NATURE 



305 



THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1875 



THE SCIENCE COMMISSION REPORT ON 

 THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE 



IN our last issue we published the substance of the 

 Eighth and final Report of the Royal Commission 

 on Science, presided over by the Duke of Devonshire, 

 which includes the measures deemed by that body neces- 

 sary for the advancement of science in England. 



We now propose to lay before our readers a summary 

 of the evidence on the above branch of the investigation 

 undertaken by the Commission. It must be borne in 

 mind that the evidence given on this topic fills a Blue 

 Book of more than 400 closely printed pages, and the 

 extracts from it with which the Commissioners fortify the 

 Report now under notice fill some forty pages. These 

 extractsj have been selected with obvious impartiality. 

 The further compression which it must undergo in order 

 to fit it for our columns must necessarily weaken the 

 force of the testimony borne by a cloud of able witnesses. 

 All we can hope to do, within our limits, is to give an 

 idea of some of the salient points established, and of the 

 general tendency of the whole. 



Adhering to the subdivision, adopted by the Commis- 

 sion, under four principal heads, we proceed to 



I. — The Scientific Work carried on by Departments of 

 the Government. 

 The following enumeration of State Scientific Institu- 

 tions now existing, together with that of the various 

 Departments responsible for them, is given on the autho- 

 rity of the Royal Commission : — 



Topographical Survey [Treasury (Office of Works)]. 

 Hydrographical Survey [Admiralty], 

 Geological Survey [Privy Council]. 

 Astronomical Observations : — 



Greenwich and the Cape of Good Hope [Admiralty]. 

 Edinburgh [Treasury (Office of Works)]. 

 Meteorological Observations : — 

 Greenwich [Admiralty]. 

 Edinburgh [Treasury (Office of Works)]. 

 The Meteorological Office. 



[The Meteorological Office is not administered by 

 any Public Department, but is directed by a Com- 

 mittee, which, although appointed by the Royal 

 Society, is independent of that body.] 

 Botany. — Royal Gardens, Kew ; Botanic Garden, Edin- 

 burgh ; Botanic Gardens, Dublin [Treasury (Office 

 of Works)]. 

 The Chemical Department of the War Office. 

 The Standards Department of the Board of Trade. 

 Analogous work is carried on in some of the colonies 

 and foreign possessions by departments of their respective 

 Governments. 



In one case, that of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 

 the work is examined into and reported on to the Ad- 

 miralty by a Board of Visitors composed of men of 

 science. 



This extraordinary list is substantially that with which 

 Col. Strange opened his evidence as the foundation on 

 which the present demands for reform must be based. It 

 establishes conclusively three most important points, (i) 

 That the State does, and therefore should, actively aid 

 scientific research. (2) That it does so partially, many 

 Vol. xii.— No. 303 



essential branches being without aid. (3) That a divided 

 administration such as this list of six or seven depart- 

 ments concerned with science indicates, cannot possibly 

 secure harmony, systematic efficiency, or the extension 

 which, as knowledge and the wants of the nation advance, 

 may be requisite. 



The Commissioners then add the following statement, 

 showing the annual charges borne by imperial funds, at 

 the present time, to defray the expenses of such of these 

 various investigations as appear separately in the Esti- " 

 mates for the year 1874-75 : — 



Topographical Survey (excluding mili- 

 tary pay of men employed) ... ... ^132,000 



Hydrographical Survey 121,055 



Geological Survey 22,920 



Astronomy 9)703 



Meteorology 12,082 



Botany, including the maintenance of 

 Botanical Gardens as places of 



public recreation 21,470 



Standards Department of the Board 

 of Trade 2,063 



In addition to these recurring charges, sums arc voted 

 from time to time for various expeditions and for experi- 

 ments incidental, to , the services of the various depart- 

 ments, such as the investigations concerning the causes 

 and processes of disease carried on under the direction 

 of the Lords of the Privy Council, and the various experi- 

 mental researches carried on for the army and navy. 



Even if no questions of completeness or extension were 

 raised, the fact of an expenditure, reaching probably about 

 half a million annually, without any pretence of a system 

 to regulate it, is one in itself deserving very serious con- 

 sideration. 



As to the insufficiency of our present administrative 

 arrangements, we have valuable evidence from several 

 Government officials and gentlemen engaged in national 

 works. 



Sir Henry Rawlinson, a member of the Indian Council, 

 states that in that Council they perpetually have refer- 

 ences before them which they are unable to deal with. 

 He adds :— 



"... We have, for instance, Sir William Baker upon 

 the Council, and General Strachey and Colonel Strange, 

 both attached to the office ; yet, notwithstanding their 

 valuable aid, there are many subjects referred to us with 

 which we are quite incompetent to deal." 



He then refers to the following subjects among others : 

 — The Manufacture of Iron and Steel in India ; the 

 Efflorescence of Soda on Irrigated Land ; the Fermenta- 

 tion of Beer, " which may involve a loss of 200,000/. or 

 300,000/. a year to the British Government ; " the ques- 

 tion of Drought arising from the Destruction of Forests ; 

 the Construction of Harbours and of other Hydraulic 

 Works ; the Founding of Brass Guns ; Tidal Observa- 

 tions ; the Publication of Works on the Flora and Fauna 

 of India ; Geological and Trigonometrical Surveys ; Sea 

 Dredging ; and Observatories. 



He points out that many of these questions are prac- 

 tical and economical, but that still there is a scientific 

 element in almost all of them, and he adds ; — 



" References on all these subjects are constantly coming 

 home, and we have no means of answering them in our 

 own body, while it is very unsatisfactory to be obliged to 

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