July i, 1920] 



NATURE 



565 



investigation it would appear tiiat chieftainship, kin- 

 ship, and social organisation in general are intimately 

 bound up with the economic organisation. 



In the discussion which followed the reading of the 

 paper all the speakers emphasised the value and 

 originality of the view of primitive culture which Dr. 

 Malinowski had formulated in his interesting com- 

 munication. Prof. Seligman asked how far the 

 elaborate organisation of garden cultivation depended 

 upon the existence of the chieftainship. Among the 

 Southern Massim of New Guinea, for instance, there 

 were no chiefs, and the native social organisation was 

 based upon the hamlet. Had the elaborate garden 

 organisation been observed among such peoples? 



Sir James Frazer agreed that the economic aspect 

 of primitive culture had not been adequately studied. 

 It was interesting to note how the tribal economics 

 were saturated with magic, and how the fallacy of 

 magic still persisted among people who had developed 

 a high system of agriculture. The mention of torches 

 used by the magician in the ceremonies led him to 

 compare the torches to which reference was made in 

 the Greek legends of Demeter's search for Persephone. 

 Was it possible that these torches represented a sur- 

 vival of a use of torches in earlv Greek agricultural 

 ceremonies similar to that to which they were put in 

 the Trobriands? 



Mrs. Routledge suggested that an analogous com- 

 plexity of economic organisation might be found 

 among the people of East Africa with whom Mr. 

 Routledge and herself had come into contact, where 

 ivorv plaved an important part. 



Mr. Ray said that Dr. Malinowski had submitted a 

 new view of ethnological investigation to the institute. 

 Some ftf the ceremonies described bv him suggested 

 ceremonies from the other end of Melanesia, namelv, 

 Lovaltv Island and New Caledonia, where the agricul- 

 tural operations were directed bv the chief, who nre- 

 scribed what ground should be put under cultivation, 

 the kind of crop, and the like, and received the first 

 and best of the produce. Was it possible that these 

 comnlex economic svstems existed wherever there were 

 chiefs whose nosition, power, and prerogatives de- 

 pended upon the fact that they were of extraneous 

 origin ? 



The lecturer in his replv stated that althoue^h garden 

 ma?ic wa<! carried out by the Southern Massim at 

 Dobu. cultivation was not accompanied bv such a 

 comolex orftanisatiori for distribution. 



The Organisation of Scientific Work in 

 India. 



rp HE Indian Industrial Commission during- its tour 

 ■'■ through India found that all was not well with 

 the scientific worker, especially in connection with the 

 application of his work to industrial development. 

 While stating specifically in its report that " we do not 

 propose to deal with the general problems of pure 

 scientific research," it adds: "We were impressed 

 by the value of the work which had already been done 

 in the organised laboratories, and by the absolutely 

 unanimous opinion which was expressed by all 

 scientific officers as to the inadequacy of the staffs' an 

 point of numbers. Everywhere we were brought face 

 to face with unsolved problems, requiring scientific 

 investigation on an extended scale. On the one side, 

 we saw the results accomplished by enthusiastic 

 scientists, which, regarded from the purely economic 

 aspect of the question, have added enormouslv to the 

 productive capacity of India; on the other side, we 

 were told by forest officers, agriculturists and indigo 

 planters, enr*ineers, and manufacturers, of the limita- 

 NO. 2644, VOL. 105] 



tions placed upon the development of their work and 

 the frequency with which they were brought to a 

 standstill by a lack of knowledge regarding matters 

 which could only be ascertained by systematic research 

 work." It is clear from these and other passages that 

 the Industrial Commission desired to direct attention 

 to the necessity for the elaboration of some scheme by 

 which an organised attack might be made on the 

 large number of problems awaiting solution in con- 

 nection with the development of industry, and the 

 conclusion reached is that "the maintenance of a staff 

 of suitable technologists and scientific experts is essen- 

 tial to industrial development." 



The Commission then gives its reasons for consider- 

 ing that it is the duty of the State to provide the 

 necessary facilities, and concludes: "We have thus 

 no hesitation in recommending- a verv substantial 

 increase in the scientific and technical services as 

 essential to industrial development." A general dis- 

 cussion follows as to the relative merits of a system 

 in which the science is the bond, and one in which 

 the bond is formed by the application of the sciences 

 dealt with. In the first case the Geological Sur\'ey is 

 given as an example, and the Agricultural and Forest 

 Departrnents are quoted as examples of the second. 

 But it is clear that the Commission was fullv alive 

 to the diflference between a service and a deoartment, 

 and realised that the differentiation given above was 

 the same as that between a service and a department, 

 because it savs : "The constitution of a certain 

 number of scientific services based on the assumption 

 that the science itself is a chief link between all 

 members does not prevent the formation of depart- 

 ments, either Imperial or provincial, where the applica- 

 tion of various sciences is the chief bond of union." 

 The essential difference between the two types of 

 organisation is clearlv indicated Ln subjoined extracts 

 from a despatch of the Government of India. 



The Commission states that its proposals in the 

 case of chemistry will have to be' submitted to a 

 special committee, and that it " hesitates to offer sug- 

 gestions in greater detail regarding the organisation 

 of the Imperial scientific services for bacteriologv, 

 botanv. and zoology, as we consider that the best plan 

 will be the appointment of special small committees 

 for the purpose of formulating proposals." The first 

 of these, that for chemistrv, has now reported, nnd 

 the report is open for discussion. As regards other 

 sciences, it would be best to await the reports of the 

 other committees before offering anv remarks upon 

 them. 



The following extracts from the Government of 

 India's dispatch dated June 4. 1910. place in a very 

 clear light the intentions which underlie the recom- 

 mendations of the Commission : — 



The Scientific Services. 

 One of the main proposals refers to the constitution 

 of scientific services and of an industrial service. The 

 Commission direct attention to the extreme import- 

 ance of research under modern industrial conditions, 

 and to the especial needs of India, in view of her vast 

 unexploited resources in raw material and of the 

 paucity of her scientific workers. They criticise the 

 complete lack of organisation among men of science 

 employed by the Government, and describe the diffi- 

 culties, both administrative and technical, to which 

 this gives rise. The Commission recommend as a 

 remedy the creation of a similar mechanism to that 

 through which the Central and Local Governments 

 have hitherto carried out almost all their most im- 

 portant activities, especially those requiring technical 

 knowledge, viz. all-India services ; and they discuss 

 the basis on which these services should be con- 



