Novembers, 1919] 



NATURE 



195 



tion of the elements analogous to that of radio- 

 active bodies. On this view the heavier elements 

 are split up into lighter and even into new and 

 simpler elements which he has called "proto- 

 elements." The evolution of the stars is accom- 

 panied by a simultaneous evolution of the simple 

 elements of Nature. 



The great chemist, Ramsay, who was a pioneer 

 in many directions, gave the greatest attention 

 to these new ideas and to the numerous observa- 

 tions which appeared to support them. The 

 classification of the stars in accordance with the 

 foregoing tests has been fully confirmed by optical 

 measurements of their absolute temperatures. 



To sum up, in his latest researches, as well as 

 in the first, Sir Norman Lockyer has exhibited 



an aptitude for experiment, a creative faculty, a 

 penetration, and a breadth of view which are truly 

 remarkable ; and the results obtained on the sole 

 basis of experiment are of the first importance. 

 He is one of the great men of science of England 

 and one of the greatest astronomers of all time. 

 I''inally, let us hope that, bearing the weight of 

 years in comfort, he may continue his services to 

 science and his association with this journal, and 

 witness for himself the increasing success of his 

 ideas and his methods. 



H. Deslandres. 

 (Vice-President of the Academy of 

 Sciences of Paris, Director of the 

 Astrophysical Observatory of Meiidon.) 



RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT. 



By Sir Archib.^ld Geikie, O.M., K.C.B., F.R.S. 



FIFTY years have passed since the publica- 

 tion of the first number of Nature on 

 November 4, 1869. To start successfully a weekly 

 journal entirely devoted to chronicling the onward 

 march of science was an experiment that could 

 not but involve some financial risk, and certainly 

 required no small editorial ability. To maintain 

 such a journal for half a century on a high level 

 of excellence, and to gain for it a place admittedly 

 of importance in the periodical literature of our 

 time, is a feat of which Editor and publishers 

 have good reason to be proud. The weekly con- 

 tributions of this journal to current scientific 

 literature now amount altogether to more than 

 a hundred volumes, which contain a contemporary 

 record of the progress made by every department 

 of natural knowledge, often contributed by the 

 men to whom the progress was due. It may be 

 appropriate, as we take note of this achievement, 

 to cast an eye back upon the condition of science 

 among us fifty years ago, to survey our present 

 position, and to look forward into the vista that 

 is opening out for the future. 



In taking such a retrospect one of the most 

 conspicuous and satisfactory features to attract 

 attention is the remarkable increase and steady 

 growth of fresh centres of higher education all 

 over Britain, where not only is the time-honoured 

 literary side cherished, but ample room and full 

 equipment are found for the theoretical and prac- 

 tical teaching of science. These centres, begin- 

 ning perhaps as modest colleges, have attracted a 

 constantly increasing number of students, and 

 each of them has become a nursery in which the 

 men of science of the future are being bred. A 

 convincing proof of their vitality is furnished by 

 their successful claim for recognition as universi- 

 ties. They have already added half a dozen new 

 universities to our educational strength, and this 

 year one of the youngest yet most important of 

 NO. 2610, VOL. 104] 



them, the Imperial College of Science and Tech- 

 nology, is now in turn demanding the status and 

 powers of a university. There has never been a 

 time in our history when the opportunities for 

 obtaining a thorough scientific training have been 

 thrown open so widely and attractively, and when 

 advantage has been taken of them in so large a 

 measure. 



That one of the great duties of a nation is to 

 promote the cultivation of science by appropri- 

 ating funds not only in aid of education in theory 

 and practice, but also in support of research and 

 experiment, never began to be realised until within 

 living memory. British science has attained its 

 greatness without State aid. There are, indeed, 

 a few directions in which public money has been 

 disbursed for scientific objects, such, for instance, 

 as Greenwich Observatory, the British Museum, 

 and the various geographical expeditions and geo- 

 logical surveys. But not until the middle of last 

 century did it dawn upon the attention of the 

 Ministry of the day, awakened possibly by the 

 portents of the coming Great Exhibition of 1851, 

 that men of science are not as a rule wealthy, 

 that they must often be involved in considerable 

 expense in carrying on their researches, that they 

 cannot always look to the universities, colleges, 

 or learned societies for financial support, and 

 therefore that it might be of public advantage to 

 come to their help from the public purse. Accord- 

 ingly, in November, 1849, Lord John Russell, 

 then Prime Minister, sent a confidential communi- 

 cation on the subject to the president of the Royal 

 Society (Earl of Rosse), who remitted to a com- 

 mittee to report how a financial grant, if made 

 by Government, could best be employed. 



After deliberate Governmental consideration for 

 the space of nearly a year it was decided at the 

 beginning of 1851 to make an annual grant of one 

 thousand pounds to be administered by the Royal 



