April 6, 1871] 

always be looked upon as of secondary importance, we 
are convinced that greater progress will be made if che- 
mistry is regarded and studied from the high point of 
view so forcibly pointed out by Dr. Fittig in his interesting 
address. Boe 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressea 
by his Correspondents. No notice is taken of anonymous 
communications. | 
Chemical Research in England 
IN confirmation of your remark in the last number of NATURE 
that, in regard to scientific discovery, we in this country “‘ are 
conspicuous for our prominent position in the rear,” will you per- 
mit me to state the result of an inquiry which I lately made into 
the comparative activity of this and other countries in the prose- 
cution of chemical research ? 
In the year 1866 there were published 1,273 papers on new dis- 
coyeries, by 805 chemists, 1°58 paper being thus the average 
produce of each investigator. Of these, Germany contributed 
445 authors and 777 papers, or 1°75 paper to each author ; 
France, 170 authors, and 245 papers, or 1°44 paper to each 
author ; whilst the United Kingdom furnished only 97 authors, 
and 127 papers, or 1°31 paper to each author ; all other coun- 
tries yielding 93 authors and 124 papers, or 1°33 paper to each 
author. Thus, not only are we far behind in the aggregate of 
activity in discovery, but our individual productiveness is also 
markedly below that of Germany and France. From a purely 
national point of view, our case is even worse than it appears to 
be from a comparison of these figures, since a considerable pro- 
portion of the papers contributed by the United Kingdom were 
the work of chemists born and educated in Germany. 
It will be seen that the above comparison covers chemistry 
only ; but there is every reason to believe that in other sciences, 
the progress of which depends, like that of chemistry, upon ex- 
perimental investigation, our position is still worse. It is highly 
remarkable that a country which, perhaps more than any other, 
owes its greatness to the discoveries of experimental science, 
should be distinguished for its neglect of experimental research. 
But the causes of this anomaly are sufficiently obvious ; they are : 
Ist. The want of suitable buildings and apparatus for the pro- 
secution of such investigations. 
2nd. The non-recognition of experimental research by any of 
our universities. 
With regard to the first of these causes, the prosecution of ex- 
perimental discovery in this country is rendered extremely diffi- 
cult, if not impossible, to those who do not possess ample private 
fortunes ; and even to such as have this advantage, it is by no 
means easy. A laboratory of research is not a convenient or 
agreeable adjunct to a dwelling-house, and it is generally pro- 
hibited by the terms of the lease or covenant ; indeed it is agreed 
on all hands that most of the operations which are required for 
the prosecution of inquiries in chemistry, physics, and physiology, 
ought only to be carried on in buildings specially devoted to the 
purpose. But where are such buildings to be found? Our 
chemical laboratories are only adapted for beginners, there is not 
in any one of them a separate department constructed and fitted 
for original research. Still less is this the case in physical and 
physiological laboratories ; indeed until Sir William Thomson in- 
stituted one in Glasgow some three or four years ago, there was 
not in the United Kingdom a physical laboratory even for be- 
ginners. In Germany, on the other hand, the noble State labora- 
tories of Berlin, Leipzig, Bonn, Heidelberg, Kénigsberg, and 
Stuttgart, are provided with special departments where the ex- 
perimental investigator finds ample convenience and the neces- 
sary but costly instruments of precision provided for his use, the 
NATURE 

445 
payment of a moderate fee only being required to secure all these 
advantages. 
With regard to the second case, the highest degrees, and even 
honours in experimental science, are given in all our universities 
without any proof being required that the candidate possesses 
the capacity to conduct an original experimental investigation, or 
that he is competent to extend the boundaries of his science. 
On the other hand, in all the Prussian Universities, and in the 
best German Universities generally, no candidate is even admitted 
to examination for his degree unless he first submits to the senate 
a dissertation on some original experimental investigation con- 
ducted by himself. This investigation must also have a sufficient 
importance; for, as a matter of fact, more candidates are rejected 
on the ground of insufficiency of dissertation than through 
failure to pass the subsequent examinations. The entire ignoring 
of research in the granting of degrees in this country not only 
effectually prevents the training of students in experimental 
investigation, and the actual execution of researches by students ; 
but it has also a direct tendency to divert the attention of pro- 
fessors and teachers from original research—they are not called 
upon to devise, as is the case in Germany, suitable subjects for 
research to be pursued by their students ; and thus, not only is 
their attention withdrawn from this all-important field of experi- 
mental science, but, as their students have to be trained for 
subjects which are foreign to research, they feel that to devote 
any considerable portion of their own time to it would be to that 
extent to neglect their class duties. 

E. FRANKLAND 
Dublin Observatory 
IN an account of the Observatory of Trinity College, Dublin, 
given in NATURE of March 16, 1871, there is a slight mistake 
in the date of the erection of the Transit Instrument, which is 
there assigned to 1808. It was erected many years before ; for 
in the second volume of the Transactions of the Royal Irish 
Academy, Dr. Usher describes observations made with it in 
1785. 
Ishould not have thought the correction of this error necessary 
but for the fact that this transit marked the epoch of a most im- 
portant improvement in astronomical instruments. It was the 
first in which the illumination of wires was effected through the 
axis by an internal reflector. This invention is described by 
Usher in the volume already referred to. 
1808 was the date of the circle’s erection; it having been 
ordered in 1783. This delay was in one respect fortunate. 
Ramsden, having quarrelled with Usher, resolved that the latter 
should never have the circle. On Usher’s death Ramsden set to 
work to complete it, but found, to his dismay, that the extremities 
of its radial arms had become “‘ rotten,” haying been acted on 
by the sulphurous atmosphere of London. 
As originally constructed, it was ten feet diameter. He re- 
moved the rims (which, I believe, had been also acted on), cut 
away about six inches from each of the arms, and found the 
remainder sound. But as he was doubtful about its permanence, 
he let it lie several years longer, and found his apprehensions 
verified. He cut off sixinches more from each arm and awaited 
the result, notwithstanding the urgent expostulations of Brinkley ; 
and it was not until a short period before his death that he was 
satisfied that no farther change was probable. He then completed 
it at its reduced diameter of eight feet. But it was not divided 
till after his death (by Berge, his successor). 
It is not easy to explain why this destruction was confined to 
the ends of the arms. To judge from the analogy of the 
Palermo Circle, the diameter of these arms at the outer extremity 
was very small ; and if they were of cast brass, the molecular 
condition of the metal there, in consequence of the more rapid 
cooling, may have been different from that of the more massive 
portions. 
A still more remarkable instance of this destructive action 
occurred to a circle described by Mr. Bond in the Philosophical 
Transactions, 1806, and known as the Westbury Circle. This 
was ultimately established at the old Observatory of the Glasgow 
University, and in an atmosphere still more sulphurous than that 
of London. When this University was broken up, and its 
instruments sold, this circle was purchased by the late Sir James 
