NATURE 



469 



THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1875 



THE SCIENCE COMMISSION REPORT ON 

 THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE* 



IN our last article under the above head we commenced 

 our analysis of that part of the Commissioners' Re- 

 port which deals with the Administration of Science. In 

 our present article we shall conclude our notice of the 

 Report by stating the chief arguments and opinions of the 

 witnesses regarding the formation of a Council of Science. 

 Thus, following the evidence of Sir Wm. Thomson and 

 Dr. Frankland, to which we have before referred, we 

 find Dr. Hooker, Admiral Richards, General Strachey, 

 Dr. Roscoe, Dr. Balfour Stewart, Dr. Sclater, Mr. De la 

 Rue, Sir H. Rawlinson, and others in favour of a Council, 

 .while the Astronomer Royal, Prof. Owen, Lord Salisbury, 

 and Lord Derby are opposed to its formation. 



Admiral Richards, late Hydrographer to the Navy, is 

 of opinion that the appointment of a Minister of Science 

 and of a Council stand and fall together ; and thinks 

 "that the one would^not be of very much value without 

 the other." 



Dr. Sclater's idea of the Council is as follows : — 



" The heads of the different scientific institutions that 

 are put under the control of the department of science 

 and the minister of education might form a consultative 

 body and be called a council of science, and that there 

 might be certain other members added to assist them in 

 deliberation, if it were thought necessary, such as repre- 

 sentatives of the College of Physicians, the College of Sur- 

 geons, and of the scientific branches of the army and navy. 



" Most men of science, I think, see that something of 

 the sort is imperatively required. All lament the piece- 

 meal way in which scientific subjects are dealt with by 

 Government, in consequence of their being subdivided 

 amongst all these different offices, and of there being 

 nobody to appeal to upon a question of science, and 

 therefore I think the proposal to establish such a Council 

 would meet with universal acceptation amongst scientific 

 men." 



Dr. Hooker, the President of the Royal Society, gives 

 it as his opinion " that the general proposition, that the 

 Government should be aided by scientific persons, is an 

 excellent one, both with respect to the administration of 

 the existing Government scientific institutions and with 

 respect to the occasional grants, which the Government 

 may be called upon to make for scientific objects." Like 

 Dr. Roscoe, he thinks^that the Council should not consist 

 exclusively of scientific men. 



Mr. De la Rue considers that the usual permanent staff 

 of a secretary and assistant secretaries, as suggested 

 by Prof. Owen, even if they were men of science, 

 would not be sufficient ; [urging as a reason that science 

 is really now so extensive that one could hardly imagine 

 any secretary to be so intimately acquainted with every 

 branch of science as to be able, even with the aid of his 

 assistant secretaries, to advise, or to point out where to 

 obtain specific information on every question which 

 might be brought under consideration. Nor does he 

 think the Government Grant Committee, a body regarded 

 with favour by many witnesses, could be so modified as to 

 render a special Council unnecessary. 



Sir Henry Rawlinson regards the nomination ol a 



* Concluded from p. 433, 



Vol. XII.— No, 309 



Permanent Council of Science as the natural remedy for 

 the " spasmodic " action on the part of the Government ; 

 and another Indian officer, General Strachey, gives the 

 following important evidence : — 



" The persons who are employed in the public adminis- 

 tration are certainly as a class not amongst those who 

 have anything deserving the name of scientific education ; 

 therefore, for a long time to come, it is not to be expected 

 that the members of the Government, or their chief subor- 

 dinates, will have any such general knowledge of science 

 as would enable them at all satisfactorily to deal with the 

 scientific questions which come before them. Therefore 

 I conclude that it is absolutely essential for the Govern- 

 ment, under any circumstances, to get advice from out- 

 side ; and then comes the quescion as to how this advice 

 is to be got. ■ If there is no recognised and regularly 

 organised body whose business it is to give advice to the 

 Government on such subjects, then the only thing that a 

 minister can do is to get his information from unre- 

 cognised and irresponsible authorities, persons whose 

 opinions, perhaps, may be very valuable, but still persons 

 of whom the public never can have any cognisance ; and 

 private advice given in that way seems to me given in the 

 worst possible form. If, then, that form of advice is bad, 

 how can you obtain advice of proper intrinsic value on 

 the multifarious subjects on which it is certain to be 

 needed by an administration really striving to advance 

 science to the utmost, and how can you secure its being 

 given under a sufficient sense of responsibility, and in 

 such a way as to carry the greatest weight possible to the 

 mind of the minister who is expected to act upon it ? 

 And here I would repeat that any specific proposal to 

 give effect to such an idea must be made to fit into the 

 general form of the administration ; and I therefore 

 consider that the best course would be to adopt the pro- 

 posal that has been made by many persons, that there 

 shall be some sort' of council constituted to advise the 

 responsible Government department as to its proceedings 

 in connection with science." 



He then proceeds : — 



" I would take the opportunity of saying that it is a ques- 

 tion that is open, and which I believe has been discussed, 

 whether the Council, for instance, of the Royal Society, 

 with or without any addition, might not be made to per- 

 form satisfactorily some or all of the functions which it 

 has been suggested should devolve upon this Commis- 

 sion. But 1 think not. And the principal reason that I 

 have for thinking that such a body as the Council of the 

 Royal Society is not suitable for the purpose is, that it 

 cannot have that specific responsibility put upon it which 

 should be put upon a body such as I have spoken of, and 

 that it is got together for totally different purposes and 

 objects. The Council of the Royal Society has to manage 

 the business of the Royal Society, and is not at all selected 

 to advise the Government on matters connected with the 

 advancement of science, or the application of science in 

 the operations of the public departments." 



He further points out that the Minister would have a 

 perfect right to repudiate any scheme which the Royai 

 Society might put forward, or any advice they gave— that 

 he would be justified in doing so on the ground that he 

 was not responsible for their selection. 



Capt. Galton points out that " the institutions which 

 are maintained by the State for scientific purposes 

 are maintained upon no principle whatever with re- 

 gard to their administration. You have got the British 

 Museum under trustees, you have got South Kensing- 

 ton under the President of the Council, you have Kew 

 under the Office of Works, you have the Botanic 

 Gardens at Edinburgh, I think, under the Queen's Re- 



