August 9, 1906] 



NATUKh 



?6i 



1 hope that the attention of both examiners and teachers 

 may be directed to the best methods of dealing with what 

 appears to me to be not only a serious but an increasing 

 evil. 



To pass from one of the inconveniences which inevitably 

 arise from growth, it is pleasant to dwell upon its more 

 gratifying consequences. 



Perhaps one of the most marked characteristics of the 

 progress of science in recent times is the increasing public 

 ;ippreciation of the importance of original investigation 

 and research. 



The expansion of the university colleges in number and 

 importance has greatly assisted and quickened this move- 

 ment. 



Iwenty-five years ago there were comparatively few 

 laboratories which held out any possibility of research to 

 the English student. True, there were giants in those 

 days, men, as a rule, working under difficulties greater 

 than those encountered by their successors of to-day. The 

 better equipment of our laboratories and the growth in the 

 number and activity of our scientific societies liave played 

 no small part in stimulating public interest. Nevertheless, 

 much remains to be done. Those who have read Prof. 

 Perry's somewhat pessimistic words on England's neglect 

 i)f science must admit that, however rapid our progress, 

 the British people have not yet so fully awakened to the 

 national importance of this question as some of our com- 

 petitors. 



The idea that a degree is one of the chief objects of 

 education yet lingers amongst us. The conviction that it 

 is a national duty to seek out and, when found, utilise 

 the latent scientific ability of the rising generation 'for the 

 purpose of adding to our stores of natural knowledge still 

 needs to be brought home to the " man in the street." 

 .And here I would venture to indicate my personal belief in 

 the necessity of more free communication between the 

 laboratory and the market-place. It is possible that the 

 language of science is becoming too technical, and that the 

 diHiculties with which scientific inquirers have been faced 

 in past times have tended to habits of exclusiveness. For 

 example, complaints arc frequent that our manufacturers 

 are less alert in grasping the practical applications of 

 scientific discovery than their competitors in Germany and 

 the United States. I confess, however, that it seems to 

 me possible that the fault is not altogether on the side 

 of the manufacturers. We want missionaries to preach the 

 doctrine that one of the greatest of national assets is 

 scientific discovery. If we can convince the men of busi- 

 ness of this country that there are few more profitable 

 investments than the encouragement of research, our diffi- 

 culties in this matter will be at an end. 



It is my lot to serve on the education committees of 

 three county councils, and I have been much struck by 

 the readiness of the members of those bodies to extend 

 such encouragement whenever it has been possible to con- 

 vince them that the results may conduce to the prosperity, 

 I he comfort, and the safety of the community. 



It has also been my privilege to address meetings of the 

 men who work in the coalfields of South Wales. I have 

 attempted to direct their attention to the advantages which 

 they have derived from the labours of those who have 

 endeavoured to probe the secrets of Nature in the labor- 

 atory ; I have tried to show how discoveries based on the 

 researches of Humphry Davy, Faraday, Joule, for example, 

 have not only diminished the dangers to which miners are 

 exposed, but have also, by increasing the demands upon 

 iiur stores of energy, given employment to thousands of 

 their fellow-workers. 



My experiences lead me to the belief that these men are 

 ready to support the action of their representatives in 

 extending support and encouragement to all efforts to assist 

 the advance of scientific discovery. 



It is possible that in dwelling on this matter I am 

 trespassing on your forbearance, but I cannot resist this 

 opportunity of pleading for the extension of your sympathies 

 beyond the walls of the laboratory. The old toast. 



Here's to science pure and undefiled ; may it never do 

 a ha'porth of good to anybody," may possibly be an 

 excellent one in (he laboratory ; for, so far as I know, 

 no great scientific principle has ever been established by 



NO. 1919, VOL. 74I 



labours prompted solely by desire lor tinancial gain. 

 Nevertheless, if we wish for the support of our fellow- 

 countrymen, that toast is not one for public dinners. There 

 is no scientific society which is brought into such close 

 contact with the public as is the British Association, and 

 afliliated with that Association are some scores of local 

 scientific societies, containing many thousands of enthusi- 

 astic observers and inquirers. If this great organisation 

 were seriously to take up the task of bringing home to the 

 minds of the people of this kingdom the enormous value 

 of the results of scientific inquiry, I believe it might be 

 possible to change the indifference and apathy of our public 

 bodies into active interest and encouragement. If each 

 affiliated society would institute a scries of public non- 

 technical lectures, of such a nature as to bring home to 

 the minds of the hearers some comprehension of the results 

 of the work of Faraday, of Wheatstone, of Pasteur, of 

 Maxwell, of Lister, and of Kelvin, the change in the public 

 attitude would be real, evident, and fruitful. 



In conclusion, one is tempted to seek for the underlying 

 cause of the acceleration in the rate of advance of natural 

 knowledge. Is it to be found in the increase in power of 

 the human intellect, or the diversion into one particular 

 channel of activities previously otherwise employed? It is 

 possible that the human intellect has, by the processes of 

 evolution, become more powerful, and that man's ability 

 to decipher the secrets of Nature has thereby increased. 

 I think, however, that it would require a bold advocate 

 to support this thesis. If any such mental evolution has 

 taken place, it is strange that it should be restricted to 

 one particular sphere of activity. Are our poets and authors 

 of to-day greater than Homer, our statesmen than Pericles? 

 Or, passing into the domain of science, can we say with 

 confidence that, in pure power of reasoning, Maxwell was 

 undoubtedly the superior of Archimedes? 



I have elsewhere indicated what appears to me to explain 

 the mystery of this acceleration, namely, the extension of 

 our senses by mechanical appliances. When we supplement 

 our eyes by the bolometer and the electric coherer, the 

 range of our vision is augmented a thousandfold. By the 

 use of the electroscope and the galvanometer we have 

 extended our senses of sight and touch until we can detect 

 the presence of an electron. 



Having realised the imperfection of our faculties, we have 

 called upon Nature in all departments of science to supply 

 our deficiencies, and are thus enabled to walk with con- 

 fidence where previously all seemed dark. 



From the time of Archimedes to that of Bacon we 

 despised Natural Knowledge while we deified intellect and 

 authority ; hence for nearly 2000 years our record was one 

 of retreat rather than advance. When the philosopher left 

 his study and applied his powers of observation to the 

 phenomena of the universe, progress became a reality, and 

 thenceforward the march of discovery has known no back- 

 ward step. We have therefore every reason to believe that 

 when the Association again visits this ancient city our 

 President will be able to chronicle an increase in Natural 

 Knowledge even greater than that which has been one of 

 the distinguishing characteristics of the last quarter of a 

 centurv. 



SECTION B. 



chemistry. 



Opening Address by Prof. Wyndham Dunstan, M..^., 

 LL.D., F.R.S., F.C.S., President of the Section. 



Some Imperial Aspects of Applied Chemistry. 

 The President of the Chemical Section of the British 

 Association must always have a large choice of subjects for 

 his Address. He may attempt to review the chemical 

 progress of the year, or to give an account of researches in 

 that division of the science in which he is most interested. 

 He may deal with the ever-recurring problems of education ; 

 or, again, he may draw attention to the importance of 

 our science in one or other of its many relations to National 

 and Imperial affairs. I have decided to adopt the last 

 course, and to invite your attention at York, where several 

 tropical products furnish the basis of important industries. 



