NATURE 



461 



THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1876 



A RESEARCH FUND FOR THE CHEMICAL 

 SOCIETY 



AN offer has lately been made to the Chemical Society, 

 which has for its object the establishing of a fund 

 to be applied in aiding the development of scientific 

 chemistry. The offer comes from Dr. Longstaff, who 

 proposes giving the society the sum of 1,000/., on condi- 

 tion that at least an equal amount be raised and in- 

 vested together with his gift, in approved security. To 

 make this offer known to the Fellows of the Chemical 

 Society, the following circular has been sent to them, and 

 already the major part of the required 1,000/. has, in 

 donations varying from i/. to 100/., been raised. 



Chemical Society, 

 Burlington House, Piccadilly, W., March, 1876 

 Dear Sir, 



I am instructed by the President and Council of the 

 Chemical Society, to request your consideration of a matter, 

 which they hope will elicit your interest and active co-operation. 

 The advancement of Chemical Science, which constitutes the 

 special object of the Chemical Society, may be promoted chiefly 

 in two ways : — 



1. By facilitating the early acquirement by students of 

 Chemistry of a knowledge of the results of chemical research 

 carried on in this and other countries. 



2. By affording direct assistance to workers in chemical 

 science, with a view to encourage and facilitate their labours in 

 experimental research. 



The Chemical Society has sought from the time of its foimda- 

 tion to aid in the first of these objects by the publication of 

 original papers communicated to the Society ; and, during the 

 last five years, a special guarantee fund and Uberal aid from the 

 British Association for tlie Advancement of Science have 

 enabled the Society to establish, on a firm footing, the publica- 

 tion of monthly abstracts of original papers published in this 

 country and abroad, on chemistry and allied branches of science. 



The Chemical Society has also recently endeavoured, as far 

 as its funds would permit, to afford assistance to chemists 

 undertaking original investigations, by the extension of its 

 library, and occasionally by grants of small sums of money, 

 when pecuniary aid was applied for. The limited resources of 

 the society have, however, restricted the number and amount of 

 these grants within very narrow limits. In 1872, Mr. T. Hyde 

 HiUs placed at the disposal of the Chemical Society the sum of 

 10/. as the nucleus of a fund for promotinij original research ; 

 and offered under certain conditions, made with the object of 

 securing the co-operation of others, to contribute a like sum 

 annually. This attempt of. Mr. Hills to form a research fund 

 was not, at the time, seconded. The Council have, however, 

 recently received from Dr. G. D. Longstaff, one of the original 

 members, the generous offer to place at the disposal of the 

 society, the sum of one thousand pounds (1,000/.) towards esta- 

 blishing a permanent fund for promoting the advancement of 

 Chemical Science, on the condition that not less than an equal 

 amount be subscribed for the same purpose. 



As the President and Council feel that such a fund would add 

 much to the usefulness of their Society, and enable them to 

 encourage still further the prosecution of Chemical Science, they 

 are most desirous to secure to the Society the benefit of this 

 munificent offer of Dr. Longstaff ; and have therefore instructed 

 me to ask your co-operation towards the attainment of this 

 object. I remain, Yours obediently, 



William J. Russell, Treasurer. 



Considering the use to be made of this fund, and the 

 very large number of persons interested either in the 

 scientific development of chemistry, or else in its many 

 lucrative applications, it is not imreasonable to expect 

 that a sum far larger than this 2,000/. will be raised. 



The feeling among those most interested and most 

 active in raising this fund, is that there should be, in the 

 Vol. XIII. — No. 337 



first place, a permanent fund, the dispensers of which 

 should have large discretionary power as to how the 

 income is to be spent, so long as it be strictly used for the 

 advancement of scientific chemistry, and secondly, that 

 this fund should be aided by annual subscriptions. It is 

 hoped that the invested capital may from time to time be 

 largely increased by gifts ; possibly as the real character 

 and object of such a fund as this becomes better under- 

 stood and more widely known, it may receive legacies and 

 bequests such as now are devoted to charitable or reli- 

 gious purposes. 



The direct income arising from the money which is to 

 be invested in accordance with Dr. Longstaff's condi- 

 tions cannot amount to any large sum ; it is therefore 

 hoped, and not without reason, that many will aid the 

 fund by annual subscription, and while some may pro- 

 bably limit their subscriptions to a definite number of 

 years, others may be willing to subscribe as long as they 

 are assured that good and useful work is being done with 

 the money thus raised. 



A fund of this compound character has certain advan- 

 tages ; the invested capital gives permanency and keeps 

 alive the interest in it, the subscriptions help most mate- 

 rially towards forming an income which will more nearly 

 approach the requirements of the case, and there are 

 many who would rather that what they give should be used 

 for immediate requirements than that it should be funded 

 for the benefit of unknown and possibly never-to-exist 

 requirements in time to come. 



One point has been urged against such a fund as this ; 

 it is that we should look rather to the State to aid research 

 than to private generosity, and that every private fund of 

 this kind tends to relieve the Government of some of its 

 obligations, whereas all scientific bodies ought rather to 

 increase such obligations, not lessen them. On the other 

 hand the State aid, if it is to be really efficient, must be 

 such that it will at least to some extent open out a career 

 for those willing and able to devote themselves success- 

 fully to original investigations ; while from this fund no 

 more could be expected than that it should afford a 

 means by which some of the best known chemists of the 

 day, as represented by the governing body of the Chemical 

 Society, should have \vithin their power the means of 

 aiding particular investigations, publishing possibly im- 

 portant scientific tables or other data, and making im- 

 portant acquisitions of books or even instruments if such 

 be specially required by the fellows of their Society in the 

 prosecution of scientific investigation. Undoubtedly it is 

 beyond all question that the sphere of usefulness of the 

 Chemical Society will be much extended by the establish- 

 ment of this research fund. \V. J. Russell 



T AIT'S ''RECENT ADVANCES IN PHYSICAL 

 SCIENCE'' 



Recent Advances in Physical Science. By P. G. Tait 

 M.A., formerly Fellow of St. Peter's College, Cam- 

 bridge, Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Uni- 

 versity of Edinburgh. (London : Macmillan and Co., 

 1876.) 



THESE lectures, we are told in the Preface, were 

 given in the Spring of 1874, at the desire of a num- 

 ber of the friends of the author — mainly professional 



