452 



NATURE 



[December 2, 1920 



Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Society. 



AT the anniversary meeting of the Royal Society, 

 held on Tuesday, November 30, the report of 

 the council was presented, and the president. Sir 

 Joseph Thomson, delivered his valedictory address. 

 Sir Joseph succeeded Sir William Crookes in the 

 presidential chair in 1915, and has therefore served 

 through as difficult a period as any in the history 

 of the society. What the society" and the nation owe 

 to his activity and genius c^n be understood only by | 

 those who have been associated with him on some 

 of the many committees or other bodies constituted | 

 during these troublous years to maintain national life ^ 

 and security. All the resources of British science 1 

 have been organised and rendered available for public 

 service with these ends in view ; and a record of the 

 aid thus afforded to the country by the society during 

 Sir Joseph Thomson's presidency would afford con- 

 vincing evidence of the value of science to the nation 

 and of the patriotic spirit of scientific workers. Sir . 

 Joseph is succeeded as president by Prof. C. S. I 

 Sherrington, Waynflete professor of physiology in ' 

 the University of Oxford, a short account of whose 

 notable work on the central nervous system appears 

 elsewhere in this issue. 



State Aid to Science. 



Several important matters are referred to in the 

 report of the council of the society. In March of last 

 year a memorandum on State aid to science through 

 grants to universities and to the Royal Society was 

 submitted to the Lords Commissioners of H.M. 

 Treasury. The memorandum contained the following 

 statement of the relation of purely scientific work to 

 human progress : 



"The promotion of research in pure science without 

 regard to its industrial applications is important : 



"(i) Because science is not merely the handmaid 

 of arts, but depends on study which elevates a nation, 

 and wherein the natural curiosity of the mind finds 

 exercise and satisfaction. 



" (2) Because the history of science shows that 

 manv of the discoveries which have revolutionised old 

 industries, and established new ones, have been made 

 bv those whose aim was simply to extend our know- ; 

 ledfe without any reference to practical applications. 



" The encouragement by the nation of research of 

 this kind must, in our opinion, follow different lines 

 from those which mav be adooted with advantage for 

 proiDotinS research in applied science. -Any direct 

 endowment of rpsearch, to safeguard it from abuse, 

 involves sorriethinp in the nature of a report at regular 

 intervals: wh'i'h should b" submitted to experts for 

 their approval. Research in pure science is inevit- 

 ably intermittent, and may be gravely injured if ; 

 required to show results at anv particular date. Its 

 ideas are often novel, and so far opposed to existing 

 views that thev mav not obtain the approval of men '■ 

 with lontr-established renutations, such as those to 

 whom the reports would naturally be submitted. 



" A large part of this pioneer work in science has 

 in the past been done in the universities, and this is 

 likely to be true to a still greater extent in the future. 

 We consider, therefore, that the best way of pro- 

 moting research in pure science would be to put the 

 universities in such a position that they can provide 1 

 for their teachers adequate salaries, appliances, and 

 time for research. This will involve increased grants 

 to the universities. These will be necessary even 

 if thf universities are merelv to maintain their 

 output of research at thp present level, owing to 

 the grentlv increased exoense of the upkeep of a ' 



NO. 2666, VOL. 106"! 



laboratory due to the higher wages and cost of 

 material. But in our opinion research in our 

 universities ought to be greatly extended and not 

 merely prevented from decreasing. A substantial 

 increase in the grants to universities and university 

 colleges is therefore required. 



" For these reasons we are agreed that for the 

 advancement of science the first need is to make 

 adequate provision for the promotion of science at 

 the universities." 



The purpose to which the Government grant to 

 the Royal Society is applied includes : (i) Grants for 

 providing apparatus and materials for researches 

 approved by the Government Grant Committee. 

 (2) Grants in aid of scientific expeditions, such as 

 those for observing eclipses or for the exploration of 

 the polar regions. Grants have also been made 

 separately by the Treasury to international under- 

 takings, such as those to the International Geodetic 

 Association (300?.), the Seismological .Association 

 (160Z.), and the Metric Convention (2001.-300!.), which 

 in future will be organised by an International Re- 

 search Council formed under the authority of the 

 principal academies of the countries concerned. 



In response to the council's memorandum the 

 Lords Commissioners increased the annual grant for 

 research from 4000I. to 6000I., and, although they 

 were not prepared to make a separate annua! grant 

 for scientific expeditions and stations, a non-recurrent 

 grant of ^oool. was included in the Parliamentary 

 estimate for the year. With regard to international 

 research, they proposed the provision of an annual 

 grant of 2000J., provided the society would "assume 

 resoonsibilitv for the oayment of subscriptions for all 

 classes of international research." .After correspond- 

 ence this responsibility was somewhat qualified, and 

 the provision proposed accepted. 



Rudolf Messel Bequest. 



By the terms of the will of the late Dr. Rudolf 

 Messel the Royal Society becomes entitled to four- 

 fifths of the residuary estate. It is estimated that the 

 value of the bequest will be, in the first instance, not 

 less than 70,000!., ultimately increasing to about 

 90,000!. The clause of the will governing the dis- 

 posal of the residuary estate is as follows : — " I give 

 four of such parts to the Royal Society, Burlington 

 House, and the remaining part to the Society of 

 Chemical Industry, Broadway Chambers, Westmin- 

 ster, and, without imposing any trust or obligation, 

 I think fit to set forth my desires with regard to the 

 fund given to each of these societies as follows : 

 (i) The fund should be kept separate from the other 

 funds of the society and be known under my 

 name or otherwise as the society may think fit. 

 (ii) The capital of the fund should be kept intact, 

 (iii) The society should apply the whole of the income 

 of the fund in such manner as it may think most 

 conducive to the furtherance of scientific research and 

 such other scientific objects as the council of the 

 society may determine, and should not aoply any part 

 of the income for such charitable objects as the 

 granting of pensions and the like ..." 



It must not be supoosed, however, that the society 

 is relieved of financial anxiety by this generous 

 bequest or bv the State grants refprred to above. 

 The bequest has to be kept separate from the general 

 funds, and the society acts solely as administrator of 

 the Government trants. On account of increased 

 expenses, a heavy deficit on the year's working had 

 to be faced; and the council points out that even if 



