290 



NA TURE 



[July 18, 1901 



paraltin candle burning loo melres a*ay appeared quite brighl. 

 After about a minute the bright prominence a was seen, and it 

 seemed to penetrate slightly into the dark body of the moon ; 

 this was seen for quite two minutes. Just before third contact 

 the blood-red chromosphere appeared. At this time the tem- 

 perature had steadily fallen to ^i' C, but the lowest temperature 

 recorded was jO°'25, at 2h. 6m. 30s., making a total fall in 

 temperature of 4''5 C. 



Through a ruby glass the corona was invisible, except an 

 irregular rim about one-eighth of the sun's diameter in width. 



No air movements were noticed during the eclipse. Birds were 

 not noticed to go to roost, but it was stated that some fowls did 

 so. There is an insect known to the Dyaks as the " six o'clock 

 insect," which invariably gives utterance to a very loud liorn-Iike 

 cry just before dark (i'.f. about 6 p.m.), but its call was not 

 heard during the eclipse. 



THE AIMS OF THE NATIONAL PHYSICAL 

 LABORATORY.^ 



'rHE idea of a physical laboratory in which problems bearing 

 at once on science and on industry might be solved is 

 comparatively new. The I'hysikalisch-Technische Reichs- 

 anstalt, founded in Berlin by the joint labours of Werner von 

 Siemens and von Helniholtz during the years 18S3-S7, was 

 perhaps the first. It is less than ten years since Dr. Lodge, in 

 his address to Section A of the British Association, outlined the 

 scheme of work for such an institution here in England. 

 Nothing came of this ; a committee met and discussed plans, 

 but it was felt to be hopeless to approach the Government, and 

 without Government aid there were no funds. 



Four years later, however, the late Sir Douglas Gallon took 

 the matter up. In his address to the British Association in 

 1S95, '""^ again in a paper read before Section A, he called 

 attention to the work done for Germany by the Reichsanstalt 

 and to the crying need for a similar institution in England. 



The result of this presidential pronouncement was the forma- 

 tion of a committee which reported at Liverpool, giving a rough 

 outline of a possible scheme of organisation. A petition to 

 Lord Salisbury followed, and as a consequence a Treasury 

 committee, with Lord Rayleigh in the chair, was appointed 

 to consider the desirability of establishing a National Physical 

 Laboratory. The committee examined more than thirty witnesses 

 and then reported unanimously "that a public institution should 

 be founded for standardising and verifying instruments for 

 testing materials and for the determination of physical 

 constants." 



It is natural to turn to the words of those who were instru- 

 mental in securing the appointment of this committee, and to 

 the evidence it received, in any endeavour to discuss its aim. 

 As was fitting, Sir Douglas Galton was the first witness to be 

 called. It is a source of sorrow to his many friends that he has 

 not lived to see the Laboratory completed. 



And here may I refer to another serious loss which, in the 

 last few days, the Laboratory has sustained. Sir Courtenay 

 Boyle was a member of Lord Rayleigh's committee, and as such 

 was convinced of the need for the Laboratory and of the im- 



NO. 1655, VOL. 64] 



portance of the work it could do. He took an active part in its 

 organisation, sparing neither time nor trouble ; he intended that 

 it should be a great institution, and he had the will and the 

 power to help. The country is the poorer by his sudden death. 

 Let me now quote some of Sir Douglas Gallon's evidence. 

 "Formerly our progress in machinery," he says, " was due to 

 accuracy of measurement, and that was a class of work which 

 could be done, as Whitworth showed, by an educated eye and 

 educated touch. But as we advance in the applications of 

 science to industry we require accuracy to be carried into 

 matters which cannot be so measured. . . . In the more delicate 

 researches which the physical, chemical and electrical student 

 undertakes, he requires a ready means of access to standards to 

 enable him to compare his own work with that of others." Or 

 again, " My view is that if Great Britain is to retain its indus- 

 trial supremacy we must have accurate standards available to 

 our research students and to our manufacturers. I am certain 

 that if you had them our manufacturers would gradually become 

 very much more qualified for advancing our manufacturing 

 industry than they are now. But it is also certain that you 

 cannot separate some research from a standardising department." 

 Then, after a description of the Reichsanstalt, he continues, 

 " What I would advocate would be an extension of Kew in the 

 direction of the second division of the Reichsanstalt, with such 

 auxiliary research in the establishment itself as may be found 

 necessary." The second division is the one which takes charge 

 of technical and industrial questions, frof. Lodge, again, gave 

 a very valuable summary of work which ought to be done. 



It is now realised, at any rate by the more enlightened of our 

 leaders of industry, that science can help them. This fact, 

 however, has been grasped by too few in England ; our rivals in 

 Germany and America know it well, and the first aim of the 

 Laboratory is to bring its truth home to all, to assist in promot- 

 ing a union which is certainly necessary if England is to retain 

 her supreir.acy in trade and in manufacture, to make the 

 forces of science available for the nation, to break down by 

 every possible means the barrier between theory and practice, 

 and to point out plainly the plan which must be followed unless 

 we are prepared to see our rivals take our place. 



" Germany," an American writer who has recently made a 

 study of the subject has said, " is rapidly moving towards indus- 

 trial supremacy in Europe. One of the most potent factors in 

 this notable advance is the perfected alliance between science 

 and commerce existing in Germany. Science has come to be 

 regarded there as a commercial factor. If England is losing her 

 supremacy in manufactures and in commerce, as many claim, it 

 is because of English conservatism and the failure to utilise to 

 the fullest extent the lessons taught by science, while Germany, 

 once the country of dreamers and theorists, has now become 

 intensely practical. Science there no longer seeks court and 

 cloister, but is in open alliance with commerce and industry." 

 It is our aim to promote this alliance in England, and for this 

 purpose the National Physical Laboratory has been founded. 



It is hardly necessary to quote chapter and verse for the 

 assertion that the close connection between science and industry 

 has had a predominant effect on German trade. If authority is 

 wanted, I would refer to the history of the anilin dye manu- 

 facture, or, to take a more recent case, to the artificial indigo 

 industry, in which the success of the Badische Company has 

 recently been so marked. The factory at Ludwigshaven started 

 thirty-five years ago with 30 men ; it now employs more than 

 6000 and has on its staff 148 trained scientific chemists. And 

 now, when it is perhaps too late, the Indian planters are calling 

 in scientific aid and the Indian Government are giving some 

 3500/. a year to investigation. 



As Prof Armstrong, in a recent letter to the Times, says, 

 "The truly serious side of the matter, however, is not the pro- 

 spective loss of the entire indigo industry so much as the fact 

 that an achievement such as that of the Badische Company 

 seems past praying for here." Another instance is to be found 

 in the German exhibit of scientific instruments at the Paris 

 Exhibition, of which a full account appeared in the pages of 

 Nature. 



And now, having stated in general terms the aims of the 

 Laboratory and given some account of the progress in Germany, 

 let me pass to some description of the ineans which have been 

 placed at our disposal to realise those aims. I then wish, if time 

 permits, to discuss in fuller detail some of the work which it is 

 hoped we may take up immediately. 



The Laboratory is to be at Bushy House, Teddington. I will 



