156 THE KINGDOM OF MAN 



contents in regard to the work done in the international 

 exploration of the North Sea, and a desire is expressed 

 to secure the money for expenditure by a less scientific 

 agency. I do not hesitate to say here that the results 

 obtained by the Marine Biological Association are of 

 great value and interest, and, if properly continued and 

 put to practical application, are likely to benefit very 

 greatly the fishery industry; on the other hand, if the 

 work is cut short or entrusted to incompetent hands it 

 will no doubt be the case that what has already been done 

 will lose its value that is to say, will have been wasted. 

 There is imminent danger of this perversion of the funds 

 assigned to this scientific investigation taking place. 

 There is no guarantee for the continuance of any funds 

 or offices assigned to science in one generation by the 

 officials of the next. The Mastership of the Mint held 

 by Isaac Newton, and finally by the great chemist 

 Thomas Graham, has been abolished and its salary 

 appropriated by non-scientific officials. Only a few years 

 ago it was with great difficulty that the Government of 

 the day was prevented from assigning the Directorship 

 of Kew Gardens to a young man of influence devoid of 

 all knowledge of botany ! 



One of the most solid tests of the esteem and value 

 attached to scientific progress by the community is the 

 dedication of large sums of money to scientific purposes 

 by its wealthier members. We know that in the United 

 States such gifts are not infrequent ; they are rare in this 

 country. It is, therefore, with especial pleasure that I 

 call attention to a great gift to science in this country 

 made only a few years ago. Lord Iveagh has endowed 

 the Lister Institute, for researches in connection with the 

 prevention of disease, with no less a sum than a quarter 

 of a million pounds sterling. This is the largest gift ever 



