192 Selection of Workers for State Laboratories. 



concrete, would probably be too great an undertaking, 

 the most proper course would be to commence with 

 the simpler ones, such as those of mathematics, 

 mechanics, physics, and chemistry, and perhaps 

 biology. If it be argued that it would be unadvisable 

 to commence with the simple and purely experimental 

 sciences, it would be still more unadvisable to com- 

 mence with the concrete subjects of "natural history, 

 medicine, civil history, law, and theology," or with the 

 arts which also depend upon science. 



The number of investigators in such an institution 

 would not be large, because few of high repute could 

 be obtained, many of our ablest ones abandon re- 

 search for remunerative pursuits. In order to make 

 the plan succeed, the conditions of the appointments 

 should be such as to limit the election to the most 

 competent persons. In the selection of such gentle- 

 men, the verdict of opinion of scientific men generally, 

 upon the published researches of the candidates, would 

 have previously determined who were qualified for 

 the office. Any man who had published reliable 

 papers in the Transactions of the Royal Society, 

 might very properly be considered a fit candidate, 

 and the selection and appointment might be made by 

 the Government, with the advice of the Council of the 

 Royal Society. 



Probably there exists no class of persons upon 

 whom the country might more rely for industry in 

 office than eminent investigators, because they have 

 pursued truth for its good effects alone. Men who had 



