MARrcH 31, 1923] 

NATURE 
439 

_ in 1785, received a pension from Louis XVI., and, 
after the Revolution, occupied a post at the Con- 
servatoire des Arts et Métiers. He is buried in the 
| Pére-Lachaise cemetery. 
THANKS to the generosity of the Spanish Govern- 
- ment the Science Museum, South Kensington, now 
_ possesses a model of the flagship of Columbus, the 
Santa Maria, in which, accompanied by the Pinta 
and Nina, he made his famous voyage of discovery 
in 1492. The model is a copy of one in the Naval 
Museum, Madrid, and has been made under the 
supervision of the director, Capt. Don Antonio de la 
Reyna y Pidal. From time to time many inquiries 
have been made regarding the details of the Santa 
Maria, and for the Chicago Exhibition of 1893 a 
replica was constructed and sailed across the Atlantic 
by a Spanish crew under Capt. Concas, the course 
followed being that travelled by Columbus. The 
Pinta and Nina were small vessels of about 40 or 
50 tons, but the Santa Maria had a displacement 
of 233 tons. She was 95 feet long over all, carried 
a complement of 52 men, and mounted eight guns 
for firing stone shot. Another of the existing models 
of the Santa Maria is that made by Capt. Terry, 
who searched Southern Europe for information ; this 
model is illustrated in Chatterton’s well-known 
“Sailing Ships and their Story.” 
Mr. STANLEY BaLpwin, Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer, announced in the House of Commons on 
March 22 that he had decided to withdraw the 
proposal to charge fees for admission to the British 
Museum, Bloomsbury, and the Natural History 
Museum. The announcement followed a statement 
by Major Boyd-Carpenter, Parliamentary Secretary 
to the Ministry of Labour, that the cost of equipping 
the British Museum and the Natural History Museum 
with turnstiles for the collection of admission fees 
had been estimated at £500, and that possibly one 
extra attendant would be required. 

A CONVENTIONAL distinction is often drawn between 
science and art, but in their finest developments they 
have much in common. In an address before the 
Circle of Scientific, Technical, and Trade Journalists 
on March 20, Prof. Beresford Pite defined the artist 
as one who found his pleasure in his work—a defini- 
tion that surely applies equally well to the researcher 
in pure science. He also pointed out that the full 
development of architecture requires the stimulus of 
contact with other countries. The Elizabethan period 
was one of poverty in architectural effort, though 
literature flourished, a condition attributed to the 
isolation of this country from the Continent, owing 
to religious differences. This again applies to science, 
for the crippling effect of lack of intercourse with 
men of science in other countries is well recognised. 
Perhaps a third point of similarity might be found 
in his claim that the architect, like the man of science, 
does much work without prospect of reward. He is 
not paid for what he “rubs out,’’ neither is the ex- 
perimenter proportionately rewarded for the many 
fruitless experiments that usually precede a genuine 
discovery. In the course of the discussion the Press, 
NO. 2787, VOL. IIT] 

the influence of which in directing public attention 
to the claims of science has already been invited at 
previous meetings, was given an opportunity of hear- 
ing a masterly lecture on the ideals of architecture. 
THE annual meeting of the National Institute of 
Industrial Psychology was held on March 20 at the 
rooms of the Royal Society. Mr. H. J. Welch, 
chairman of the Institute, presided. Lord Balfour 
was the principal speaker, and he pointed out how 
mistaken is the idea that science has nothing to do 
with practical life. As a nation we are too apt to 
think that science exists for men of science, and that 
it can have no interest for practical men. He wished 
to bring together men of science, capitalists, leaders 
of labour—all the forces of society—in order to further 
the work of uniting science and practice. By the 
application of physiology and psychology Lord Balfour 
expressed the hope that the labours of the wage- 
earners may be made easier and smoother, so that 
work, instead of being a kind of torture, may become 
a pleasure. 
that the object of science is the relief of man’s estate. 
The next speaker, Sir Charles Sherrington, president 
of the Royal Society, described the changes which 
have 
He quoted Francis Bacon to the effect 
taken place during his lifetime in the 
position of psychology. The early pioneers in ex- 
perimental psychology occupied themselves with prob- 
lems which seemed quite remote from any practical 
application ; now, many of these early researches are 
recognised as of far-reaching practical importance. 
Sir Charles made a special plea for adequate support 
for, and sympathy with, that part of the work of the 
Institute which is known as vocational selection. 
Most boys have no chance whatever of getting into 
an occupation that suits them best; unguided, they 
drift into any trade. Both Sir Lynden Macassey ~ 
and Mr. A. Pugh showed from different points of 
view that there is more waste in industry owing to 
indifferent management than to indifferent workman- 
ship. Industrial managers are more equipped, as a 
rule, for controlling machines than for controlling 
men. Dr. C. Myers, director of the Institute, gave 
some details of the actual work of the Institute. 
Tue Central Mining-Rand Mines premium of 25/. 
has been awarded by the South African Institution 
of Engineers to Mr. W. J. Horne, organiser of tech- 
nical education, Transvaal, for his paper on “‘ Tech- 
nical Education for Trades,” read at Johannesburg. 
Ar the ordinary scientific meeting of the Chemical 
Society held on March 1, Prof. Bohuslav Brauner, 
Prof. Ernst Cohen, Prof. Gilbert N. Lewis, Prof. 
Charles Moureu, Prof. Amé Pictet, and Prof. Theodor 
Svedberg were elected honorary fellows. 
Tue King and Queen have consented to lay the 
foundation-stones of the new buildings for medical 
research at University College Hospital, London. 
These buildings, it will be remembered, have been 
made possible by a munificent gift of 1,250,000/. 
from the Rockefeller Foundation, announced some 
three years ago. It is probable that the ceremony 
will take place towards the end of May. 
