12 



NATURE 



[September 2, 1920 



as part of a vast scheme planned by God. And 

 the soul of man is the glory of the whole design. 

 Because of the soul within him man, as Jesus 

 taught, is meant to be the child of God. As our 

 souls grow through the quickening power of the 

 Spirit of Christ we can on earth know and serve 

 the Father of us all and begin to enjoy that 

 Divine communion which is etern;il life. The 

 Christ Spirit within us, the "quality of deity," as 

 it has been called, separates us from the animals 

 whence we have sprung just as life separates 

 them from the matter of which they are made. 

 And through the Spirit of Christ we put on im- 

 mortality, for the things that are of God are 

 eternally with God. 



Science describes the process by which man has 



come into being. Religion takes man as he is 

 and offers him guidance towards his spiritual 

 destiny. Between the religious revelation of Jesus 

 and modern science there is no opposition. The 

 two dovetail into one another with singular exact- 

 ness. Evolution describes facts ; the ultimate 

 meaning of those facts Christ's teaching discloses. 

 We need faith to accept the Lord's message; we 

 cannot prove its truth by the methods of scientific 

 inquiry, for the spiritual world is a type of reality 

 which the organs of sense will not reveal. But 

 by living the Christian life, by prayer and com- 

 munion with God, we can continuously strengthen 

 the faith which is not sight, and become ever 

 more confident that the Lord was in very truth 

 the Light of the world. 



The British Association at Cardift. 



THE Cardiff meeting of the British Association 

 came to an end on Sunday morning, when 

 the Lord Mayor of Cardiff (Councillor G. F. Fors- 

 dike) and the Corporation, with the general 

 officers of the Association and some of the 

 members, attended the service at St. John's 

 Church. The Association sermon was preached 

 by Canon E. W. Barnes, F.R.S., and we are 

 glad to be able to reproduce it this week. The 

 scientific work of the Association concluded on 

 Friday evening, August 27, when Sir Daniel 

 Hall delivered a stimulating discourse under 

 the title of "A Grain of Wheat from the 

 Field to the Table." A comprehensive vote of 

 thanks to the Lord Mayor, Corporation, and 

 citizens of Cardiff was carried with acclamation, 

 and was responded to by the Lord Mayor and by 

 Dr. W. Evans Hoyle, whose valuable work as 

 local secretary was much appreciated by all. 



There were 1378 members present during the 

 week, but the meeting, though relatively small, 

 has been particularly interesting from the scien- 

 tific point of view. Among the new features was 

 a conference on " Science applied to Public Ser- 

 vices," held on August 26, when Mr. F. E. Smith, 

 director of scientific research at the Admiralty, 

 described the admirable scheme of research which 

 has recently been introduced (see Nature, April 

 22, p. 245). Prof. C. F. Jenkin, Mr. J. Barcroft, 

 Sir Francis Ogilvie, and Dr. J. W. Evans re- 

 ferred to similar research work in other Govern- 

 ment Departments. It was felt that a similar con- 

 ference, with perhaps some tlescription of results 

 obtained, so far as they can be made public, and 

 opportunity for free and adequate discussion, 

 could usefully be held at each meeting. 



As we stated last week, a message was sent 

 from the inaugural meeting to the King in Scot- 

 land, where the Association is to meet next year. 

 The message was as follows : — "The members of 

 the British Association for the Advancement of 

 Science desire to express their loyal devotion to 

 your Majesty, and at their meeting in the Princi- 



NO. 2653, VOL. 106] 



pality of Wales hope that they may be permitted 

 to congratulate your Majesty on the splendid 

 work done by the Prince of Wales, which has 

 drawn towards him the thoughts and the hearts of 

 the whole Empire." 



The King, in thanking the Association through 

 Sir Charles Parsons, the retiring president, for 

 this loyal greeting, added : — " I feel greatly 

 touched at the kind references to mv son, which 

 are the more appreciated coming as these do from 

 members of this distinguished society assembled 

 in the Principality of Wales. I shall follow your 

 deliberations with close interest, and I gratefully 

 recognise all that is being done for the advance- 

 ment of civilisation by the men of science." 



There is probably no more remarkable example 

 of the scientific spirit which animates the British 

 Association than that displayed in the allocation 

 of its annual grants for research purposes. Each 

 section of the Association nominates research com- 

 mittees, and most of them apply for small grants 

 to carry out the work and defray the clerical and 

 other incidental expenses involved. .A total of 

 about loooZ. a year is voted by the Committee of 

 Recommendations to these committees and ap- 

 proved by the General Committee, and every 

 pound of this comes out of the subscriptions of 

 the members. This year the amount voted in 

 grants for research was about wool., part of 

 which will be required for expenses of publication. 

 It is hoped some external support will be forth- 

 coming for this branch of the .4ssociation's work, 

 and that Government Departments interested in 

 particular subjects will assist in the publica- 

 tion of some of the reports prepared by research 

 committees. 



Among the corresponding members and other 

 foreign representatives present at the meeting 

 were : — M. Brieux (Directeur de la Station .Agro- 

 nomique de Rouen, France) ; M. Bruno (Insp. G^n. 

 des Stations Agronomiques, Paris) ; Prof. C. J. 

 Chamberlain (Chicago) ; Prof. R. Chodat 

 (Geneva) ; Dr. S. I. Franz (George Washington 



