Oct. lo, 1878] 



NATURE 



629 



STATE AID TO SCIENCE 



UNDER this title the last number of the La7icet has 

 the following ; — 



It was for a long time the fashion with zealous workers 

 in the field of science to protest that the cause of dis- 

 covery would not be advantaged by State patronage or 

 State aid. The more thoughtful inclined to the belief 

 that the patronage Avould be more mischievous than the 

 pecuniary assistance was helpful. For some years past 

 this persuasion has been losing ground, and, whether 

 scientists are becoming more worldly or less exclusive 

 in their views, it is abundantly evident that the reverse of 

 a feeling of unwillingness to accept aid from the State 

 prevails. It wall doubtless be contended that the way in 

 which help has been placed at the disposal of explorers 

 and investigators so completely removes all difficulties, 

 that it would be not less ungracious than impolitic 

 to refuse the proffered assistance. The labourer chooses 

 his own form of enterprise, or applies for aid in the 

 course of an inquiry instituted at his own wish, that he 

 has simply to satisfy a committee of fellow-workers as to 

 the object of his pursuit or the nature of his researches, 

 and, upon their recommendation, the necessary funds 

 are forthcoming, without the least semblance of dictation 

 or interference. The explanation is obviously satisfactory, 

 but the fact remains, the objections which many of the 

 older and more successful discoverers urged against seek- 

 ing or accepting the assistance of the State in their inves- 

 tigations have been discarded, and the only grievance felt 

 by contemporary inquirers relates to what they conceive 

 to be the paucity of the grant and its wrong distribution, 

 for which last fault, if fault there be, the governing bodies 

 of the principal scientific societies are mainly responsible. 

 We offer no present opinion as to the comparative merits 

 of the old and new view of the State aid question, and 

 we do not propose to discuss the complaints arising out 

 of the system of administration extant; it is for the more 

 pressing issue, whether a permanent provision should not 

 be made for the support of men who live by investigation 

 rather than teaching, we now ask a few minutes' 

 attention. ^ 



It must be conceded by all who have any acquaintance 

 with the subject, that not only the pioneers, but, in a 

 practical sense, the advanced workers in science must 

 necessarily be debarred from the ordinary rewards of 

 their profession. If it be difficult to practise and preach, 

 it is incomparably more embarrassing to study and 

 teach. In short, the explorers and investigators in any 

 department of work cannot live by communicating the 

 knowledge they accumulate. The business of utilising 

 the store of information amassed by the labourers in the 

 advanced field must be performed by men who are not 

 themselves engrossed with research. The enterprise of 

 discovery cannot be delayed while the explorers strive to 

 popularise their acquisitions, nor are the faculties which 

 prove most useful in the field of inquiry especially well 

 adapted for successfully imparting the knowledge ob- 

 tained. The functions of the scholar and the school- 

 master, the collector and distributor, are essentially 

 different ; we might go further and affirm that they are 

 scarcely compatible. It follows, therefore, that the two 

 classes of workers must always exist. Some must make 

 knowledge and live by that form of labour, while others 

 distribute or apply it to general uses. It seems to follow, 

 without the need of argument, that by some expedient 

 the means of self-support must be placed within reach of 

 those who are not in a position to render their produce 

 marketable. This necessity has been long recognised, 

 and with a view to meet the case, College fellowships 

 and snug sinecures in the Church and at Law have been 

 preserved for the shelter and support of those who 

 required scholarly leisure for the pursuit of inquiries. 

 The spirit of the age is, however, eminently utilitarian 



and strongly opposed to sinecures ; and, as a matter of 

 fact, the system was manifestly open to abuses. The 

 medical profession has riever largely enjoyed these 

 advantages, although the discoveries made by its mem- 

 bers are equal, if they do not surpass, those of any other 

 branch of labour in science. The time has come when 

 the whole question needs to be discussed from a new 

 standpoint, and in a more practical fashion than hitherto. 

 We venture to suggest that it should not be left in the 

 hands of interested persons who cannot speak freely on 

 the topic, but considered by the profession as a body. 

 The points to be adjudicated are : first, has medicine its 

 full and fair share of State aid ? and secondly, has not 

 I the time arrived when some formal provision should be 

 made for the support of men who devote their lives to 

 inquiry and cannot reasonably or expediently be expected 

 to practise or teach ? In the old days much of the 

 hardest work in science was done by Churchmen of the 

 various orders who were supported by the ecclesiastical 

 institutions of the country; now the labour of research is 

 performed by laymen, and they must live. 



THE TOURNAMENT OF INCUBATORS 



T N a recent number we referred to the hydro-incubator 

 ■■• invented by Mr. Christy. This incubator, along with a 

 number of others, has been subjected to a comparative trial 

 at the Hemel Hempstead Waterworks. An account of this 

 competition appears in the Live Stock Journal. It com- 

 menced 6 a.m. September 5, and concluded on September 

 26, at 12 o'clock noon. The object of the committee who 

 tested the incubation was — 



(i) To ascertain whether incubators were of any prac- 

 tical value to the public generally ; and 



(2) If proved to be of value, to decide which was the 

 best incubator for the ordinary purchaser to select. 



That the person to whose management the incubators 

 were entrusted should be unskilled and inexperienced in 

 their use, was one of the conditions specially insisted on 

 by the exhibitors. This was considered the best means 

 of proving which incubator was of the simplest con- 

 struction and could be worked most successfully without 

 any previous apprenticeship. A large room in the Water- 

 works building was secured, where steam, hot water, or 

 gas, could be employed, and where perfect privacy and 

 quiet could be secured. Exhibitors were requested to 

 send their incubators with full and clear instructions as 

 to their method of working. 



The eggs, which should be laid on Wednesday, Sep- 

 tember 4, had been bespoken some time before at several 

 farmhouses in the neighbourhood, and these having been 

 collected during the afternoon of that day, were brought 

 to the Waterworks, and thoroughly intermixed by the 

 members of the committee. Each Qgg was then marked 

 with the word " Couveuse,' ' by a stamp made at Brighton 

 expressly for the occasion. By six o' clock on the morn- 

 ing of Thursday, September 5, the eggs had all been 

 placed in the incubators by the members of the com- 

 mittee, the machines having been fully prepared for their 

 reception. The incubators were then intrusted to the 

 engineer, Mr. Twigg, with strict injunctions to follow 

 impHcitly the instructions of the exhibitors, and to admit 

 no one without a written order from the committee to the 

 room, which was to be kept locked, especially the ex- 

 hibitors themselves or their agents. The following are 

 the statistics of the competition itself, which were attached 

 to the incubators as soon as possible after mid-day on 

 September 26 : — - 



No. I. — ^Voitellier: Hydro-Incubator, 

 Of fifty eggs placed in incubator none were hatched.. . ,. '" ]„. 



This machine, from its simplicity and the ease *fini 

 which the thermometer could be consulted, was quite a 

 favourite with the engineer, who was most sanguine as to 



