NATURE 



[Aug. 12, 1875 



to the proper persons to be charged with the investiga- 

 tion. 



" We are of opinion that the Council should not have 

 the power of initiating investigations ; it should, however, 

 not be precluded, in exceptional cases, from 'offering to 

 the Minister such suggestions as it may have occasion to 

 make in the public interest. 



" We believe that reference to such a council would be 

 found to be so useful and convenient that it would become 

 the usual course in cases of difficulty, but we would not 

 diminish the responsibility or fetter the discretion of any 

 Minister by making such reference obligatory, or by pre- 

 venting a reference to committees or to individuals chosen 

 by him, whenever that course might appear to him to be 

 more desirable. 



Finally the Report concludes with the following " Con- 

 clusions and Recommendations " : — 



" I, The assistance given by the State for the promo- 

 tion of scientific research is inadequate, and it does not 

 appear that the concession or refusal of assistance takes 

 place upon sufficiently well-defined principles. 



"II. More complete means are urgently required for 

 scientific investigations in connection with certain Govern- 

 ment departments ; and physical as well as other Labora- 

 tories and apparatus for such investigations ought to be 

 provided. 



"III. Important classes of phenomena relating to Phy- 

 sical Meteorology, and to Terrestrial and Astronomical 

 Physics, require observations of such a character that 

 they cannot be advantageously carried on otherwise than 

 under the direction of the Government. 



" Institutions for the study of such phenomena should 

 be maintained by the Government ; and, in particular, an 

 observatory should be founded specially devoted to Astro- 

 nomical Physics, and an organisation should be esta- 

 blished for the more complete observation of tidal pheno- 

 mena and for the reduction of the observations. 



" IV. We have stated in a previous Report that the 

 national collections of Natural History are accessible to 

 private investigators, and that it is desirable that they 

 should be made still more useful for purposes of research 

 than they are at present. We would now express the 

 opinion that corresponding aid ought to be afforded to 

 persons engaged in important physical and chemical 

 investigations ; and that whenever practicable such per- 

 sons should be allowed access, under proper limitations, 

 to such laboratories as may be established or aided by 

 the State. 



" V. It has been the practice to restrict grants of money 

 made to private investigators for purposes of research to 

 the expenditure actually incurred by them. We think 

 that such grants might be considerably increased. We 

 are also of opinion that the restriction to which we have 

 referred, however desirable as a general rule, should not 

 be maintained in all cases, but that, under certain circum- 

 stances and with proper safeguards, investigators should 

 be remunerated for their time and labour. 



" VI. The grant of 1,000/., administered by the Royal 

 Society, has contributed greatly to the promotion of 

 research, and the amount of this grant may with advan- 

 tage be considerably increased. 



"In the case of researches which involve, and are of 

 sufficient importance to deserve, exceptional expenditure, 

 direct grants in addition to the annual grant made to the 

 Royal Society, should be made in aid of the inves- 

 tigations. 



**VII. The proper allocation of funds for research ; the 

 establishment and extension of laboratories and obser- 

 servatories ; and, generally, the advancement of science 

 and the promotion of scientific instruction as an essential 

 part of public education, would be most effectually dealt 

 with by a ministry of science and education. And we 

 consider the creation of such a ministry to be of primary 

 mportance. 



" VIII. The various departments of the Government 

 have from time to time referred scientific questions to the 

 Council of the Royal Society for its advice ; and we 

 believe that the work of a minister of science, even if 

 aided by a well-organised scientific staff, and also the 

 work of the other departments, would be materially 

 assisted if they were able to obtain, in all cases of excep- 

 tional importance or difficulty, the advice of a council 

 representing the scientific knowledge of the nation. 



" This council should represent the chief scientific 

 bodies in the United Kingdom. With this view its com- 

 position need not differ very greatly from that of the pre- 

 sent Government Grant Committee of the Royal Society. 

 It might consist of men of science selected by the 

 Council of the Royal Society, together with represen- 

 tatives of other important scientific societies, and a 

 certain number of persons nominated by the Government. 

 We think that the functions at present exercised by the 

 Government Grant Committee might be advantageously 

 transferred to the proposed Council." 



HINRICHS' ''PRINCIPLES OF CHEMISTRY'' 



The Principles of Chemistry and Molecular Mechanics. 



By Dr. Gustavus Hinrichs, Professor of Physical 



Science in the State University of Iowa. (Davenport, 



Iowa, U.S. : Day, Egbert, and Fidlar, 1874.) 



THIS work constitutes the second volume of a treatise 

 on " The Principles of the Physical Sciences," and 

 its main object is to present theoretical chemistry in its 

 most modern aspect and to discuss its laws from a 

 dynamical point of view. It is divided into two portions : 

 " Molecular Statics," and " Molecular Dynamics." The 

 former commences with an account of chemical atoms, it 

 being premised that the conception of a chemical atom is 

 the basis of the modern chemical theory. Although the 

 author tells, us that the chemical atom is a reality, while 

 the philosophic atom is only a possibility, we have a little 

 difficulty in accepting his definition of a chemical atom 

 as "a -very minute, relatively indivisible particle of 

 matter." For it is surely unwise to retain a term so pre- 

 cise in its etymological significance if we admit its divisi- 

 bility. We are told that " an atom of lead sulphide " 

 can be divided into an atom of lead and an atom of 

 sulphur; and further (p. 19), that "the molecule of 

 gaseous compounds consists of one atom of the com- 

 pound." But a molecule is defined as a " group of atoms " 

 elsewhere, so that it would appear that a molecule is 

 sometimes an atom, and an atom is sometimes a mole- 

 cule, and such confusion of ideas must be most detri- 

 mental to the acquirement of exact knowledge by the 

 student. 



It is useless for us to protest against variations in the 

 mode of writing formulas, for such protestations have 

 been made any time during the last ten years in vain ; 

 but we are quite justified in saying that such changes 

 harass the student to an extent to which the authors of 

 them can scarcely be aware. Why should NaCl be 

 written NaCl''»% and KaNOs, KaN«"=, and so with all sul- 

 phates, oxalates, nitrates, and a host of other salts ? And 

 why, when the almost universal custom is to write sul- 

 phates as MSO^, and nitrates as MNO3, does our author 

 write MO4S and MO3N ? 



We are glad to notice the introduction of the recent 

 surmises as to the absolute weight of atoms, although at 

 present we believe that such ideas cannot be of much 



