JuLy 8, 1915] 
NATURE 
522 

for dealing with certain branches of applied science 
which can be brought to bear upon the operations of 
war. It is necessary to regularise the position and 
to extend the sphere of influence of such bodies. In 
order to carry out, these objects without delay, the 
following measures appear to be necessary :— 
“(1) The Royal Society to be formally constituted 
as an advisory body in regard to scientific questions 
arising out of the war, and requiring to be dealt with 
by his Majesty’s Government. 
“(2) For this purpose the Royal Society would estab- 
lish a general advisory committee to which all Depart- 
ments of State would be directed to apply for assist- 
ance in regard to such matters as the following :— 
“(a) New inventions or suggestions involving the 
application of science to warfare by sea or land. 
~(b) Any problems arising out of the proved needs 
of war which call for scientific treatment and inves- 
tigation. 
“(c) Improved methods of manufacture, 
manufactures, requiring to be started. 
(3) The duties of the general advisory committee 
would be :-— . 
“(a) To make such subcommittees as are needed 
to deal with all the above-mentioned matters. 
*(b) To allocate them either to these subcommittees, 
or to individual experts, as may seem most efficacious. 
“(c) To secure co-ordination and to prevent over- 
lapping of work. 
‘““(4) The general advisory committee should also be 
empowered to make suggestions to the head of any 
Department of State in regard to questions of applied 
science. 
“(5) The subcommittees would not necessarily con- 
sist only of fellows of the Royal Society, but would 
contain members of other scientific societies, or indi- 
vidual experts, together with representatives, nomin- 
ated by the Department of State concerned. 
(6) Such representatives would. act as_ inter- 
mediaries between the subcommittee and the Depart- 
ment, and would obtain from the latter any informa- 
tion required. i 
“(7) If, arising out of the war, new processes of 
manufacture were needed to be begun, or existing pro- 
cesses to be improved or extended, the subcommittee 
involved would co-operate with the Munitions Depart- 
ment, and would provide such expert knowledge as 
might be required. 
“(8) When special experiments, lying beyond the 
resources at the disposal of, or accessible to, the Royal 
Society, became necessary, funds should be made 
available ad hoc, either by the Treasury, or by the 
Department concerned.” 
It will be observed that Lord Sydenham’s draft 
scheme deals only with exigencies of war. But is it 
too much to hope that if and when peace comes, the 
organisation would not be allowed to lapse? This 
will not be the last war; we have learned, in the 
crucible of fire, that we must be prepared. Nor is 
what we usually term “war” what is most to be 
dreaded. It is the insidious advance by fair means 
or foul means of our enemies the Germans to obtain 
a monopoly of all fields of human endeavour. That 
nation is organised for that purpose, and this war is 
merely one attempt, and let us hope a fruitless attempt, 
to obtain world-wide dominion. 
May I conclude by quoting again from Sir Norman 
Lockyer’s presidential address ? 
“Without such a machinery [as that of a Scientific 
National Council], how can our Ministers and our 
rulers be kept completely informed on a _ thousand 
things of vital importance? Why should our position 
and requirements as an industrial and thinking nation 
receive less attention from the authorities than the 
head-dress of the Guards? . How, in the words of Lord 
NO. 2384, VOL. 95] 
or new 

Curzon, can ‘the life and vigour of a nation be 
summed up before the world in the person of its 
Sovereign’ if the national organisation is so defective 
that it has no means of keeping the head of the State 
informed on things touching the most vital and lasting 
interests of the country?” 
In the course of his remarks while moving a vote 
of thanks to Sir William Ramsay for his address, the 
president said :—Though some of us may differ from 
Sir William as to the likelihood of another war as 
| great as this, on one point we are all bound to agree 
with him, namely, that there should be prompt national 
organisation of all the scientific capacity we possess ; 
co-ordination, and supreme control by a council—it 
need not consist of more than a dozen men, whose 
duty it should be to apply scientific results to the war 
in every department. ‘There is no doubt in the world 
that we can have an organisation in Great Britain 
equal to anything which the Germans possess if we 
will only make up our minds to do it., Our Parlia- 
mentary Committees and other committees dealing 
with most important aspects of this war will not suc- 
ceed in doing anything of real importance to our 
present needs unless they work through such a council 
as has been suggested. From that point of view I 
think the British Science Guild might be of service. 
We must spare no effort to impress upon the Govern- 
ment and the public that the course proposed by Sir 
William should be taken at once. 
Sir Archibald Geikie, in seconding the vote of 
thanks, said:—It is a painful history—the history 
of the indifference of the State to science and our 
country. I throw my mind back to the time when I 
heard Sir Lyon Playfair give that address from which 
Sir William has quoted, and I know that every word 
then said was true. I dare say that since that time some 
of the indifference—I would almost call it the anti- 
pathy—on the part of the official mind towards science 
has altered a little for the better, but there is still 
plenty to be done. It is not all the fault of Govern- 
ments. They themselves have to work against the 
dead-weight of this incubus of indifference which goes 
right through society. The Royal Society has been 
mentioned, and I am proud of its history. As you 
are aware, the Royal Society is actively at work at 
present, the council having been converted into a war 
committee so as to devote the whole of its efforts to 
war matters. If there is to be some central com- 
mittee dealing with scientific matters, I am sure there 
could be no more efficient centre than the council of 
the Royal Society. 
The proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to 
the chairman, proposed by Sir Ronald Ross, seconded 
by Sir A. Phillips, and carried unanimously. 

CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL IN 
CHEMISTRY. 
A 
WE print below a letter issued by the president and 
council of the Chemical Society with the view 
of assisting the Government to bring the war to a 
successful conclusion. Fellows of the society are in- 
vited to offer suggestions likely to be of value to our 
armed forces, to state in what branch of work they 
consider they can be of most use to the country at the 
present juncture, and what facilities they can offer 
either as regards laboratory accommodation or time 
available for voluntary work on national services. The 
council has constituted itself a consultative committee 
to consider suggestions and inventions placed before 
it; and its action should be the means of placing at 
the disposal of the country an effective body of expert 
opinion. The co-ordination and organisation of the 
various branches of chemical science and their appli- 
