6o Necessity of State aid to Research. 



To remedy this state of things we require a general 

 encouragement of pure scientific inquiry by the State 

 and Universities. It is thought by some persons 

 who have given special attention to the subject, that 

 the State ought to encourage such research and 

 science in general, by appointing a Minister of 

 Science possessing scientific knowledge and good 

 administrative ability ; a Scientific Council to advise 

 our Governments in all important matters relating 

 to science ; and by establishing State laboratories for 

 pure scientific inquiry, with discoverers of repute in 

 them wholly engaged in research in their respective 

 subjects. 



There are also many new experiments, investiga- 

 tions, and explorations, which neither private indi- 

 viduals, nor even corporate bodies, such as the 

 Royal Society, the British Association, Geographical 

 Society, can effectually make, and which only a 

 Government can carry out, such as Arctic expedi- 

 tions, trigonometrical surveys, deep sea dredging 

 operations, magnetic observations, determinations of 

 longitude, meteorological and astronomical observa- 

 tions, researches on tides, observations of earth- 

 quakes, determinations of the height of mountains 

 and the density of the crust of the earth, experiments 

 on the best form of ships, geographical explorations, 

 and many others. 



It is clear from the enormous advantages which 

 this nation has already derived from scientific dis- 

 covery in physics and chemistry, pursued with only 



