December 12, 1918] 



NATURE 



295 



also of the Government, of which Count Okuma was 

 ai the dine Premier. 



According to the plan, which was ultimate!) adopted, 

 a fund of s, [(.) was to be i aised 



b) public subscription. (>f ilii- sum just about one- 

 ball has alread) been promised, and is being paid in, 

 almost wholl) b_\ those who have either commercial 

 or industrial concerns in ["okyo and Yokohama. The 

 other half is, with good reason, expected to be contri- 

 buted within a few years b) those in Osaka, Kobe, and 

 Other large and wealth) cities in the south-western 

 districts. Th plan also included an application for a 

 Government subvention, and, in accordance- with the 

 Bill passed b) the Die) in its 1915-1*) session, the 

 Governmenl is giving the institute a subvention of 

 2,000,000 yen in ten years, whilst H.M. the Emperor 

 has made a gift ol [,000,000 yen for promoting the 

 object of th<- institute. The total fund, supposing 

 that the public subscription comes up to the expei ted 

 sum, would thus amount to 8,000,000 yen, of which 

 about -',500,000 ven has lo be invested in land, build- 

 ings, and equipment. Bui since the interest accruing 

 from the fund is calculated to exceed the annual ex- 

 penditure for the first six 01 seven, or even more, years, 

 when the ai t\\ it) of the institute cannot ol necessit) be 

 very great, it is expei ted that at the end of ten years 



there will be left over a fund ol about 6,000, yen, 



which, calculated at 5 per cent, interest, would 

 yield an annual income of 300,000 ven. To this 



extent, therefore, the institute would be self-support- 

 ing, and i; is roughl) estimated on this basis that 

 the number of staffs of all grades and of mechanics, 

 laboratory boys, etc., would be between too and 120 

 in all. But it is evident that the institute must 

 grow in both size and activity, and that, then-fore, 

 th'- above income would soon be found to be in- 

 adequate 10 meet tin- necessarv expenses demanded 

 b) this growth. As the institute grows in activity, 

 however, its importance will be made more and more 

 evident, and it i~ believed thai there would then be 

 I difficulty in- obtaining more money. 

 Passing from the financial aspect of the institute 

 to its organisation and work, ii ma-. be mentioned 

 that its administration is entrusted to a board of 

 managers, of whom om is ., general director and 



another a vice-director. The scientific work of the 

 institute is carried on in the- two departments oi 

 and chemistry, each of which has a depart- 

 mental director and a number of staffs, graded as 

 fellows, associate fellows, and assistants. Thi depat 



mental directors, who are also fellows, superintend 

 itch work in their own departments, but 



each fellow is expected 10 undertake researches on 

 his own account, either by himself or in collaboration 

 wifh other fellows. aSSOi ellows, or assist. mis. 



Some of the associate fellows ma) also carry on in- 

 dependent work. A greater number of the researches 

 would then he of an individual character, but there 

 would also be several Cases in which certain problems 

 b) the institute would 1"- dealt with from 

 all points of view cases in which a combined effort 

 of a numbe.- of felli fi How ,, both 



phvsicists and chemists, would lie required. 



It is expected that, in course ol time, there would 



be formed a certain sin. ill 1 is ill eai li 



of pin si, s and chemistry, with a 

 chief in each section, such, for .sample, in the 

 department, as the section of inorganic and 

 and Hi- section - il organic and 

 hi mistry. It is not in , -, mtemplation, 

 however, to form - ections for so-called 



! applied si iem e, -.till less for such sub- 

 divisions a- are generalh made ; hemistry, 

 of the institute being to attack industrial 

 problems from a broader and essentially scientific 

 2563, VOL. 1 02] 



point of view. In this connection it may be men- 

 tioned that the institute is expecting a number of 

 special industrial problem, t„ be constantly brought 

 forward for solution by manufacturers, and that the 

 institute would gladly undertake the investigation of 

 Such problems, somewhat on I he same lines as are 

 followed at the Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh. Such 

 a policy would, it is believed, not only contribute 

 more directly to the development of special industries, 

 but also bring the institute into closer touch with 

 the manufacturing world — a stale of things which is 

 evidently essential for bringing about a satisfactory 

 federation of science and industry. 



The greatest and most fundamental difficulty 

 experienced in Japan is the lack of really capable 

 researchers, and one of the most important objects 

 of the institute is to train young men in original 

 research. For this purpose a certain number of 

 university graduates are annuallv elected to research 

 scholarships, which are tenable for two vears, prefer- 

 ence being always and strictlv given to those candi- 

 dates who have shown signs of originality and develop- 

 ment rather than to those who have most 'distin- 

 guished themselves in examinations. During the 

 two years of his term a scholar works at some original 

 research either in the university or in the institute, 

 and if at the expiration of the term he proves him- 

 self to be sufficiently satisfactory, and also desirous 

 of getting a situation in the institute, then he will be 

 appointed an assistant. If, however, he preftrs to go 

 elsewhere, he is quite free to do so. The institute 

 loses nothing by this, for its object is to train voung 

 men in research work, no matter whether thev may or 

 may not become members of its staff. An assistant 

 receives further training in the institute by constantly 

 associating himself with the work of one of the senior 

 members of the staff, and is, on being found to be 

 sufficiently capable, promoted to an associate fellow- 

 ship, and ultimately to a fellowship, with a propor- 

 tionately increasing salary. A few of the associate 

 fellows are annuallv sent abroad for further training, 

 there being three (Asahara, Nishi-Kawa, and Taka- 

 mine) in the United States at present. 



I In- laboratories and workshops of the institute 

 will be built upon a site which has been bought in a 

 northern district of Tokyo, not far from the univer- 

 sitv, but it will be some years before these are com- 

 pleted. Meanwhile, the research work of the institute 

 is being carried on in the Universities of Tokyo, 

 Kvoto, and Sendai, the authorities of these universi- 

 ties having kindly placed some of their rooms at the 

 disposal of the institute, and the salaries of those 

 engaged in or assisting research for the institute, as 

 well as expenses for instruments, chemicals, etc., 

 being borne by the institute. 



It mar be added that the reason for making the 

 institute independent in its organisation of either the 

 university or the Governmenl was to enable its 

 staff to devote the whole of its time and energy to 

 research, free from any tutorial work or the draw- 

 backs attending a Government institution. 



THE LABORATORY IX THE SERJ'ICE 

 OF THE HOSPITAL. 1 



UNTIL recently the fundamental importance of 

 laboratories as a weapon ol offence against 

 ii.is received only sporadic recognition, ami 

 their pioneer work has not been fosti red b) any firmly 

 directed policy of encouragement. Bui the necessity 



"aiding a gigantic arm- : - mics - 



always the supreme menace has brought into a 



