May 25, 1876] 



NATURE 



11 



organization of the Loan Collection that their efforts have 

 met with the approval of the intelligent and unprejudiced 

 portion of their non-scientific fellow-countrymen, that 

 these efforts have been unexpectedly successful, and that 

 public opinion points to a permanent successor as the 

 natural outcome of this temporary collection. 



The Saturday Review seldom gives way to unmeasured 

 approval of any human effort ; it is therefore extremely 

 gratifying to find so severe a critic having nothing but 

 praise to bestow on the collection. The following are a 

 few extracts from last Saturday's number : — 



*•' Mr. Spottiswoode, in his address as President of the 

 first of the Conferences which have been arranged in con- 

 nection with the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus 

 at South Kensington, said that he was disposed to regard 

 this Exhibition as marking an epoch in the history of 

 science ; and there are undoubtedly reasons why it may 

 be expected to exercise a deep and lieneficial influence on 

 the prospects of scientific culture in this country. We 

 have here brought together, not only a collection of re- 

 markable instruments from all parts of the civilized world, 

 and representing almost every school and period of re- 

 search, but also a numerous galheiing of the men who 

 are at the present moment engaged in extending still 

 further the range of discovery, and the practical applica- 

 tion of its results. It has often been a reproach against 

 this country on the part of foreigners that it is indifferent 

 to science except in the forms in which it can be turned 

 to immediate commercial profit ; and this criticism, though 

 unjust to the heroic self-sacrifice which has characterised 

 many of our leading scientific pioneers, must be admitted 

 to be in a certain degree true as to the general attitude of 



the public In this country the Executive usually 



hesitates to do anything unless there is a strong pressure 

 of opinion, and it is tolerably certain that science will have 

 little to hope for from that quarter until it has the public 

 at its back ; and it is to it, therefore, that an appeal should 

 be made. It may be hoped that the present Exhibition 

 will be the beginning of a movement of this kind. The fact 

 that it is opened under the auspices of a Government 

 department would seem to show that there is not wanting 

 a certain sympathy on that side ; but whether any large, 

 substantial measures will ever be taken, will chiefly de- 

 pend on the interest which such a presentation of science 

 excites among the community at large. Again, an Exhi- 

 bition of this kind is useful in bringing to light the actual 

 operations of the scientific world, the problems which 

 have been solved, and those others which are still in a 

 nebulous condition, with just here and there a clue peep- 

 ing out ; and thus the interchange of ideas is promoted. 

 .... At present this sort of co operation is loose, frag- 

 mentary, and disjointed ; but an Exhibition brings the 

 scattered experimentalists into systematic communication. 

 Thus, both in the world of science proper and outside of 

 it, a keener interest is Hkely to be cultivated in regard to 

 scientific matters, and researches will consequently be 

 conducted with greater spirit and efficiency, and better 



prospects of success To persons of scientific train- 



mg, or with even a rudimentary taste for such things, it 'S 

 easy to conceive what service such an Exhibition will ren- 

 der. 1 hey will read the Handbook, an admirable sum- 

 mary of the chief branches of scientific study by competent 

 authorities, and examire the objects exhibited ; and thus 

 lay up a store of suggestive information as a supplement 

 to or a foundation for private studies. But there will also 

 be a large body of people who will chiefly bring away from 

 the galleries an impression of their own stupendous ignor- 

 ance in such matters. This in itself, however, v;ill be a 

 good thing, for it may be expected, in some cases at least, 

 to stimulate a desire to know something, and after that to 

 know more. Even the dullest and least imaginative minds 

 can hardly fail to be touched by the sight of the instru- 

 mei ts by which the old masters achieved their triumphs, 

 pr of their earliest works On the other hand, this 



Exhibition displays in a striking manner the wealth and 

 luxury of scientific apparatus at the present day." 



After giving examples of the intimate connection 

 which subsists between the progress of science and the 

 improvement of its mechanism, the article concludes 

 thus : — 



" It is impossible here to go through such an Exhibition 

 in detail, and we can only say that it reflects much credit 

 on those with whom it has originated, and that it is to be 

 hoped that it may not be a mere passing show, but may 

 develop into some permanent organization." 



The Acadeiny of last Saturday has "a first cr introduc- 

 tory notice" of some length on the collection. 



" The Special Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus," 

 the Academy says, "which was honoured by a private 

 visit from her Majesty on Saturday last, and thrown open 

 to the public on Monday, is one of very great interest and 

 value. The Lord President of the Council may well be 

 congratulated on the success of the undertaking, and we 

 must all feel grateful to him for having given us an exhi- 

 bition in which, for once, purely commercial interests have 

 been made to give way to the ' higher aim of disseminating 

 as wadely as possible a knowledge of the different methods 

 of science.' The Exhibition is in many respects the most 

 instructive and remarkable that has been held at South 

 Kensington, and though it may not have any great effect 

 on the advancement of science or on the industrial pro- 

 gress of this country, it cannot fail to awaken a very 

 general interest in those methods of abstract scientific re- 

 search of which the public know so little ; and it will 

 afford an opportunity, which may never occur again, of 

 examining at leisure under the same roof the rude, simple 

 instruments used by the pioneers of science, and the com- 

 plex, delicate apparatus with which investigators of the 

 present day have made their discoveries. We trust, too, 

 that the Exhibition may give an impulse to the cause of 

 scientific education in this country, and that it may lead 

 to a better appreciation of the reasons which have led 

 men of science to advocate Government endowment of 

 scientific research, and the establishment of Physical 

 Observatories, at home and abroad, which may have the 

 same beneficial influence on the progress of other sciences 

 that Astronomical Observatories have had on the progress 

 of astronomy. May we hope, too, that the Exhibition 

 will lead to the creation of a museum for the illustration 

 of physical, chemical, and mechanical sciences somewhat 

 of the nature of the * Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers,' 

 in Paris ? The formation of such a museum was one of 

 the recommendations of the Commission on Scientific 

 Instruction, and we believe it would go far, by affording 

 adequate opportunities for study, to render the sciences 

 alluded to as popular as those of botany, geology, and 

 zoology." 



Last week we quoted the opinion of Irotij the same 

 paper has another interesting article this week, on 

 " Science at South Kensington," in which it says that 

 the success of the Exhibition affords an additional in- 

 stance of the certain, if tardy, fructification of a valu- 

 able idea. "Years ago the conception of a great focus 

 of science somewhere in the metropolis was formed in at 

 least cne great mind." The article then refers to the 

 original intention of making the Albert Hall an institu- 

 tional memorial, its employment as a place of scientific 

 meetings and conferences having been strongly advo- 

 cated. With its present uses, " the building has lost all 

 its signification, as its position at South Kensington has 

 lost all its appropriateness. We therefore cordially wel- 

 come the realisation of the spiritual part of the original 

 plan, although it has been brought about by indirect 

 means." The article then goes on to refer to the suc- 

 cessful development of loan collections during the last 

 few years, and the superior educational value possessed 

 by special collections over large international exhibitions. 

 As carried out at South Kensington, this value is largely 



