September 4, 1919] 



NATURE 



dividual research workers. And here it would be 

 well to consider the difference between discovery 

 and invention. The former is usually the result of 

 protracted inquiry by highly skilled and highly 

 educated workers, while invention may, and does 

 often, result from the recognition of a need or 

 opportunity for improvement in a machine or 

 process by a mere workman, ignorant of science 

 in a general sense, but whom long experience in 

 some one industry has led to realise the tech- 

 nical difficulties peculiar to the work in which he 

 has been engaged. The question before the con- 

 ference was how to estimate the value of the 

 services rendered by a successful employee and 

 the right way to reward them. This is a very 

 difficult problem. Any system of bonuses would 

 be for various reasons undesirable and perhaps 

 unfair. There was agreement that the scale of 

 remuneration must be liberal, in order, for one 

 thing, that the man so employed may be free 

 from anxieties as to his own future. But it is 

 becoming clear to everyone that if industry is to 

 enjoy the advantage of engaging the best brains 

 of the nation this kind of calling must be made 

 attractive to the rising young mtn and women. 

 At present, as pointed out by the chairman, the 

 new research associations are finding that there 

 are not sufficient scientific workers to go round. 



THE BOURNEMOUTH MEETING OF THE 

 BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



THE success of the meeting of the British 

 Association, which opens in Bournemouth on 

 September 9, should be a foregone conclusion 

 if one may judge by its appeal to the imagination. 

 It may be said that a scientific history of the war 

 will be presented. Commencing with the in- 

 augural address of the president (the Hon. Sir 

 Charles A. Parsons, K.C.B.), which will deal with 

 "Engineering and the War," throughout the 

 week the invaluable war-work of men of science, 

 which played so magnificent a part in our victory, 

 will be the subject of a great variety of lectures 

 and debates. Secrets which have hitherto been 

 jealously preserved will be made public, and it 

 should be possible after the meeting to estimate as 

 never before the enormous importance of science 

 in modern military operations. 



Apart from questions of war, a large proportion 

 of the papers and discussions will be closely in 

 touch with the problems and activities of the 

 Empire to-day. Education, citizenship, and 

 economic and industrial difficulties will all be pro- 

 minent features of the programme. 



There is every reason, therefore, to believe that 

 the meeting will be of unique interest and im- 

 portance. Whether it will be an equal success 

 in point of numbers in attendance is less certain. 

 The amount of interest shown locally in the pro- 

 ceedings cannot at the time of writing be said to 

 have come up to expectations. This comparative 

 lack of enthusiasm is not, however, surprising in 

 a town of so many and diverse distractions. The 



NO. 2601, VOL. 104] 



number of applications for associateship and 

 membership is at present much smaller than 

 anticipated, but in the opinion of those competent 

 to judge the eleventh hour will bring a marked 

 improvement in this direction. 



One of the greatest problems which the local 

 executive committee has had to face has been 

 that of finding accommodation for visitors. A 

 popular seaside resort in September inevitably 

 presents extraordinary difficulties in this respect. 

 Great efforts have been made to deal with the 

 situation, and considerable public spirit has been 

 displayed by hotel-keepers and others in helping 

 the committee in its task. 



The local preparations for the meeting are well 

 in hand. The w,ork of adapting the Municipal 

 College to the needs of the Association is prac- 

 tically complete, and better accommodation has 

 probably never been provided. 



THE PROTECTION OF WILD BIRDS. 



THE Report of the Departmental Committee 

 on the Protection of Wild Birds, which has 

 just been issued, after a considerable delay due to 

 war conditions, marks an important step towards 

 the proper and efficient control of British bird-life, 

 which has been subject to the varying and 

 complicated regulations of a long series of 

 legislative enactments. The report foreshadows 

 unified and simplified lines of regulation which, if 

 adopted in law, ought to make the protection of 

 wild birds, not only more practicable, but also 

 more effective. Of the fresh suggestions made by 

 the expert Departmental Committee, to which 

 the thanks of all naturalists are due, the most far- 

 reaching is that regarding the formation of a 

 permanent Ornithological Advisory Committee, 

 which would sit in London and not only 

 advise the Central Authority on all ornithological 

 questions, but also collect information and con- 

 trol investigations bearing upon the activities 

 and status of wild birds. It is astounding to learn, 

 though it is undoubtedly on a par with the official 

 attitude towards science, that the Wild Birds 

 Protection Acts have been administered without 

 any expert ornithological assistance, except in the 

 case of Scotland. Even there the matter of advice 

 seems to have I>een, so to speak, behind the scenes, 

 for there is no evidence of public acknowledgment 

 of this highly technical information and advice. 



Of manj' suggested improvements upon the old 

 laws, mention can only be made of a few. All birds 

 are recommended for protection during the breed- 

 ing season, from May i to September i, subject to 

 the right of the owner or occupier, but even this 

 exception is abolished in the case of scheduled 

 birds, which, in Schedule A, including more than 

 fifty species, are absolutely protected during the 

 breeding season, and in Schedule B, including 

 about twenty-seven species, .?re absolutely pro- 

 tected throughout the year. The unifying of the 

 schedules for the protection of both birds and 

 eggs is a vast improvement upon the present 



