10 NATURE 
His widow and three fine sons survive to mourn 
his loss; his funeral at Hampstead on August 23 
was a military one, and was largely attended not 
only by his relations and personal friends, but by 
representatives, military and medical, of both 
British and Canadian institutions. 
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL 
RESEARCH. 
Ts important Report before us embodies the 
first annual statement of the work of the 
Advisory Council. Its contents deserve the 
closest consideration by all who have been interest- 
ing themselves in the dominating questions of the 
organisation of scientific and industrial research. 
We hope to deal more in detail with the proposals 
and suggestions in the Report in a later issue. 
Meanwhile, it will be sufficient to point out that 
it is divided into sections which are occupied 
respectively with :— 
(i) The statement of the problems at issue and 
the steps taken by the Advisory Council to inform 
itself as to the present condition of scientific 
research in the United Kingdom and the bodies or 
persons conducting it. 
(ii) The standing committees appointed on 
special subjects and the co-operative action under- 
taken by trade associations and professional and 
learned societies. 
(iii) The nature of the difficulties surrounding 
the organisation of scientific and industrial 
research. 
(iv) The sphere of action of the universities and 
technical colleges and the probable necessity for 
special research institutions. 
(v) The necessity for conjoint action by all por- 
tions of the Empire and a general statement of 
the conditions of successful, work. 
The general tone of the Report may be de- 
scribed as tentative; the Council evidently desir- 
ing to feel its way cautiously and yet desiring to 
utilise so far as possible at present the existing 
machinery of research. 
Taken as a whole, the Report is a very able 
statement of the complexity of the questions 
awaiting solution, and its recommendations should 
receive the most careful thought from all who are 
concerned with scientific work, whether pure or 
applied. 
The report occupies fifty-six pages, of which forty 
are devoted to the report: of the Advisory Council, 
signed by the administrative chairman, Sir William 
McCormick. In an introductory note Lord Crewe 
refers to the establishment in July, 1915, of the Com- 
mittee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Indus- 
trial Research, and to grants made on the advice of 
the Advisory Council. Twenty scientific investiga- 
tions of industrial importance, particulars of which 
are given in an appendix, have been aided; and, in 
addition, grants amounting at the close of the 
academic year 1916-17 to about 60001. have been made 
to individual research workers. The amount placed 
by Parliament at the disposal of the Committee for 
2 Report of the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial 
Research for the Year 1915-1916. [Cd. 8336]. (London: Wyman and Sons, 
Ltd.) Price gd. 
NO. 2445, VOL. 98] 
[SEPTEMBER 7, 1916 
the establishment of the scheme was 25,o00l, for the 
financial year 1915-16, and of this 12,241/, was ex- 
pended, including a grant of 4250l. to the Koyal 
society. For the current financial year the vote by 
Parliament is 40,000, : 
A memorandum embodying @ertain suggestions for 
promoting co-operation between different parts of the 
Empire in the organisation of scientific and industrial 
research is printed as an appendix. Approval is ex- 
pressed of the principle of Imperial co-operation ; and it 
is suggested that each Overseas Government which is 
willing to enter into such an arrangement should 
constitute some body or, agency having functions 
analogous to those of the Advisory Council which 
acts for the United Kingdom. The Committee of 
Council is prepared to co-operate with the Secretary 
of State in establishing and conducting any central 
organisation which it may be found desirable to set 
up in London for the purpose of facilitating and carry- 
ing on the business of an Imperial Scheme of Re- 
search. 
The report of the Advisory Council opens with an 
historical statement in which reference is made to the 
establishment of the National Physical Laboratory, 
the Engineering Standards Committee, the Imperial 
Institute, the Imperial College of Science and Tech- 
nology, and other national institutions. At the outset 
the Council decided to give science in its applications 
to industry precedence over pure science, though under 
no misapprehension as to the relations between pure 
and applied science. Conferences were held with a 
number of professional bodies, and standing com- 
mittees were appointed on engineering, metallurgy, 
and mining, while others are contemplated. A regis- 
ter of researches is being prepared, and encouragement 
is being given to co-operative research to benefit an 
industry as a whole. The most promising sign of 
progress is the increased interest in scientific research 
now manifested by men of business, manufacturers, 
and trade associations, but much yet remains to be 
done on a larger scale than has hitherto been 
attempted. The small scale on which most British 
industrial firms have been planned is one of the prin- 
cipal impediments in the way of the organisation of 
research, with a view to the conduct of these long and 
complicated investigations which are necessary for 
the solution of the fundamental problems lying at the 
basis of our staple industries. 
It is intended to issue, under the title of ‘‘ Science 
and Industry,” a new series of pamphlets showing 
among other matters what is being done in industrial 
research laboratories in the United States and else- 
where. One of these will include material collected 
by Mr. A. P. M. Fleming, and another the paper by 
Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees, printed in Nature of July 
13 and 20. Some of the conditions to be secured if 
the object for which the Committee of Council was 
established is to be attained are summarised as fol- 
lows :— 
If we were asked to state these conditions in the 
shortest possible terms we should reply: First, a 
largely increased supply of competent researchers; 
secondly, a hearty spirit of co-operation among all 
concerned, men of science, men of business, working 
men, professional and scientific societies, universities 
and technical colleges, local authorities and Govern- 
ment departments. And neither condition will be 
effective without the other. 
The first condition of success cannot be secured 
rapidly at any time, and for the moment is out of the 
question. It is often said that when the industries 
call for the research workers, they will be forth- 
coming. The demand will create a supply, No doubt 
it will in time, especially if the discoverer or inventor . 
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