5i2 



NATURE 



{Sept. 20, 1883 



such lives as to neutralise the influence of those who in high 

 places have degraded their profession, or have given themselves 

 over to ease, and do nothing for the science which they represent. 

 Let us do what we can with the present means at our disposal. 

 There is not one of us who is situated in the position best adapted 

 to bring out all his powers, and to allow him to do most for his 

 science. All hive their difficulties, and I do nit think that 

 circumstances will ever radically change a man. If a man has 

 the instinct of research in him, it w ill always show itself in some 

 form. 



I do not believe anybody can be thorough in any department 

 of science, without wishing to advance it. In the study of what 

 is known, in the reading of the scientific journals, and the dis- 

 cussions therein contained of the current scientific questions, one 

 would obtain an impulse to work, even though it did not before 

 exist. And the same spirit which prompted him to seek what 

 va already known, would make him wish to know the unknown. 

 And 1 may say that I never met a case of thorough knowledge 

 in my own science, except in the case of well-known investi- 

 gators. I have met men who talked well, and I have sometimes 

 asked myself why they did not do something ; but further know - 

 ledge of their character has shown me the superficiality of then- 

 knowledge. 



What would astronomy have done without the endowments of 

 observatories? By their means, that science has become the 

 most perfect of all branches of physics, as it should be from its 

 simplicity. There is no doubt, in my mind, that similar institu- 

 tions for other branches of physics or, better, to include the 

 whole of physic-, would be equally successful. A large and 

 perfectly equipped physical laboratory, with its large revenues, 

 its corps of professors and assistants, and its machine-shop for 

 the construction of new apparatus, would be able to advance 

 our science quite as much as endowed ob-ervatories have astro- 

 nomy. But such a laboratory should not be founded rashly. 

 The value will depend entirely on the physicist at its head, who 

 has to devise the plan, and to start it into practical working. 

 Such a man would be always rare, and could not always be 

 obtained. After one had been successfully started, others could 

 follow ; for imitation requires little brains. 



One could not be certain of getting the proper man every 

 time, but the means of appointment should be most 'carefully 

 studied so as to secure a gird average. There can be no doubt 

 that the appointment should rest with a scientific body capable 

 of judging the highest work of each candidate. Should any 

 1 opular element enter, the person chosen would be either of the 

 literary-scientific order, or the dabbler on the outskirts who 

 presents his small discoveries in the most theatrical manner. 

 What is required is a man of depth, who has such an insight 

 into physical science that he can tell when blows will best tell 

 for its advancement. 



Such a grand laboratory as I describe does not exist in the 

 world, at present, for the study of physics. But no trouble has 

 ever been found in obtaining means to endow astronomical 

 science. Everybody can appreciate, to some extent, the value 

 of an observatory ; as astronomy is the simplest of scientific 

 subjects, and has very quickly reached a position where elaborate 

 instruments and costly confutations are necessary to further 

 advance. The whole domain of physics is so wide that workers 

 have hitherto found enough to do. But it cannot always be so, 

 and the time has even now arrived when such a grand laboratory 

 should be founded. Shall our country take the lead in this 

 matter, or shall we wait for foreign countries to go before ? 

 They will be built in the future, but when and how is the 

 question. 



As stated before, men are influenced by the sympathy of those 

 with whom they come in contact. It is impossible to imme- 

 diately change public opinion in our favour ; and, indeed, we 

 must always seek to lead it, and not be guided by it. We must 

 create a public opinion in our favour, but it need not at first be 

 the general public. We must be contented to stand aside, and 

 see the honours of the world for a time given to our inferiors ; 

 and must be better contented with the approval of our own 

 consciences, and of the very few who are capable of judging our 

 work, than of the whole world beside. Let us look to the other 

 physicists, not in our own town, not in our own country, but in 

 the whole world, for the words of praise which are to encourage 

 us, or the words of blame which are to stimulate us to renewed 

 effort. For what to us is the praise of the ignorant ? Let us 

 join together in the bonds of our scientific societies, and encourage 

 each other, as we are now doing, in the pursuit of our favourite 

 study ; knowing that the world will some time recognise our 



services, and knowing, al-o, that we constitute the most important 

 element in human progress. 



