168 RESEARCH 



THE NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY 



The Association participated actively in the move- 

 ment for the establishment of a National Physical 

 Laboratory, as will appear again in Chapter VII. 

 Not only so, but the original suggestion for its founda- 

 tion may be traced to the address to Section A 

 (Mathematics and Physics) by Professor [Sir] Oliver 

 Lodge at Cardiff in 1891, when he took occasion 'to 

 call attention to the fact that the further progress 

 of physical science in the somewhat haphazard and 

 amateur fashion in which it has been hitherto pursued 

 in this country is becoming increasingly difficult, and 

 that the quantitative portion especially should be 

 undertaken in a permanent and publicly-supported 

 physical laboratory on a large scale.' Sir Douglas 

 Galton, in his presidential address at the Ipswich 

 meeting in 1895, pressed the same view, contrasting 

 unfavourably to this country the support afforded by 

 the State to science here and abroad, especially in 

 Germany. In 1897 followed the appointment, by 

 H.M. Treasury, of a committee under the chair- 

 manship of the late Lord Rayleigh, to consider the 

 project. The committee recommended in favour of 

 the idea, and proposed the extension of Kew Obser- 

 vatory to meet the requirements of the laboratory. 

 A working scheme was drawn up and put into effect 

 in 1899, and the observatory was at first made use of, 

 but the suggested extension was found impracticable, 

 and in the following year Bushy House, Teddington, 

 was placed at the disposal of the laboratory by the 

 Crown. Here were established the departments of 

 physics and engineering, while the observatory 

 continued in use, housing the observatory depart- 



