July 12, 1906] 



NA TURE 



259 



international undcrtaliings, sucli as the Catalogue of 

 Scientific Literature, tile Geodetic Association, and the Geo- 

 logical Congress. 



The association meets every three years. To these meet- 

 ings each constituent academy may send as many delegates 

 as may be found convenient. For the discussion of special 

 questions the assembly divides itself into a scientific section 

 and a literary section. 



In each of these sections, as well as in the plenary 

 meetings comprising both sections, each academy has only 

 one vote. At each triennial assembly the next meeting 

 place is chosen. In the intervals between the meetings 

 the affairs of the association are placed in the hands of a 

 council on which each academy is represented by two 

 members or one, according as it comprises both a literary 

 and scientific section or only one of them. The resolutions 

 passed by the association are not binding on the con- 

 stituent academies, who maintain their liberty of adopting 

 or rejecting them. 



The .Association of Academies suffers unavoidably from 

 a certain want of homogeneity, owing to differences in the 

 constitution of its component bodies. Most Continental 

 academies contain both literary and scientific sections, and 

 at the organising meeting held at Wiesbaden, marked atten- 

 tion was directed to the fact that there was no body in 

 F.ngland that could be considered as representative of 

 literary studies. If matters had been left as they stood 

 then, this country would have been altogether unrepresented 

 as regards half the activity of the association. Efforts 

 were made in consequence to take a more liberal view of 

 the branches of knowledge coming within the range of the 

 Royal Society, and to include literary subjects. Very un- 

 fortunately, in my opinion, these efforts failed, and a 

 charter was granted to the British Academy, which has 

 now been included as a separate body among the list of 

 academies forming part of the association. While in this 

 respect we have been at a certain disadvantage, the consti- 

 tution of the Royal Society has the great advantage of 

 being truly representative of the Empire. In France, on 

 the other hand, no one can belong to the Academy of 

 Sciences who is not domiciled in Paris. Similarly, although 

 Germany possesses four Royal academies (Berlin, Got- 

 tingen, Leipzig, Munich), each of them is confined, as re- 

 gards ordinary members, to its own locality, so that a 

 professor of the Universities of Bonn or Heidelberg, how- 

 ever eminent he may be, could not become a member of 

 any of these academics. Neither in France nor in Germany 

 can the academy therefore be called truly representative. 

 The disadvantages which may arise from this defect have 

 been minimised by adopting a rule that the International 

 Association of Academies may appoint committees for the 

 discussion of special questions, and that members of these 

 committees need not be members of any of the constituent 

 academies. This to a large degree obviates what would 

 otherwise be a considerable difficulty. Nevertheless, I 

 believe that the circumstances to which I have directed 

 attention form the only impediment in the way of handing 

 over to the -Association of Academies the ultimate control 

 of every new international undertaking, and even the 

 charge of some of those already established. It is highly 

 desirable that we should work towards this end. An 

 energetic enthusiast may easily start a new enterprise, and 

 Governments are appealed to from different sides for help 

 and support. There ought to be some authoritative bodv 

 to whom the Governments could apply for advice. Over- 

 lapping and waste would thus be avoided. 



It is not my desire to disguise the difficulties which have 

 sometimes been encountered in providing for joint under- 

 takings on a large scale. Whether national or inter- 

 national, combined work between men of different tempera- 

 ments always requires some suppression of personality. 

 Even stronger feelings may be involved when a central 

 olTice or bureau has to be selected which specially dis- 

 tinguishes one locality. The advantage gained bv the 

 locality is often one of appearance rather than of reality, 

 for these central offices should be the servants rather than 

 the masters of the undertaking. In order to prevent 

 national feeling being aroused by any preference given to 

 one nation, it has been customary in some cases to have a 

 president who belongs to a different countrv from that of 



NO. 1915, VOL. 74] 



the director of the Central Bureau ; there are also a vice- 

 president and a secretary, all belonging to different nations. 

 It is thought that such a distribution of office may assist 

 in preserving harmony. I believe that this is the case, but 

 sometimes at the risk of impaired efficiency. It cannot be 

 denied, however, that the seat of the central ofTice of an 

 important undertaking confers a certain dignity, and it is 

 quite natural that a country should feel some pride in the 

 distinction. 



England on the whole has not done so badjy. We should 

 not forget that in a great portion of the world all clocks 

 strike the same minutes and seconds. Before long all 

 civilised countries (e.\cept Ireland) will have adopted the 

 Greenwich meridian for their standard of time, and we may 

 rightly, therefore, call Greenwich the central bureau of 

 universal time. 



The oflices of the International Catalogue and both the 

 central and computing bureaux of the Solar Union arc 

 situated in this country, and if we have not secured an 

 even larger share of the onerous but honourable duties 

 incumbent on such offices the fault is our own. The 

 questions which at the present moment more especiallv 

 require combined treatment are those of geo-physics, a 

 subject for which very inadequate provision has been made 

 in England. Our earthquake observations almost entirely 

 depend on the self-devotion of one man, and the Meteor- 

 ological Office, which might reasonably be expected to take 

 charge of certain portions of the work, such .is atmospheric 

 electricity, is kept in a state of chronic poverty, and has 

 to restrict itself to work of the most pressing necessity. 



Germany, having a large number of well-equipped 

 stations for geodetic, magnetic, and aeronautic work, 

 naturally reaps the reward when the offices of an inter- 

 national undertaking have to be chosen which shall be 

 attached to flourishing institutions in charge of men possess- 

 ing the leisure and qualifications for the work. 



No serious advance will be made in our own country in 

 this respect until our universities pay more attention to 

 the subject of terrestrial physics. This would involve the 

 establishment by the universities of separate laboratories 

 or institutions, to which their present funds could not be 

 applied. The matter wants consideration in detail, and 

 should be carried out according to a homogeneous scheme 

 which would prevent wasteful repetition in different places. 

 But I feel certain that until we have trained up a number 

 of students who possess an adequate knowledge of questions 

 of meteorology, geodetics, terrestrial magnetism, and 

 seismology, the position which this country will take in 

 international organisation cannot be a leading one, though 

 it may be, and, indeed, owing to private efforts, is at the 

 present moment, one of which we need not be ashamed. 



Finally, I must lay stress on one aspect of the question 

 which I hope may induce us to attach still greater import- 

 ance to international undertakings. The cooperation of 

 different nations in the joint investigation of the constitu- 

 tion of the terrestrial globe, of the phenomena which take 

 place at its surface, and of the celestial bodies which shine 

 equally upon all, directs attention to our common interests 

 and exposes the artificial nature of political boundaries. 

 The meetings in common discussion of earnest workers in 

 the fields of knowledge tend to obliterate the superficial 

 distinctions of manner and outward bearing which so 

 often get exaggerated until they are mistaken for deep- 

 seated national characteristics. 



I am afraid I have only given a very inadequate 

 account of the serious interests which are alreadv 

 involved in international scientific investigations. But 

 if I may point once more to Indian meteorology, and re- 

 mind you of the vital importance of an effective studv of 

 the conditions which rule the monsoon, vou will, T think, 

 realise how impossible it is to separate scientific and 

 national interests. The solution of this particular problem 

 requires an intimate cooperation with Central Asia and 

 Siberia — a cooperation which has been easilv secured. I 

 do not wish to exaggerate the civilising value of scientific 

 investigation, but the great problems of creation link all 

 humanity together, and It may yet come to pass that when 

 diplomacy fails — and it often comes perilously near failure — 

 It will fall to the men of science and learning to preserve 

 the peace of the world. 



