March 13, 1919] 



NATURE 



35 



. Jucational work. It is chiefly to the first three 

 branches that the memorandum relates. 



Only persons possessing recognised qualifications 

 -hould be eligible for appomtment as chemists in the 

 (lovcrnment chemical service. Such appointments 

 should be rendered attractive to those who have 

 ! cached 4he required standard of efficiency, and there 

 -hould be no confusion between these chemists and 

 :heir unqualified assistants. 



The council regards it as a first principle that steps 

 should be taken to remove the confusion (existing in 

 this, but in no other country) which arises from the 

 use of the title "chemist" by those who practise 

 pharmacy. 



It is suggested that the appointment of chemists 

 should be based on a system of selection by properly 

 constituted authority, and not by examination or 

 nomination. Further, the persons appointed as 

 chemists should be graded as Civil Servants in the 

 higher division, preferably as members of a profes- 

 sional division, with status, emoluments, and pension 

 comparable with those oi the members of other 

 technical and learned professions employed by the 

 Government. 



A further suggestion is that, subject to satisfactory 

 service being given, the system should provide for 

 certainty of promotion, independently of the occurrence 

 of vacancies, up to a definite rank, not necessarily 

 the highest, but one securing an adequate salary to a 

 married man. This is regarded as essential if men 

 of the best type are to be obtained. A chemist should 

 be constantly increasing in efficiency, and this should 

 be recognised by the provision mentioned. 



Suitable titles for the service, it is considered, would 

 be Chief Chemist (with a special departmental title in 

 certain cases), followed by Deputy Chief Chemist, 

 Superintending Chemist, and Assistant Chemists 

 (Principal, Senior, and Junior). The rank held by 

 the head chemist would be determined by the size of 

 the establishment and the nature of the work carried 

 out. The secondary staff, to whom the title of chemist 

 would not apply, should be classified into Chemical 

 Assistants, Laboratory Assistants, and Laboratory 

 Attendants. The first of these three classes would 

 include men of good education, but without full pro- 

 fessional qualification ; on obtaining this they would 

 be eligible for appointment as chemists. 



The council of the institute believes that direct ad- 

 vantage would accrue to the State from such an 

 organisation, and that the status of the profession of 

 chemistry would be raised. This would, incidentally, 

 contribute to the advancement of chemical science. 



ROGER BACON (1214-^4). 



T N a paper entitled " Notes on the Early History of 

 ^ the Mariner's Compass" in the Geographical 

 Journal for November, 19 18, Mr. M. Esposito ably 

 shows the difficulty of stopping a fable when it has 

 once gone forth, and, incidentally, reveals the small 

 amount of knowledge possessed even by eminent men 

 of science of the actual facts of the life of the first 

 modern man of science. Mr. Esposito clearly demon- 

 strates to the scientific public what was already known 

 to Baconian scholars : that Roger Bacon, great as 

 are his titles to remembrance, was neither the inventor 

 nor introducer of the mariner's compass. 



At a time when the claims of Englishmen to a 

 leading place in the history of science are being 

 pressed with so much vigour, it is disheartening to 

 find that the great founder of modern scientific 

 thought, though himself an Englishman, is usually 

 forgotten or his work misunderstood. Oxford, his 

 alma mater, with her thoughts and gaze turned to 

 NO. 2576, VOL. 103] 



the remoter past, has scarcely glanced at Bacon, and, 

 save for the faithful labours of Prof. Little, Dr. 

 Withington, and the late J. II. Bridges, has onlv 

 thought fit to regard one of the greatest of her sons as 

 a buffoon for her pageant. Italy has her national 

 edition of Galileo; France has produced, at the 

 expense of her Government, two monumental editions 

 of the works of her national philosopher, Descartes; 

 and even little Denmark has found a private patron 

 to provide the magnificent definitive edition of Tycho 

 Brah6. Yet the writings of Bacon remain neglected, 

 many of them unprinted, most of them in old or 

 inaccurate editions. Even more astonishing is the fact 

 that not a single important work of Bacon has 

 appeared in English. Were it not for the public spirit 

 of Mr. R. R. Steele, who for years has been labouring 

 at the text, and whose fascicules have been issued 

 from the Clarendon Press, Bacon, the herald of the 

 new dawn, would have been almost forgotten in his 

 own university. 



The ideas in circulation as to the achievements of 

 Roger Bacon are usually so vague that it may be con- 

 venient to place on record, in categorical form, his 

 claims as a scientific pioneer : — 



(i) He attempted to set forth a system of natural 

 knowledge far in advance of his time. The basis of 

 that system was observation and experiment. He was 

 clearly the first man in modern Europe of whom this 

 can be said. 



(2) He was the first man in modern Europe to see 

 the need for the accurate study of foreign and ancient 

 languages. He attempted grammars of Greek and 

 Hebrew along definite scientific lines. He also pro- 

 jected a grammar of Arabic. Moreover, he laid down 

 those lines of textual criticism which have only been 

 developed within the last century. 



(3) He not only expatiated on the experimental 

 method, but was himself an experimenter. The 

 criteria of priority were not then what they are now, 

 but his writings are important in the development of 

 the following sciences : — 



(a) Optics. — His work on this subject was a text- 

 book for the next two centuries. He saw the import- 

 ance of lenses and concave mirrors, and showed a 

 remarkable grasp of mathematical optics. He described 

 a system which is equivalent to a two-lens apparatus, 

 and there is trustworthy evidence that he actually used 

 a compound system of lenses equivalent to a telescope. 



(b) Astronomy was Bacon's perpetual interest. He 

 spent the best part of twenty years in the construction 

 of astronomical tables. His letter to the Pope in 

 favour of the correction of the calendar, though un- 

 successful in his own days, was borrowed and re- 

 borrowed, and finally, at third-hand, produced the 

 Gregorian correction. 



(c) Geography. — He was the first geographer of the 

 Middle .Ages. He gave a systematic description, not 

 onlv of Europe, but also of Asia and part of .Africa, 

 and collected first-hand evidence from travellers in all 

 these continents. His arguments as to the size and 

 sphericity of the earth were among those that induced 

 Columbus to set out on his voyage of discovery. 



(d) Mechanical Science. — Suggestions described by 

 him include the automatic propulsion of vehicles and 

 vessels. He records also the working out of a plan 

 for a flying-machine. 



(c) Chemistry. — The chemical knowledge of his time 

 was systematised in his tracts. His description of the 

 composition and manufacture of gunpowder is the 

 earliest that has come down to us. It is clear that 

 he had worked out for himself some of the chemistry 

 of the subject. 



(f) Mathematics. — His insistence on the supreme 

 value of mathematics as a foundation for education 



