May io, 1900] 



NA TURE 



33 



disturbed by the statement of the principle that the pro- 

 vision made for scientific and technical study and re- 

 search should be as great as that given by any two other 

 nations, the comparison will serve a useful purpose in 

 directing attention to a view of the claims of science 

 worthy of consideration. 



It is a very great honour for a student of science to be called 

 upon in such an august assembly as this to say a few words ; but 

 if I am to be accepted as the representative of science I do not 

 wish to be fettered by your suggestion, Sir, that I should refer to 

 the dependence of art on science. I am sure that I may frankly 

 say for every man of science that we acknowledge freely the firm 

 brotherhood between art and science — a brotherhood founded 

 upon a common object, the study of Nature, "the mistress of 

 all the masters," and carried on by a common method, the 

 proper co-ordination of brain, hand and eye. In every case 

 with which a man of science or a man of art has to deal, imagina- 

 tion is required, and so science and art meet upon terms of 

 mutual helpfulness. I think I may also say that this feeling is 



horoughly reciprocated by men of art, for many of them honour 

 me with their friendship, and therefore I know their sentiments. 

 I am the more anxious to say this because some twenty years 

 ago, when I was privileged to attend this anniversary dinner, I 

 heard a distinguished representative of literature express a totally 

 different sentiment. He told us that "before their sister, 

 Science, now so full of promise and pride, was born, there were 

 Art and Literature like twins together," and it was suggested 



hat the sooner art and literature formed an alliance ofi'ensive 

 and defensive against the interloper, the better it would be for 

 them. I do not believe in this. For me science is as old as art. 

 They have both advanced together. Let us take the position 

 of things 6000 years ago, to begin at the beginning of things, if 

 we can. Then the priest-mummifiers of Memphis had to be 

 profound anatomists. If you go to the Gizeh Museum you find 

 magnificent specimens in those statues of Chepren in diorite, 

 other statues in wood, and the plaques, veritable Memlings in 

 stone, which clearly show that this knowledge was also possessed 

 by their sculptors. If you come down to a comparatively modern 

 period, something like 600 B.C., and compare those wonderful 

 metopes of Solinunto with the marbles of the Parthenon, which 

 are of a later date, you will find an enormous advance in the 

 latter. You will find that Hippocrates had lived in the interval, 

 and, indeed, that he and Phidias were contemporaries and fellow- 

 townsmen. Carrying the matter down to the introduction of 

 Universities into Northern Italy in the thirteenth century, we find 

 that the difference between the art of Cimabue and Giotto de- 

 pends on the fact that anatomy had been introduced in the 

 meantime. Science, then, is no new interloper, seeking to de- 

 tract from the importance of art and literature. What was new 

 twenty years ago was that the work of the late Prince Consort, 

 whose name will always be revered by those who know the 

 benefits he conferred on ourcountry, was then beginning to tell. 

 He showed us that in order to secure industrial progress we must 

 have, above all things, instruction and practice in science and 

 art. In war, being well assured of the valour and endurance of 



ur sailors and soldiers, the chief thing we have to do is to see 



hat they are properly supplied with the engines and munitions 

 if war, and, more than these, the scientific spirit. In peace, 

 for the beauty of a nation's life and a perfect record of it, we 

 must look chiefly to the sweetening and ennobling influences of 

 art and the enduring works of its masters ; but for a nation's 

 continued welfare and progress both science and art are neces- 

 sary. We are in face of industrial struggles, and we must utilise 

 both science and art to supply the wants of our own and other 

 countries, and to provide commodities made in England, besides 

 handling 



^ " Things of beauty, things of use, 

 That one fair planet can produce, 

 Brought from under every star." 



We are in face of a struggle for existence in which we know full 

 well that only the fittest will survive. How are we going to 

 carry on the struggle? What are our weapons? Our first line 

 of defence in this direction can only consist of our Universities 

 and our teaching centres. Have we enough of them ? We 

 know already that we have not enough of them, because we have 

 already lost several important engagements in these industrial 

 battles. Are there no means by which we can judge of their 

 sufficiency ? In relation to non-peaceful international struggles 

 in which also defeat has to be guarded against, a clear and 



NO I 593 VOL. 62] 



universally approved policy has been enunciated ; this is, that 

 the future of our empire, an empire the real unity and strength 

 of which are developing under our eyes at this moment, can be 

 secured if we see to it that our first line of defence, our fleet, 

 shall be equal in strength to the fleets of two other possibly 

 contending powers. The second answer then, I think, is that 

 this principle should be applied to our first line of defence in 

 those industrial conflicts the results of which are much more 

 enduring. Do our teaching and research centres at present 

 outnumber in the same proportion, as do our ships, those of 

 any two nations which are actually contending with us in 

 peaceful enterprise ? And, also, are they equally efficient in 

 every respect ? I believe, and I know that this view is held by 

 many representative men of science, that until our Universities, 

 our science schools, our art schools, and our technical institu- 

 tions bear the same relation both in number and efficiency to 

 those of other nations as do our battleships, cruisers, and small 

 craft, we shall not be justified in regarding the future of the 

 empire with that freedom from care which is the attribute of a 

 strong man armed. 



NOTES. 



Prof. E. Suess, professor of geology in the University of 

 Vienna, has been elected a Foreign Associate of the Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, in succession to the late Sir Edward 

 Frankland. Sir John Burdon-Sanderson, Bart. , has been elected 

 a Correspondant of the Academy, in succession to the late Sir 

 James Paget. 



Dr. S. L. Tornquist, of Lund (Sweden), has been elected a 

 Foreign Member of the Geological Society, and Prof F. Sacco, 

 of Turin, has been elected a Foreign Correspondent. 



We much regret to see the announcement of the death of 

 Lieut. -General Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S., the distinguished anthro- 

 pologist, on Friday last. 



The annual conversazione of the Society of Arts will be 

 held at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, on 

 Wednesday evening, June 20. 



The adjourned debate on the Sea Fisheries Bill was resumed 

 in the House of Commons on Monday. After a long discussion, 

 a division was taken, and a majority was obtained in favour of 

 the second reading. The Bill was then referred to a Select 

 Committee. 



It is reported that Vesuvius has shown signs of increased 

 activity during the past few days. Explosions have taken place 

 in the crater of the volcano, and masses of rock and lava have 

 been ejected. The huts of the guides and the topmost station 

 of the funicular railway are threatened. Reuter reported that four 

 Englishmen who ascended Vesuvius on Tuesday went beyond 

 the limit indicated as dangerous by the guides and gendarmes, 

 and were seriously injured by a mass of ejected material striking 

 them. This however has since been denied by Reuter's Naples 

 Correspondent. 



The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has decided to 

 award the Barnard medal to Prof. Rontgen for his discovery 

 of the X-rays. This medal is awarded at the close of every 

 quinquennial period for a discovery in physical or astronomical 

 science, or novel application of science to purposes beneficial to 

 the human race. The first presentation of the medal was to 

 Lord Rayleigh and Prof. Ramsay for their joint discovery of 

 argon. 



Reuter's Agency learns that Dr. Louis Sambon and Dr. 

 G. C. Low, who has been awarded the Craggs research scholar- 

 ship of 300/. per annum, are about to experiment with a view to 

 proving that malaria is spread by mosquito bites, and expect to 

 begin work seriously on June i, by which time they will have all 

 their arrangements completed. A suitable spot has been chosen 



