462 



NA TURE 



[September 12, 1895 



the Right Hon. Thomas Henry Huxley. It is unnecessary for 

 me to enlarge, in the presence of so many to whom Ins i^r- 

 sonality was known. ui»n his charm in social and domestic life ; 

 but upon the debt which the .\ssocialion owes to him for the 

 assistance which he rendered in the promotion of science I can- 

 not well be silent. Huxley was pre-eminently quahhed to assist 

 in sweeping away the obstruction by dogmatic authority, which 

 in the early days of the .\ssociation fettered progress in certain 

 branches of science. For, whilst he was an eminent leader in 

 biological rei^earch, hU intellectual power his onginal and 

 intrepid mind, hU vigorous and masculine English, made him a 

 writer who explained the deepest subject with transparent clear- 

 nSs An<i as a speaker his lucid and forcible style was adorned 

 with ample and effective illustration in the lecture-room : and 

 his enero- and wealth of argument in a more pubhc arena argely 

 helped to win the battle of evolution, and to secure for us the 

 rif hi to discuss questions of religion and science without fear and 



"'it mly!Tthink. interest you to learn that Huxley first made 

 the acquaintance of Tyndall at the meeting of the Association 

 held in this town in 185 1. 



^l^u forty-six years'ago I first began to attend the meetings 

 of the British .\ssiia.ion ; and I was elected one of your general 

 secretaries about twenty-five years ago. 



It is not unfitting, therefore, that I should recall to your 

 minds the conditions under which science was pursued at the 

 foliation of the Association, as well as the ver)- remarkable 

 position which the .\ssociation has occupied in relation to seance 



'" ^.'weZlhe" end of the sixteenth centur)- and the early part of 

 the present century several societies had been created to develop 

 various branches of science. Some of these societies were es- 

 tablished in London, and others in important provincial centres. 

 In l8^l in the absence of railways, communication between 

 different pkrts of the countr)- was slow and difficult. Science was 

 therefore localised ; and in addition to the »"""^""=^:" ^"g'^"'^' 

 Scotland, and Ireland, the towns of Birmingham, Manchester 

 Plymouth and York each maintained an important nucleus ol 

 scientific research. 



Origin of the British Association, 



Under these social conditions the British Association was 

 founded in September 1831. , ■ .r „,;„rot„rv 



The ceneral idea of its formation was denvcd from a migratory 

 society which had l>een previously formed in Germany ; but 

 whilst\he German society met for the speci..l "!^<^"=^'<'" «" "^^'^^^ 

 it was summoned, and then dissolved, the basis of the British 

 Ass'iciation was continuity. 



The objects of the founders of the British Association were 

 enunciated in their earliest rules to be :— 



'• To give a stronger impulse and a more systematic direction 

 to scientific inquiry ; to promote the intercourse of those who 

 Slriated science in diffelen. parts of the British Empire with 

 Tne another, and with foreign philosophers ; to obtain a more 

 general attention to the objects of science, and a removal of any 

 disadvantages .,f a public kind which impede Its progress 



Thus the British As-sociation for the Advancement of Science 

 l«iscd its utility upon the opportunity 11 afforded for combina- 



"°Thc first meeting of the AssociaUon was held at York with 353 



■"TsTn" evidence of the want which the Association .supplied, 

 i, may Ik: mentioned that at the second meeting, «^''^'' ^^^ 

 hel.l at Oxford, the numl«r of meml^rs was 435- The third 

 meeting, at Cambri.lge, numbered over 900 ■"'="'''<-'^- »'"' ^' 

 the meeting at Edinburgh in 1 834 there were present 1298 



■"Tt^tt"' third meeting, which was held at Cambridge in 1833, 

 the Associalinn, through the influence it had already acquired, 

 in.luce<l the Government to grant a sum of ;f 500 for the reduc- 

 tion of the astronomical ol«ervations of Ball)-. An.l at the sine 

 meeting the (ieneral 0.mmitlee commenced to appropriate to 

 v:ientific research the surplus from the subscriptions of its mem- 

 Wr.. The committees on each branch of science were .lesire.l 

 :. finite and imix.rlant objects of science, which the) 

 .,sl fit to l)c a<lvance<l byan application of the funils 

 V either in comiicnsation for labour, or in defraying 

 ..f apr«ratus, or otherwise, slating their re.isons for 

 , „.n, and, when they may think pro(Kr_, designating 



individuals to undertake the desired investigations. 



