208 Extension of the system of Government Grants. 



A great obstacle to the carrying out of this plan lies 

 in the fact that in consequence of the ignorance of the 

 value of original research by the founders of such In- 

 stitutions, no definite provision usually exists in the 

 Trust deeds to authorise the Trustees to devote any of 

 the funds to such a purpose. 



$th. Extension of the Government Grant System. 

 During a number of years the British Government has 

 entrusted to the Royal Society the annual sum of 

 ;i,ooo for the purpose of aiding science; and that 

 sum has been given in varying portions to different 

 investigators who have applied for grants in aid of 

 their expenses in making investigations. 



Although the total amount to be disbursed annually 

 was not large, very few persons, qualified to make 

 good researches, usually applied for its assistance, and 

 it was difficult to dispose of the whole. The chief 

 causes of this difficulty were : a grant from the fund 

 was an unprofitable gift to accept, because it was only 

 sufficient to partly pay the expenses out of pocket for 

 chemicals and apparatus, and allowed nothing for the 

 skill, time, or labour, nor for payments made to assist- 

 ants. Further, " By order of the Council, all instru- 

 ments, apparatus, and drawings, made or obtained by 

 aid of the Government Grants, shall, after serving the 

 purpose for which they were procured, and in the 

 absence of any specific understanding to the contrary, 

 be delivered into the custody of the Royal Society." 



By far the greater part of the expense of an investi- 

 gation in physics or chemistry is the exceedingly large 