But danger is also near, even in our societies. When the 

 average tone of the society is low, when the highest honours are 

 given to the mediocre, when thiid-class men are held up as 

 examples, and when trifling inventions are magnified into scientific 

 discoveries, then the influence of such societies is prejudicial. A 

 young scientist attending the meetings of such a society soon 

 gets perverted ideas. To his uind a molehill is a mountain, and 

 the mountain a molehill. The small inventor or the local 

 celebrity rises to a greater height, in hi- mind, than the great 

 leader of science in some foreign land. He gauges himself by 

 the molehill and is satisfied with his stature; not knowing that 

 he is but an atom in comparison with the mountain, until, 

 perhaps, in old age, when it is too late. But, if the size of the 

 mountain had been >een at first, the young scientist would at 

 lea-t have been stimulated in his endeavour to gi .w. 



We ca r this a free country, and yet it is the only one where 

 there is a direct tax upon the pursuit of science. The lo \ state 

 of pure science in our country may possibly be attributed to the 

 youth of the country ; but a direct tax to prevent the growth of 

 our country in that subject cannot be looked upon as other than 

 a deep disgrace. I refer to the duty upon foreign books and 

 periodicals. One would think that books in foreign languages 

 might be admitted free; but to ; lea-e the half-dozen or so 

 workmen who reprint German books, not scientific, our free 

 intercourse with that country is cut off. 



The time is almost past, even in our own country, when third- 

 rate men can find a | lace as teachers because they are unlit for 

 everything else. We wish to see brains and learning, combined 

 with energy and immense working power, in the professor's 

 chair ; but, above all, we wish to see that high and chivalrous 

 spirit which causes one to pursue his idea in spite of all diffi- 

 culties, to work at tru problems of nature with the approval of 

 his own conscience and not of men before him. 



The whole universe is before us to study. The grea'est labour 

 of the greatest minds have only given us a few pearls ; and yet 

 the limitless ocean, with its hidden depths filled with diamonds 

 and precious stones, is before us. The problem of the universe 

 is yet unsolved, and the mystery involved in one single atom yet 

 eludes us. The field of research only opens wider and wider as 

 we advance, and our minds are lost in wonder and astonishment 

 at the grandeur and beauty unfolded befme us. Shall we help 

 in ihis grand work, or not? Shall our country do its share, or 

 shall it still live in the almshome of the world? 



CONTENTS Page 



Science Worthies, XXII. — Arthur Cayley. By 

 Prof. George Salmon, F.R.S. (With Steel Plate 



Engraving) 481 



Bentham and Hooker's "Genera Plantarum." By 



Era. Cosson 485 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The Red Spot upon Jupiter. — A. Ricco .... 487 

 "Elevation and Subsidence." — F. Young: W. F. 

 Stanley ; William Mackie ; J. Starkie Gardner 



( With Diagram) 488 



"Zoology at the Fisheries Exhibition." — The Writer 



of the Article 489 



A Complete Solar Rainbow. — C. M. Ingleby . . 489 

 Flint Flakes Replaced. — Worthington G. Smith 



{With Diagrams) 490 



Notes on the Post Glacial Geology of the Country 



around Southport. By C. E. de Ranee .... 490 

 The British Association : — 



Inaugural Address by Arthur Caylev, M.A., D.C.L., 

 LL.D., F.R.S. , Sadlerian Professor of 1'ure Mathe- 

 matics in the University of Cambridge, President . 491 

 Section A — Mathematical and Physical — Opening 

 Address by Prof. Olaus Henrici, Ph.D., F.R.S., 



President of the Section 497 



Section B — Chemical Science — Opening Address by 

 J. H. Gladstone, Ph.D., F.R.S., V.P.C.S., Presi- 

 dent of the Section 500 



Section C — Geology — Opening Address by Prof. 

 W. C. Williamson, LL.D., F.R.S., President of 



the Section 503 



Notes 509 



A Plea for Pure Science. By Prof. H. A. Rowland 510 



