PREFACE ix 



it likely in the future to receive, the ordinary honour- 

 able fair-play supposed to be characteristic of British 

 standards. The dead past might well be left to bury 

 its dead, if there were any sign of a different spirit 

 prevailing in the future. But, with the present spirit 

 still dominant, how can it be expected that modern 

 men will bequeath their wealth to the universities 

 here, as they habitually do in America? Nor is it 

 much use Parliament voting large grants for the 

 purpose of fostering scientific research, or Ministers 

 taking from the taxes increased sums to promote 

 scientific education, until the administration of them 

 is taken out of the hands of those who have proved 

 their unfitness for such a trust in the past. 



My acknowledgments are due to the Chemical 

 Society, the British Science Guild, and the editors 

 and publishers of Science Progress, the Aberdeen 

 University Review, and other publications for per- 

 mission to reprint articles appearing in their pages. 



FREDERICK SODDY. 



ABERDEEN, September 1919. 



