•'»28 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENOE. — 1910. 



Hal], Portsmouth, 500-2,000; at the Merchant Venturers' Technicnl 

 College, Bristol, 600-800; at the Birmingham and Midland Institute, 

 700; at the Albert Institute, Dundee, .000-800; at various towns distri- 

 buted through England, Wales, and Ireland the average attendance 

 at Gilchi'ist Lectures is about 600; and at the Geographical Institute, 

 Newcastle, about 500. 



(4) What subjects attract the largest audiences? 

 From the point of view of local scientific societies, the most popular 

 subjects are local archaeology and antiquities, animal and bird life, and 

 other aspects of natural history. The most popular public lectures are 

 those on travel and adventure by explorers whose names are widely 

 known. Astronomy is rarely mentioned, but this is probably because 

 local scientific societies are mostly concerned with natural history and 

 there o.re few good lecturers on astronomy. Science lectures must be 

 illustrated by lantern slides or experiments if they are to appeal to a 

 large public, and their titles should arrest attention. The chief point, 

 however, is that lectures should deal with recent discoveries or topics 

 which have been mentioned frequently in the daily newspapers. The 

 largest audiences are usually attracted not by descriptive lectures on 

 such subjects as mimicry, the descent of man, prehistoi-ic animals, 

 trade processes, and so on, but by those which are concerned with 

 questions of wide economic or sociological interest, such as industrial 

 research in America, wireless telegraphy in war, the wages problem, 

 munitions of war, &c. One correspondent says: 'Purely scientific 

 lectures do not attract, however eminent the lecturer. The most attrac- 

 tive lectures are the least scientific' 



(5) Do you attach as much importance to the lecturer as to the 

 subject ? 



As much, or more, importance is usually attached to the lecturer 

 as to the subject. Most of the rephes are in this sense, and the follow- 

 ing are typical of them : ' The society does not, but the audience does ' ; 

 ' In order to attract subscribers, the chief importance is attached to the 

 personality and celebrity of the lecturer ' ; ' The lecturer practically 

 determines the audience ' ; ' Undoubtedly, if the lecturer is well 

 known ' ; ' Yes, more, for popular lectures ' ; ' More to the lecturer, if 

 known: if not known, to the subject.' The best combination is, of 

 course, an attractive subject and a celebrated lecturer, and the public 

 soon forms its own estimate of the two factors. ' The subject attracts 

 in the first instance, but a poor lectui'er would not draw a second time. ' 



' Under the conditions here [Forest Hill, S.E., Horniman Museum] , 

 where there is a large population to draw on, title and subject are 

 probably more important than lecturer. Nevertheless, some lecturers 

 are always fairly sure of a good audience, and a series which begins 

 with lectures by relatively poor lecturers soon suffers a reduction in size 

 of audiences.' In many cases the lectures are given by members of 

 the staffs of local museums, universities, or other institutions, but this 

 limitation of choice of lecturer and subject soon exhausts the public 

 interested in them. 



