August 28, 1884] 



NA TURE 



425 



In conclusion, whilst far from proposing even to mention all 

 the important steps by which our science has advanced since the 

 year 1S4S, I cannot refrain from referring to two more. In the 

 first place, to that discovery, more than foreshadowed by Fara- 

 day, of the liquefaction of the so-called permanent gases by 

 Pictet and Cailletet ; and secondly, to that of the laws of dissocia- 

 tion as inves'igated byDeville. The former, including Andrews's 

 discovery of the critical point, indicates a connection, long un- 

 seen, between the liquid and the gaseous states of matter ; the 

 latter has opened out entirely fresh fields for research, and 

 has given us new views concerning the stability of chemical 

 compounds of great importance and interest. 



Turning for a moment to another topic, we feel that, although 

 science knows no nationalities, it is impossible for those who, 

 like ourselves, exhibit strong national traits, to avoid asking 

 whether we Anglo-Saxons hold our own, as compared with other 

 nations, in the part we have played and are playing in the de- 

 velopment of our science. With regard to the past, the names 

 of Boyle, Cavendish, Priestley, Dalton, Black, Davy, are suffi- 

 cient guarantees that the English have, to say the least, occupied 

 a position second to none in the early annals of chemistry. How 

 has it been in the era which I have attempted to describe ? What 

 is the present position of English chemistry, and what its look-out 

 for the future ? In endeavouring to make this estimate, I would 

 take the widest ground, including not only the efforts made to 

 extend the boundaries of our science by new discovery, both in 

 the theoretical and applied branches, but also those which have 

 the no le^s important aims of spreading the knowledge of the 

 subject amongst the people, and of establishing industries de- 

 pendent on chemical principles by which the human race is 

 benefited. Taking this wide view, I think we may, without 

 hesitation, affirm that the progress which chemistry has made 

 through the energies of the Anglo-Saxon race is not less than 

 that made by any other nation. 



In so far as pure science is concerned, I have already given 

 evidence of the not inconsiderable part which English chemists 

 have played in the progress since 1848. We must, however, 

 acknowledge that the number of original chemical papers now 

 published in our language is much smaller than that appearing 

 in the German tongue, and that the activity and devotion dis- 

 played in this direction by the heads of German laboratories may 

 well be laid to heart by some of us in England ; yet, on the other 

 hand, it must be remembered that the circumstances of different 

 '-ountries are so different that it is by no means clear that we 

 should follow the same lines. Indeed our national characteristics 

 forbid us to do so, and it may be that the bent of the Germanic 

 lies in the assiduous collection of facts, whilst their'subsequent 

 elaboration and connection is the natural work of our own race. 



As regards the publication of so-called original work by 

 students, and speaking now only for myself as the director of an 

 English chemical laboratory, I feel I am doing the best for the 

 young men who, wishing to become either scientific or industrial 

 chemists, are placed under my charge, in giving them as sound 

 and extensive a foundation in the theory and practice of chemical 

 science as their time and abilities will allow, rather than forcing 

 them prematurely into the preparation of a new series of homo- 

 logous compounds or the investigation of some special reaction, 

 or of some posMble new colouring matter, though such work 

 might doubtless lead to publication. My aim has been to 

 prepare a young man, by a careful and fairly complete general 

 training, to fill with intelligence and success a post either as 

 teacher or industrial chemist, rather than to turn out mere 

 specialists, who, placed under other conditions than those to 

 which they have been accustomed, are unable to get out of the 

 narrow groove in which they have been trained. And this seems 

 a reasonable course, for whilst the market for the pure specialist, 

 as the colour chemist for example, may easily be overstocked, 

 the man of all-round intelligence will always find opportunity 

 for the exercise of his powers. Far, however, from underrating 

 the educational advantages of working at original subjects, I 

 consider this sort of training to be of the highest and best 

 kind, but only useful when founded upon a sound and general 

 basis. 



The difficulty which the English teacher of chemistry — and 

 in this I may include Canada and the United States — has to 

 contend against is that, whilst in Germany the value of this 

 high and thorough training is generally admitted, in England 

 a belief in its efficacy is as yet not generally entertained. 

