690 

NATURE 
[AUGUST 19, 1915 
GRANTS FOR SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGA- | mankind.” The grants made by the trustees amount 
TION AND UNIVERSITY WORK. 
HEN the Government scheme for the promotion 
of scientific and industrial research was an- 
nounced in the House of Commons in May last, it 
was stated that, to begin with, a sum of 25,0001. would 
be placed at the disposal of the advisory council 
appointed in connection with the scheme. This sum, 
and any other amounts voted by Parliament for the 
same purpose, will be included in the Civil Service 
Estimates under the Grants in Aid of Scientific Inves- 
tigation. All the grants made under this head for 
1915-16, together with grants from the Development 
Fund, and to universities and university colleges, are 
shown in the subjoined statement from the ninth 
annual report of the British Science Guild. The provi- 
sion which is now being made for research gives 
topical interest to the facts here brought together. 
GRANTS FOR SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION. 
The annual grants made by Parliament specifically 
for scientific investigations and related services amount 
to about 100,000l., and the details of the estimates for 
IgI5-16 are shown in the subjoined table. 
Royal Society :— LS 
(i) (a) Scientific Investigations - 4,000 
(b) Scientific Publications ... 1,000 
(ii) Magnetic Observatory at Eskdale- 
muir 1,000 
(iii) National Physical Laboratory 
(iv) Aeronautical Section of the National 
Physical Laboratory : 
Meteorological Office im ee eae) 22,500 
Royal Geographical Society 1,250 
Royal Academy of Music 500 
Royal College of Music ef ae 500 
Marine Biological Association of the 
United Kingdom : 500 
Royal Society of Edinburgh | 600 
Scottish Meteorological Society 100 
Royal Irish Academy Ns ze “be 1,600 
Royal Trish Academy of Music 300 
Royal Zoological Society of Ireland 500 
Royal Hibernian Academy op 300 
British School at Athens 500 
British School at Rome 500 
Royal Scottish Geographical Society 200 
National Library of Wales re +2 83200 
National Museum of Wales Me pa 72300 
Solar Physics Observatory 3,000 
British Academy . 400 
School of Oriental Studies : 1,500 
North Sea Fisheries Investigation 1,250 
Imperial Transantarctic Benn 
IQI4—-15 : of 5,000 
Edmbuceh Observatory 1,657 
£90,582 
The grants to the National Physical Laboratory and 
the Meteorological Office, amounting altogether to 
nearly 40,000l., are for direct national services rather 
than scientific investigation; and when these amounts 
are deducted the actual sums voted by the State to 
scientific institutions, or for purposes of research, 
show little relationship to those which the trustees 
of the Carnegie Institution of Washington are able 
to give. The institution was founded by Mr. Carnegie 
in 1902, with an endowment of 2,000,000l., to which 
he added 400,000l. in 1907, and a further .2,000,000l. 
in 1911. The articles of incorporation of the institu- 
tion declare ‘‘that the objects of the corporation shall 
be to encourage, in the broadest and most liberal 
manner, investigation, research, and discovery, and 
the application of knowledge to the improvement of 
NO. 2390, VOL. 95] 


to nearly a quarter of a million pounds annually. 
In addition, however, to the specific State grants 
under the foregoing head of scientific investigation, 
much larger funds are at the disposal of the National 
Health Insurance Joint Committee and the Develop- 
ment Commissioners. 
Under the National Health Insurance Act the 
annual revenue accruing from one penny in respect 
of each insured person (payable out of moneys pro- 
vided by Parliament) provide a fund from which 
grants are available for the purposes of medical re- 
search. The total amount available annually for this 
purpose is about 56,000l. 
GRANTS FROM THE DEVELOPMENT FUND. 
The Report of the Development Commissioners for 
the year ended March 31, 1914, describes the work 
of the Commission during the year 1913-14. Atten- 
tion is directed to three cardinal facts relating to the 
provisions of the Acts constituting the Development 
Fund and Commission. First, the amount hitherto 
appropriated by Parliament to the Fund is 2,900,000. ; 
secondly, the Commissioners are a purely deliberative 
and advisory body, having no power themselves to 
carry out schemes of which they approve; thirdly, 
grants and loans from the Fund can only be made 
for certain specified purposes (speaking generally for 
the development of the agriculture and fisheries of 
the United Kingdom and for connected purposes such 
as forestry and the construction and improvement of 
canals and harbours) and to certain specified bodies, 
which do not include companies trading for a profit. 
The expenditure actually recommended by the Com- 
missioners, under the head of Agricultural and Rural 
Industries, during the year 1913-14 was 472,7931. 
(practically all grants), as compared with 227,60ol. 
during 1912-13. This large increase is due partly to 
the fact that during 1913-14 three or four large grants 
were recommended for capital expenditure on build- 
ings, and for some years’ working of a scheme which 
could not be started on the basis of annual grants; 
such advances as 28,650]. for a veterinary laboratory 
for the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 18,0001. 
for buildings for the Edinburgh and East of Scotland 
College of Agriculture, 25,675]. for a ten years’ scheme 
of tobacco experiments in Ireland, 10,325/. for build- 
ings at Reading University College, 10,0001. for 
buildings at the Midland Agricultural and Dairy Col- 
lege, are not annual requirements. The grant to the 
Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in aid of agricul- 
tural research and experiments during 1914-15 was 
46,900l., and for the Farm Institutes scheme 58,3501. 
Under the head of forestry the advances recommended 
by the Commissioners amounted to 91,100l., and the 
grants actually made amounted to 34,500l., of which 
6500l. was for forestry research and advisory work 
during 1913-4 and 81ool. for the same purposes in 
1914-15. The total grants made in connection with 
fisheries were 20 ,gool., of which 11,100l. was for 
fishery research and 20001. a supplementary grant for 
a fishery research vessel. 
The Report concludes with the following statement 
of the position of the Development Fund and Com- 
mission : i 
The total amount guaranteed to the Fund for the 
period up to the end of the financial year 1914-15 was 
2,900,000l., the whole of which sum has been paid 
over to the Fund. 
Up to March 31, 1914, the Commissioners had 
actually recommended advances up to the amount of 
1,493,375!., of which 1,216,695]. were grants and 
276,680l. loans. The main reason for the excess of 
grants over loans is the large expenditure on educa- 
tion and research—purposes which for obvious reasons 
are scarcely suitable subjects for loans. Of this sum, 
