September 12, 1895] 



NA TURE 



471 



for instance, dilatation, electrical resistances, electric and other 

 forms of light, pressure gauges, recording instruments, thermo- 

 meters, pyrometers, lenses, tuning-forks, glass, oil-testing 

 apparatus, viscosity of glycerine, cScc. 



Dr. Kohlrausch succeeded Helmholtz as president, and takes 

 charge of the first division. Prof. Hagen, the director under him, 

 has charge of the second division. A professor is in charge of each 

 of the several sub-departments. Under these are various sub- 

 ordinate posts, held tiy younger men, selected for preWous 

 valuable work, and usually for a limited time. 



The general supervision is under a Council consisting of a 

 president, who is a I'rivy Councillor, and twenty-four members, 

 including the president and director of the Reichsanstalt ; of 

 the other members, about ten are professors or heads of physical 

 and astronomical observatories connected with the principal 

 universities in Germany. Three are selected from leading firms 

 in Germany representing mechanical, optical, and electric 

 science, and the remainder are principal scientific officials 

 connected with the Departments of War and Marine, the Royal 

 Observatory at Potsdam, and the Royal Commission for 

 Weights and Measures. 



This Council meets in the winter, for such time as may be 

 necessary, for examining the research work done in the first 

 division during the previous year, and for laying down the 

 scheme for research for the ensuing year ; as well as for 

 suggesting any requisite improvements in the second division. 

 As a consequence of the position which science occupies in 

 connection with the State in continental countries, the services 

 of those who have distinguished themselves either in the 

 advancement or in the application of science are recognised by 

 the award of honours ; and thus the feeling for science is 

 encouraged throughout the nation. 



Assistance to Scientific Research in Great Britain. 



Great Britain maintained for a long time a leading position 

 among the nations of the world by virtue of the excellence and 

 accuracy of its workmanship, the result of individual energy ; 

 but the progress of mechanical science has made accuracy of 

 workman.ship the common property of all nations of the world. 

 Our records show that hitherto, in its efforts to maintain its 

 |x>sition by the application of science and the prosecution of 

 research, England has made marvellous advances by means of 

 voluntary effort, illustrated l)y the splendid munificence of such 

 men as (lassiot, Josepli Whitworth, James Mason, and Ludwig 

 Mond ; and, whilst the increasing field of scientific research 

 compels us occasionally to seek for Government assistance, it 

 would be unfortunate if by any change voluntary effort were 

 fettered by State control. 



The following are the principal voluntary agencies which help 

 forward scientific research in this country : — The Donation 

 Fund of the Royal Society, derived from its surplus income. 

 The British Association has contributed £(iO,ooo to aid research 

 since its formation. The Royal Institution, founded in the last 

 centurj', by Count Rumford, f<jr the promotion of research, has 

 assisted the investigations of Davy, of \'oung, of Faraday, of 

 Frankland, of Tyndall, of Dewar, and of Rayleigh. The 

 City Companies assist scientific research and foster scientific 

 education both by direct contributions and through the City and 

 Guilds Institute. The Commissioners of the Exhibition of 

 1851 devote /'6000 annually to science research scholarships, to 

 enable students who have ]5assed through a college curriculum 

 and have given evidence of cajiacity for original research to 

 continue the i)rosecution of science, with a view to its advance 

 or to its api^lication to the industries of the country. Several 

 scientific societies, as, for instance, the (geographical Society 

 and the Mechanical Engineers, have promoted direct research, 

 each in their own branch of science, out of their surplus 

 income ; and every scientific society largely assists research by 

 the publication, not only of its own proceedings, but often of 

 the work going on abroad in the branch of science which it 

 represents. 



The growing abundance of matter year by year increases the 

 burden thtis thrown on their finances, and the Treasury has re- 

 cently granted to the Royal Society ^1000 a year, to be spent in 

 aid of the publication of scientific papers not necessarily limited 

 to those of that Society. 



