174 



NATURE 



[June 23, 1892 



some structure, affording a pleasant contrast to those in 

 its immediate vicinity. 



The objects and purposes which this institution should 

 fulfil have been fully ventilated and discussed in these 

 columns ever since the idea of such a national memorial, 

 commemorative of the fiftieth year of the reign of Her 

 Majesty, was suggested. This being so, it will be 

 interesting to many of our readers if we make one or 

 two comparisons of the scheme as it exists at present 

 with the past suggestions. In an article on " Science 

 and the Jubilee" in 1887 (Nature, vol. xxxv. p. 217), 

 we wrote : — 



" . . . . There is room for an Imperial Institute 

 which might without difficulty be made one of the 

 glories of the land, and which would do more for the 

 federation of England and her colonies than almost any 

 other machinery that it is possible to imagine. But it 

 must be almost exclusively a scientific institution. Its 

 watchwords should be ' Knowledge and Welcome.' 

 England, through such an institution, should help her 

 colonies in the arts of peace, as she does at present 

 exclusively in the arts of war. In an Imperial Institute 

 we can imagine the topography, the geology, the botany, 

 and the various applications of science, and the industries 

 of Greater Britain going hand in hand." 



Again, referring to the proposed inclusion of an 

 Emigration Office in the scheme, it was remarked : — 



"With this we cordially agree. But the return current 

 must be provided for. Those who have lived in Eng- 

 land's colonies and dependencies know best the intense 

 home feeling, and in many cases the stern necessity there 

 is of close contact with the mother country. Let the 

 Imperial Institute be England's official home of her re- 

 turning children^the hall in which she officially welcomes 

 them back. Let them here find all they need, and let in- 

 formation and welcome be afforded with no stinted hand." 



An inspection of the parts already ready for occupation 

 in the new building took place on Saturday last, and we 

 confess frankly that the idea of " Welcome " referred to in 

 the preceding paragraph has been fully carried out. The 

 building is admirable architecturally, and in the various 

 halls set apart for the purpose the children of the Greater 

 Britain beyond the seas will find no unworthy home when 

 they visit the mother country. Their intercourse will not 

 be confined to meeting each other ; the proposal to create 

 home Fellows of the Institute will, no doubt, be taken ad- 

 vantage of by all interested in all the larger questions on 

 which the progress of the Empire must depend. By this 

 means an Imperial Club of a very real kind has been 

 created. 



So far, then, as one of the watchwords, "Welcome," is 

 concerned, there is cause for sincere congratulation. It 

 is too soon to discuss the many proposals regarding the 

 other watchword, " Knowledge," with the future activity 

 of the Institute in the second direction. The lines of 

 activity already actually taken up and provided for in the 

 building as now arranged may be gathered from a glance 

 through the pages of the pamphlet and papers distributed 

 on Saturday. 



The contents of the galleries will constitute " a living 

 representation of the resources of the Empire and of the 

 condition of its industries and commerce." The perma- 

 nent collections will illustrate " the natural and industrial 

 products of the United Kingdom, of the several Colonies, 

 and of India," while, from time to time, occasional exhi- 

 bitions will be held which will, "it is hoped, stimulate 

 and enlist the sympathies of Colonial, Indian, and British 

 producers, and promote active co-operation with the 

 industrial section of the Empire." 



The collections will be arranged and described in such 

 a manner as to afford full " scientific, practical, and 

 commercial information relating to the sources, nature, 

 facilities of supply, and applications of well-known natural 

 products, and of those whose industrial or commercial 



NO. I 182, VOL. 46] 



value still needs development." The libraries, offices of 

 reference, reading-rooms, &c., in conjunction with the 

 above exhibits, should form therefore a mine of wealth. 

 We note also an arrangement by which samples of pro- 

 ducts will be given to anyone who may be desirous of 

 obtaining specific information respecting any particular 

 product included in the collection. 



Ample opportunities are to be offered for conference 

 on matters of common interest, and for the interchange of 

 information relative to both Great and Greater Britain. 



Such, then, are some of the points included in the pre- 

 liminary arrangement of the building. No one, we suppose, 

 considers them as final. Natural selection will come in^ 

 and it rests with the representatives of the scientific 

 bodies among the governing body to determine which 

 parts of " Knowledge " of the higher kind shall be fostered. 

 This is a problem for the future. We need not stop to 

 consider it now. 



One word about the building itself and the allocation 

 of space. 



Passing through the principal entrance, which is con- 

 structed altogether of Portland stone, the large reception 

 hall is reached, which, when finished, will constitute one 

 of the finest we have, various marbles and Indian teak 

 panelling being profusely used. 



The principal floor contains in its western corridor the 

 British-American and British-Australasian conference 

 rooms, the council chamber, and the secretarial and 

 clerical offices ; and in the eastern corridor the British- 

 Indian and British-African conference rooms, the writing, 

 reading, and news rooms, and the temporary library. 

 The principal stairway, leading to the second floor, will, 

 when finished, be a handsome piece of work ; the steps 

 will be of Hopton Wood stone, with marble balusters 

 and rails, while the walls will be lined with specimens of 

 British and Colonial marbles, and the ceiling profusely 

 decorated with arabesque plaster. 



On the first floor the Fellows' dining and reading rooms 

 are situated. The rooms in the east corridor, occupied 

 at present by a very interesting exhibition of Indian art 

 metal work, will subsequently be used for the commercial 

 department and commercial conferences. In the west 

 corridor various rooms will be put at the disposal of 

 various Societies " whose objects are kindred to those of 

 the Imperial Institute." 



On the second floor will be situated the public dining 

 and refreshment room. Here also the rooms in the west 

 corridor and on the south side will be used as sample 

 examination rooms : there will also be a map room and 

 a Fellows' smoking room. The east corridor will, we are 

 somewhat ambiguously informed, be occupied probably 

 by " certain Societies who are seeking the splendid 

 accommodation which the Institute affords for carrying 

 on their work." When these Societies are named, the 

 policy of the governing body in this direction will become 

 more obvious. 



TIME STANDARDS OF EUROPE. 



THE era of world time is yet far off, and it is certain 

 that the desirable scheme for a uniform horary 

 standard put forward by the Astronomer- Royal (Nature, 

 vol. xxxiii. p. 521) will not be realized this century. But 

 though this be so, signs of better times in the reckoning 

 of the hours of the day have recently appeared, and the 

 practical outcome of the Prime Meridian Conference at 

 Washington (Nature, vol. xxxiii. p. 259) is already of 

 importance. Time is a problem to us all— a problem 

 which has baffled the philosopher, driven the astronomer 

 to devices which closely resemble subterfuges, and 

 harassed the watchmaker beyond all other craftsmen. 

 Much light on the difficult but all-important question is 

 focussed in Mr. Lupton's article in Nature, vol. xxxix. 

 p. 374 ; but education will do more than it has yet done 



