September 9, 19 15] 



NATURE 



35 



by differing methods to different ideals. Yet as we 

 eliminate the superficial, and regard only the deep- 

 seated emotions which control our thoughts and 

 actions, the differences vanish, and the unity of pur- 

 pose and sentiment emerges more and more strongly. 

 Mind and character, no doubt, group themselves into 

 a number of types, but the cleavage runs across, and 

 not along, the separating line of professions. 



Were it otherwise, the British Association could not 

 perform one of its most important functions — a func- 

 tion not, indeed, originally contemplated, but resulting 

 indirectly from the wise and democratic provisions in 

 its constitution, which enabled it to adapt itself to the 

 changing needs of the time. Our founders primarily 

 considered the interests of scientific men ; their out- 

 look was restricted and exclusive, both as regards 

 range of subject and membership. In the words of 

 Sir David Brewster, who gave the first impulse to its 

 formation, it was to be "an association of our nobility, 

 clergy, gentry, and philosophers." 



The meetings were intended to promote personal 

 Intercourse, to organise research, to advocate reform 

 of the laws hindering research, and to improve the 

 status of scientific men. The right of membership was 

 confined to those who already belonged to some learned 

 society, and William Whewell, one of the principal 

 supporters of the movement, even suggested that only 

 authors of memoirs published by a learned society 

 should be admitted.^ He emphasised this proposal by 

 the recommendation * " in some way to avoid the 

 crowd of lay members whose names stand on the List 

 of the Royal Society." The reform of the Patent 

 Laws and the introduction of an International Copy- 

 right were suggested as subjects suitable for dis- 

 cussion, not apparently from the point of view of 

 general advantage, but merely in the interests of one 

 section of the community. 



Whatever the objects of the founders of the asso- 

 ciation may have been, it is obvious that questions of 

 public importance could not be permanently excluded 

 from meetings the success of which depended on the 

 interest stimulated in the community. The Statistical 

 Section, which owed its orierin to the visit, at the first 

 Oxford meeting (1836), of Quetelet, the Belgian astro- 

 nomer and economist, was the first to assert Itself bv 

 engaging In a discussion of the Poor Laws. Whewell 

 deeply resented this violation of academic neutrality : 

 "It was impossible," he wrote, "to listen to the Pro- 

 ceedings of the Statistical Section on Friday without 

 perceiving that they Involved exactly what It was most 

 necessary and most desired to exclude from our Pro- 

 ceedings," * and again: "Who would propose (I put 

 It to Chalmers, and he allowed the proposal to be 

 intolerable) an ambulatory body, composed partly of 

 men of reputation and partly of a miscellaneous crowd, 

 to go round year by year from town to town and at 

 each place to discuss the most Inflammatory and 



Iitating questions of the day?"* 

 Fortunately for our association, this narrow-minded 

 titude did not prevail, and our records show that 

 lile not avoiding controversial and even inflamma- 

 ry subjects, we have been able to exercise a power- 

 \ influence on the progress of science. The estab- 

 ^ment of electric units, universally accepted through- 

 it the world, originated in the work of one of our 

 mmittees; the efforts which led to the foundation 

 of the National Physical Laboratory, one of the most 

 efficient and beneficial organisations in the country, 



3 Others were allowd to ioin on recommendatinn by th« General Com- 

 mittee. It was only in 1406 that this restriction, which had become obsolete, 

 was removed. 



2 " Whewell's Writings and Letters," vol. ii., p. 128. 



3 Loc. cit., p. 28q. 

 * It is much to, be desired that'the docu-nentsrelatine to t>ie early history 



of the British Association shtmid he puWished'in a collected form. 



NO. 2393, VOL. 96] 



received its first impulses from us; and the organisa- 

 tion of the first world service for the systematic inves- 

 tigation of earth tremors was established by the late 

 Dr. Milne, working through one of our committees. 



The success of these enterprises alone is sufficient 

 to show that we are not merely a body promoting 

 social Intercourse between men of science and the rest 

 of the community. Nevertheless, it may be admitted 

 that our efforts have been spasmodic, and the time 

 has arrived to consider whether it may be 

 possible to secure not only a greater continuity in 

 our work but also its better co-ordination with that 

 of other scientific organisations. The present juncture 

 affords the opportunity, and the changed conditions, 

 which in the near future will affect all our institutions, 

 render it indeed incumbent upon us once more to 

 adapt ourselves to the needs of the times. Proposals 

 for a move in that direction have already been made, 

 and will no doubt be carefully considered by the 

 council. In the meantime, I may direct your attention 

 to the important discussions arranged for by our 

 Economic Section, which alone will justify the deci- 

 sion of the council not to suspend the meeting this year. 



It must not be supposed that, even in the early days 

 of the association, Whewell's Ideas of its functions 

 were universally accepted. It is pleasant to contrast 

 the lamentations of the omniscient professor of minera- 

 logy with the weightier opinion of the distinguished 

 mathematician who then held Newton's chair at Cam- 

 bridge. At the concluding session of the second meet- 

 ing of the association, Babbage expressed the hope 

 "that in the selection of the places at which the 

 annual meetings were to be held, attention should be 

 paid to the object of bringing theoretical science In 

 contact with the practical knowledge on which the 

 wealth of the country depends." " I was myself," 

 he said, "particularly anxious for this, owing as I 

 do a debt of gratitude for the valuable information 

 which I have received In many of the manufacturing 

 districts, where I have learned to appreciate still more 

 highly than before the value of those speculative pur- 

 suits which we follow in our academical labours. I 

 was one of those who thought at first that we ought 

 to adjourn for our next meeting to some larger manu- 

 facturing town ; but I am now satisfied that the 

 arrangement which has been made will be best adapted 

 to the present state of the association. When, how- 

 ever, it shall be completely consolidated I trust we 

 may be enabled to cultivate with the commercial in- 

 terests of the country that close acquaintance which I 

 am confident will be highly advantgeous to our more 

 abstract pursuits." 



Since then, as we all know, our most successful 

 meetings have been held in manufacturing centres ; 

 but it should be observed that, while Babbage laid 

 stress on the benefit which would accrue to pure 

 science by being brought into contact with practical 

 life, scientific men of the present day have more and 

 more insisted on the services they, on their part, are 

 able to render to the industries. The Idealistic motive 

 has thus given way to the materialistic purpose. Both 

 aspects are perhaps equally important, but it is neces- 

 sary to insist, at the present time, that the utilitarian 

 drum can be beaten too loudly. There is more than 

 one point of contact between different activities of the 

 human mind, such as find expression in scientific pur- 

 suits or commercial enterprises, and it is wrong to base 

 the advantages to be derived from their mutual influ- 

 ence solely, or even mainly, on the ground of material 

 benefits. 



I need not press this point in a city which has given 

 many proofs that a business community may be 

 prompted by higher motives than those which affect 

 their pockets. It was not for utilitarian objects that 