The Royal Society has long felt the importance to scientific 

 research of a catalogue of all papers and publications relating to 

 pure and applied science, arranged systematically both as to 

 authors' names and as to sul)ject treated, and the Society has 



NO. 1350, VOL. 52] 



been engaged for some time upon a catalogue of that nature.- 

 But the daily increasing magnitude of these publications, coupled 

 with the necessity of issuing the catalogue with adequate prompti- 

 tude, and at appropriate intervals, renders it a task which could 

 only be performed under International co-operation. The 

 oflicers of the Royal Society have therefore appealed to tht 

 Government to urge Foreign Governments to send delegates to a 

 Conference to be held next July to discuss the desirability and 

 the scope of such a catalogue, and the possibility of preparing it. 

 The universities and colleges distributed over the country, be- 

 sides their function of teaching, are large i>romoters of research, 

 and their voluntary exertions are aided in some cases by con- 

 tributions from Parliament in alleviation of their exi^enses. 



Certain executive departments of the Government carry on. 

 research for their own purposes, which in that respect may be 

 classed as voluntary. The Admiralty maintains the Greenwich 

 Observatory, the Hydrographical Department, and various ex- 

 perimental services ; and the War Office maintains its numerous 

 scientific departments. The Treasury maintains a valuable 

 chemical laboratory for Inland Revenue, Customs, and agri- 

 cultural purposes. The Science and Art Department maintains 

 the Royal College of Science, for the education of teachers and 

 students from elementary schools. It allows the scientific 

 apparatus in the national museum to be used for research pur- 

 poses by the j^rofessors. The Solar Phy.sics Committee, which, 

 has carried on numerous researches in solar physics, was 

 appointed by and is responsible to this Department. The 

 Department also administers the .Sir Joseph Whitworth engineer- 

 ing research scholarships. Other scientific departments of the 

 Government are aids to research, as, for instance, the Ordnance 

 and the Geological Surveys, the Royal Mint, the Natural 

 History Museum, Kew Gardens, and other lesser establishments- 

 in Scotland and Ireland ; to which may be added, to some ex- 

 tent, the Standards Department of the Board of Trade, as well. 

 as municipal museums, which are gradually spreading over the 

 country. 



For direct assistance to voluntary efiort the Treasury con- 

 tributes ;f 4000 a year to the Royal Society for the promotion of 

 research, which is administered under a board whose members 

 represent all branches of science. The Treasury, moreover,, 

 contributes to marine biological observatories, and in recent 

 years has defrayed the cost of various expeditions for biological 

 and astronomical research, which in the case of the Challenger 

 expedition involved very large sums of money. 



In addition to these direct aids to science, Parliament, under 

 the Local Taxation Act, handed over to the County Councils a 

 sum, which amounted in the year 1893 '° ^^615,000, to be ex- 

 pended on technical education. In many country districts, so far as- 

 the advancement of real scientific technical progress in the nation 

 is concerned, much of this money has been wasted for want of 

 knowledge. And whilst it cannot be said that the Government 

 or Parliament have been indifferent to the promotion of scientific 

 education and research, it is a source of regret that the Govern- 

 ment did not devote some small portion of this magnificent gift 

 to affording an object-lesson to County Councils in the appli- 

 cation of science to technical instruction, which would have 

 suggested the principles which would most usefully guide them 

 in the expenditure of this public money. 



Government assistance to science has been based mainly 

 on the principle of helping voluntary effort. The Kew Observ- 

 atory was initiated as a scientific ob.servator\' by the British. 

 Association. It is now supported by the Gassiot Trust Fund, and. 

 managed by the Kew Observatory Committee of the Royal 

 Society. Observations on magnetism, on meteorology, and the 

 record of sun-spots, as well as experiments upon new instru- 

 ments for assisting meteorological, thermonietrical, and photo- 

 graphic purposes, are being carried on there. The Conunittee 

 has also arranged for the verification of scientific measuring in- 

 struments, the rating of chronometers, the testing of lenses and 

 of other .scientific apparatus. This institution carries on to a 

 limited extent some small portion of the class of work done in 

 Germany by that magnificent institutitm, the Reichsanstalt of 

 Charlottenburg, but its development is fettered by want of funds. 

 British students of science are compelled to resort to Berlin and 

 Paris when they require to compare their more delicate instru- 

 ments and apjjaratus with recognisetl standards. There could 

 scarcely be a more advantangeous addition to the assistance 

 which Government now gives to science than for it ti> allot a 

 substantial annual sum to the extension of the Kew OI>ser\-atory, 

 in order to develop it on the model of the Reichsanstalt. It 



