June 14, 1906] 



NA TURE 



151 



which lias beon identified with scientific progress in 

 Scotland during the nineteenth century to remain in 

 its old home, and receive some small assistance in 

 producing its Transactions and Proceedings. It must 

 b- admitted that this appeal met with only a very 

 disappointing response. 



The Royal Society was the heir and successor of a 

 previous society which was established in 173 1, and 

 therefore has been practically contemporary with the 

 great scientific illumination which had its beginning in 

 Newton's "Principia." .\fter an existence of about 

 h.-ill .-i century the society was established, in iSj6, in 

 the Royal Institution on the Mound in Princes Street, 

 the building in the form of a classic Greek temiile, 

 which with the unfinished national monument on the 

 C'allon Hill the Edinburgh Parthenon — and some 

 other public buildings on classic models, affords the 

 outward and visible part of the claim of Edinburgh to 

 be called the Modern Athens. Of the real distinc- 

 tion of the city, its eminence in the arts, science, and 

 letters, the Royal Society has undoubtedly contributed 

 a verv considerable part. Never a scientific society 

 only in the purely technical sense of the present day, 

 and never imposing any arbitrary restriction on its 

 fellowship, it has had on its roll and among its 

 presidents and office bearers all the authors, jurists, 

 philosophers, mathematicians, and physical investi- 

 gators whom Scotland has produced during the 

 eventful period of the society's existence. 



Though, like others that might be cited, the Royal 

 Societv of Edinburgh has been from time to time per- 

 haps a little too closely identified with the city in which 

 it has had its headquarters, it has always been a 

 national institution. Its library, which is rich in 

 scientific periodicals, has been consulted by men from 

 all parts of Scotland, and its rooms have been a rally- 

 ing place for Scottish workers, especially in later years 

 for the younger generation of biologists, mathe- 

 maticians, and physicists. It was never more active 

 than at present, and is in danger of being ruined by 

 its very success, for the problem of providing for the 

 expense of the publication of the manv excellent 

 memoirs which have been received of late for its 

 Transactions has seriously embarrassed the council. 

 This point should be carefully borne in mind in con- 

 sidering the reply of the Scottish Secretary to the depu- 

 tation. The demand made was not merely that the 

 society should not be dispossessed of its rooms with- 

 out full compensation (though this was the immediate 

 reason for the deputation), but that it should be treated 

 with regard to publications in a small degree at least 

 as the Royal Society of London and the Royal Irish 

 .Vcademv are treated. 



.\s was explained in our last week's issue, the pro- 

 posal of the Government is to provide the Roval 

 Scottish Academy with a separate house in which, like 

 the Royal .\cademy at Burlington House, it may 

 annually exhibit its pictures and sculpture to the 

 general public, and — incidentally, of course — to the 

 patrons of .Art. Hitherto this .\cademv has shared the 

 rooms provided for artistic purposes in the National 

 Gallery building also on the Mound; and competent 

 judges, even within the .\cademy itself, have deemed 

 the provision sufficient. Some of their chief men 

 have even dared to suggest that what was wanted was 

 not so much an extension of space as an elevation of 

 the standard of selection ! Nevertheless, the bitter 

 cry of the artists for some time has been for a house 

 of their own ; and this the Government has now- 

 determined to provide, not by erecting a suitable new- 

 building from public funds, but bv the cheaper method 

 of evicting the Royal Societv of Edinburgh from 

 the rooms w-hich were arranged for it in a building 

 erected mainly for its accommodation. When the 

 decision was announced to the Roval Societv it was 



accompanied bv a statement of the willingness of the 

 Government to' do something to " help " the Society 

 in the ditlicully thus created for it by no fault of its- 

 own. Though Mr. Sinclair has now gone a good 

 deal further, and admitted that the (iovernment will 

 be under an obligation to do something substantial, 

 he still merely speaks of " help," and urges the Society 

 to trust to the " liberal spirit " in which the Govern- 

 ment is sure to view its necessities ! 



Now this is all very well, but, as Mr. Sinclair knows, 

 it is not exactly business. The Government of the day 

 has always been lavish of assurances of its high con- 

 sideration to the men of science who have applied U) it 

 in the past, whether for the Royal Society of I-'din- 

 burgh, the Ben Nevis Observatory, or anything else, 

 but for science in Scotland at least it has consistently 

 refused to do anvthing whatever beyond continuing 

 the small dole it 'has hitherto given. The societv is 

 not justified, therefore, in being too trustful. It is being 

 dispossessed, and its claim for compen.sation should 

 either be recognised by a clause in the Bill now before 

 Parliament or acknowledged by being made the subject 

 of a definite pledge by the responsible Minister. 



.Another assurance asked for by the society and no 

 less essential remains to be given. Time is needed in 

 which to find the best possible premises, to fit them 

 up, remove the library, and arrange for the meetings, 

 without interruption of the society's work. At present 

 the council has onlv a legal right to two years' notice, 

 and a definite promise that this much too narrow limit 

 of time will not be insisted on is most important. .\s , 

 it is, the insistence of the Scottish Secretary on the 

 necessity for promptitude of decision and action by 

 the society is ominous. 



With regard to the promise of " help " towards the 

 erection, or provision otherwise, of new- rooms, it is 

 to be observed that the society has no funds to con- 

 tribute to the erection or purchase of a building. Every 

 pennv left after providing for a very modest budget 

 of ordinary expenses goes to the publication of 

 scientific jpapers. The dole of 300!. made by 

 Government is actually paid back to the Board of 

 Manufactures as rent ' for the rooms in the Royal 

 Institution. For publications the Royal Society of 

 Edinburgh receives nothing; the Royal Society 

 of London receives 1000?. per annum for publi- 

 cations ; the corresponding body in Ireland — the 

 Royal Irish Academy— lives in its own house, 

 which was given it bv'the Government, and enjoys a 

 grant of 1500/. a v'ear. [Moreover, the houses in 

 London and Dublin are maintained by the Board of 

 Works, which means a further vearlv contribution 

 not made to the Edinburgh society.] The request of 

 the defjutation that some" sniall annual grant should 

 be made for publications was ignored in the Secretary's 

 answ-er. That answ-er, it is to be observed, was written 

 out beforehand, and read as soon as Prof. Chrystal 

 had summed up for the Society, so that even the usual 

 i form of taking the representations made into con- 

 ! sideration was' omitted. In fact, except as regards 

 the admission of the claim of the society to some com- 

 pensation for disturbance, the statements and claims 

 of the deputation w-ent the w-av of most representa- 

 tions made to Scottish Secretaries, whether at home at 

 Parliament Square or on the alien soil of Dover House. 



The British Science Guild has not been established 

 too soon. The Government and Mr. Sinclair may have 

 as generous intentions as the friends of the artists in 

 the' Edinburgh Press urge th>=' Royal Societv to believe 

 — and we mav sav that nobody doubts that the in- 

 tentions of bo'th are c-ood— but it will be the duly of 

 the council to obtain the necessary guarantees for the 

 continued usefulness, if not for the existence, of the 

 societv. If necessary the British Science Guild will 

 no doubt lend its pow-erful aid. 



NO. 



191 I, VOL. 74I 