 "The Englishman," to quote from the recent Report of the 

 Royal Commission on Technical Instruction, "is accustomed 



to seek for an immediate return, and has yet to leant that an 

 extended and systematic education, up to and including the 

 methods of original research, is now a necessary preliminary to 

 the fullest development of industry, and it is to the gradual but 

 sure growth of public opinion in this direction that we must look 

 for the means of securing to this country in the future, as in the 

 past, the highest position as an industrial nation." 



If, in the second place, we consider the influence which 

 Englishmen have exerted on the teaching of our science, we shall 

 feel reason for satisfaction ; many of our text-books are translated 

 into every European language and largely used abroad ; often to 

 the exclusion of those written by Continental chemists. 



Again, science teaching, both practical and theoretical, in our 

 elementary and many secondary schools, is certainly not inferior 

 to that in schools of similar grade abroad, and the interest in and 

 desire for scientific training is rapidly spreading throughout our 

 working population, and is even now as great as, if not greater 

 than, abroad. The universities and higher colleges are also 

 moving to take their share of the work which has hitherto 

 been far less completely done in our country than on the 

 continent of Europe, especially in Germany, where the healthful 

 spirit of competition, fostered by the numerous State-supported 

 institutions, is much more common than with us, and, being of 

 equal value in educational as in professional or commercial 

 matters, has had its due effect. 



Turning lastly to the practical applications of our science, in 

 what department does England not excel ? and in which has she 

 not made the most important new departures ? Even in colour 

 chemistry, concerning which we have heard, with truth, much of 

 German supremacy, we must remember that the industry is 

 originally an English one, as the names of Perkin and of Maule, 

 Simpson and Nicholson, testify ; and if we have hitherto been 

 beaten hollow in the development of this branch, signs are not 

 wanting that this may not always be the case. But take any 

 other branch of applied chemistry, the alkali trade for instance, 

 what names but English, with the two great exceptions of 

 Leblanc and Solvay, do we find in connection with real dis- 

 coveries ? In the application of chemistry to metallurgical 

 processes, too, the names of Darby, Cort, Neilson, and Bell in 

 iron, of Bessemer, Thomas, Gilchrist, and Snelus in steel, of 

 Elkington and Matthey in the noble metals, show that in these 

 branches the discoveries which have revolutionised processes have 

 been made by Englishmen ; whilst Young, the father of paraffin, 

 Spence the alum-maker, and Abel of gun-cotton fame, are some 

 amongst many of our countrymen whose names may be honour- 

 ably mentioned as having founded new chemical industries. 



Hence, whilst there is much to stimulate us to action in the 

 energy and zeal shown by our Continental brethren in the pursuit 

 both of pure and applied chemistry, there is nothing to lead us 

 to think that that the chemistry of the English-speaking nations 

 in the next fifty years will be less worthy than that of the past 

 half-century of standing side by side with that of her friendly 

 rivals elsewhere. 



SECTION D 



Opening Address by H. N. Moseley, M.A., F.R.S.. 

 Linacre Professor, of Human and Comparative 

 Anatomy in the University of Oxford, President 

 of the Section 



In appointing the phenomena of pelagic and deep-sea life a> 

 one of the subjects specially selected for consideration at the 

 present meeting of this Section, the Organising Committee- 

 have, I think, done wisely. Our knowledge of the subject is at 

 present in most active progress. It is one of the widest and 

 deepest interest to the physiologist as well as the zoologist, and 

 in some features claims a share of attention from the botanist. 

 And the proximity here of the United States, to which science 

 is indebted for so many important discoveries on deep-sea 

 matters, is a strong argument in favour of the subject being 

 brought forward at a British Association meeting on this side of 

 the Atlantic. I have naturally been led to choose the considera- 

 tion of some deep-sea biological questions as the subject of my 

 address by the special interest which I have been led to take in 

 deep-sea phenomena generally, owing to my long participation 

 in actual deep-sea research during the voyage of II. M.S. 

 Challenger. 



Unfortunately, the physiology of deep-sea life has until lately 