NO, 1350, VOL. 52] 



The several proposals were submitted to the Committee of 

 Recommendations, whose approval was necesMirj- before they 

 could be passed by the General Committee. The regulations 

 then laid down still guide the Association in the distribuUon of 

 its grants. At that eariy meeting the Association was enabled 

 to apply /600 to these objects. ,.,,,, r ,, ^ 



I have always wondered at the foresight of the framers of he 

 constitution of the British .Association, the most remarkable 

 feature of which is the lightness of the tie which holds it 

 t<«ether. It is not bound by any complex central orsanisation. 

 It consists of a federation of Sections, whose youth and energy 

 are yearly renewed by a succession of presidents and vice- 

 presidenis, whilst in each Section some continuity of action is 

 secured by the less movable secretaries. 



The governing body is the General CommUtee, the members 

 of which are selected for their scientific work ; but their con- 

 trolling power is tempered by the law that all changes of rules, 

 or of constitution, should be submitted to, and receive the 

 approval of, the Committee of Recommendations This com- 

 mittee may be described as an ideal Second Chamber. It 

 consists of the most experienced members of the Association. 



The administration of the Association in the interval between 

 annual meetings is carried on by the Council, an executive lx,dy, 

 whose duty it is to complete the work of the annual meeting («) 

 by the publication of its proceedings; (h) by giving etlect to 

 resoluticms passed by the General Com.nitt« : k) it alsx> 

 appoints the Local Committee .and organises the personnel ol 

 each Section for the next meeting. . 



I believe that one of the secrets of the long-continued success- 

 and vitality of the British Association lies in this purely demo- 

 cratic constitution, coml.ine<l with the compulsory careful 

 consideration which must be given to suggested organic changes. 

 The Association is now in the sixty-hflh year of Us existence. 

 In its origin it invited the philosophical societies dispersed 

 throughout Great Britain to unite in a co-operative tmion 



WiUiin recent years it has endeavoured to consolidate that 



""r'the present lime almost all important local scienUfic 



societies scattered throughout •h<=. ?^"'?"->-. ^<""« ^f-^'V^'i;, 'j^ 



number, are in correspondence with the •■),^^°"*'!,'?"- J^^', 



delegates hold annual conferences at our meetings. Ihe Associ 



S has thus extended .he sphere of its -.""" ' " P J^-^" ^l^! 



members of the local societies engaged m scientific ^"'^ '" J« 



la.ion with each other, and brings them into <:"-«P^'? ';^". '' 



members of the Association and with others engaged ;» ''"S "j ' 



"nvestigations,and the ,x.pers which the individual societies pub- 



hsh annually are calalogu'ed in our Report. Thus '^V degrees a 



national catalogue will be formed of the scientific work of these 



^"ThTAssocialion has, moreover, shown that its scovx; is co- 

 terminous with the British Empire by holding one of Us annua 

 meTlings at Montreal, and we are likely soon to hold a meeting 

 in Toronto. 



Condition of certain Sciences at the formation 01 

 THE British Association. 

 The /Association, at its first meeting, began its work by 

 initiating a series of reports upon the then condition of the 



"^rt^^^. at some of these reports will "o. onlysliov. the 

 enormous strides which have been made since I S3 in the in 

 vesliL-alion of facts to elucidate the laws <,f nature, but it may 

 X da s"gh insight into ,l,e impediments ollered to the progress 

 of mes iga ion by the mental condition of the coumuinUy. 

 w^ich has leen for so long satisfied to accept assumptions 

 wit lut und rgoing the labour of testing their truth by ascer- 

 Uin 1 g the real facts. This habit of m nd may be >""> ra ed 1 y 

 two instances selected from the early reports made t. the 

 As-sociation! The first is afforded by the report made m 1832. 



''^■^!;^t':Ii^::;;n™:;iiyofim,,orUnceto^ 

 dominant power it sea. But in Eng and -^-'l ,,^f '.',,"' ,^ 

 hnd onlv recently leen commenced at the loLkj.iros 

 W ol«" h. ^.eerness, I'ortsmouth, and PlyiiK.uth, on the re 

 queM o the Royal Society, and no information had «:e,. collected 



.,on the tides on the coasts of Scotland aiul Ireland. 



'm Br is .wl^iation may feel pri.le in the fact that withm 

 Ihree years of its ii,ceplion,\i/,. hy .834- >> l>a«l '"J""^" ''^. 

 Co l«ration of l.iverpoi.l to establish two tide gauges, and the 



