ch.ar.acter of the flii ker in question. 



It i, slated that there was no evidence to show that 



It ion wa- 



pidl\- 



side 



into 



NO. 2160, VOL. 86] 



