ADDRESS. 33 



often of the work going on abroad in the brinch of science which it 

 represents. 



The growing abundance of matter year by year increases the burden 

 thus thrown on their finances, and the Treasury has recently granted to 

 the Royal Society 1,000^. a year, to be spent in aid of the publication of 

 scientific papers not necessarily limited to those of that Society. 



The Royal Society has long felt the importance to scientific research 

 of a catalogue of all papers and publications relating to pure and applied 

 science, arranged systematically both as to authors' names and as to sub- 

 ject treated, and the Society has been engaged for some time upon a 

 catalogue of that nature. But the daily increasing magnitude of these 

 publications, coupled with the necessity of issuing the catalogue with 

 adequate promptitude, and at appropriate intervals, renders it a task 

 which could only be performed under International co-operation. The 

 officers of the Royal Society have therefore appealed to the Govern- 

 ment to urge Foreign Governments to send delegates to a Conference to 

 be held next July to discuss the desirability and the scope of such a cata- 

 logue, and the possibility of preparing it. 



The universities and colleges distributed over the country, besides their 

 function of teaching, are large promoters of research, and their voluntary 

 exertions are aided in some cases by contributions from Parliament in 

 alleviation of their expenses. 



Certain executive departments of the Government carry on research 

 for their own purposes, which in that respect may be classed as voluntary. 

 The Admiralty maintains the Greenwich Observatory, the Hydrographical 

 Department, and various experimental services ; and the War Office 

 maintains its numerous scientific departments. The Treasury maintains 

 a valuable chemical laboratory for Inland Revenue, Customs, and agri- 

 cultural purposes. The Science and Art Department maintains the Royal 

 College of Science, for the education of teachers and students from ele- 

 mentary schools. It allows the scientific apparatus in the national 

 museum to be used for research purposes by the professors. The Solar 

 Physics Committee, which has carried on numerous researches in solar 

 I^hysics, was appointed by and is responsible to this Department. The 

 Department also administers the Sir Joseph Whitworth engineering re- 

 search scholarships. Other scientific departments of the Government are 

 aids to research, as, for instance, the Ordnance and the Geological Surveys, 

 the Royal Mint, the Natural History Museum, Kew Gardens, and other 

 lesser establishments in Scotland and Ireland ; to which may be added, 

 to some extent, the Standards Department of the Board of Ti'ade, as well 

 as municipal museums, which are gradually spreading over the country. 



Por direct assistance to voluntary effort the Treasury contributes 

 4,000^. a year to the Royal Society for the promotion of research, which 

 is administered under a board whose members represent all branches of 

 Science. The Treasury, moreover, contributes to marine biological ob- 

 servatories, and in recent years has defrayed the cost of various expedi- 

 1895. ^ n 



