ON POPULAR SCIENCK LECTURES. 331 



There is at Perth a local Trust Fund, called the Duncan Bequest, 

 for lectures ; and at Maidstone the popular lectures are provided out of 

 the Bentlif Wing Trust Fund of the Museum, Free Library, and Bentlif 

 Art Gallery. The Midland Institute, Birmingham, has a small endow- 

 ment of about SOL a year for science lectures ; and the Eoyal Technical 

 College, Glasgow, has an endowment fund for popular lectures on 

 astronomy. The Gilchrist Educational Trust is referred to in detail 

 later. One of the purposes of the Chadwick Trust (40 Queen Anne 

 Chambers, Westminster, S.W.) is to provide for ' the delivery by com- 

 petent persons of lectures on Sanitary Science,' and a number of 

 successful lectures have been given in pursuance of it, particularly 

 during the War. Among the subjects of these recent lectures are : 

 Racial Hygiene and the Wastage of War; War and Disease; Food in 

 War-time; Typhus in Serbia; Prevention cf Disease and Frostbite in 

 the Araay. The Trust pays all expenses of fees, hall, lantern, adver- 

 tising, and printing, though halls and lanterns are often lent. 



(10) Has fublic interest in popular science lectures increased or 

 decreased in your district during the past ten or twenty years ? 



The analysis of replies to this question is inconclusive. About one- 

 third of the correspondents report that interest has increased, another 

 tliird that it has decreased, and the remaining third that it has remained 

 stationary or no decided change has been noticed. Museums mostly 

 report an increase of interest, and technical institutions a decrease. 

 No general conclusion can be derived from the replies from scientific 

 societies, in which so much depends upon the energy of the secretary 

 and the constitution of the committee. For example, the Birmingham 

 and Midland Institute Scientific Society reports an increase, while the 

 Bii'mingham Natural History and Philosophical Society records a 

 decrease. 



As regards public interest in science lectures Dr. M. E. Sadler 

 remarks : ' I should say that it has increased and might be greatly 

 stimulated by further efforts.' Other replies to this effect are: ' I do 

 not believe that ])ublic interest in popular science lectures has decreased, 

 but it certainly has less opportunities of manifesting itself ' (School of 

 Technology, Manchester). ' There has been a marked increase of 

 interest within the past five years ' (University College, Aberystwyth) ; 

 ' In that time the public interest in our lectures has increased consider- 

 ably ' (Kilmarnock) ; ' The interest in the Manchester Geographical 

 Society's weekly lectures has greatly increased during the past fifteen 

 years. ' 



The chief causes of decrease of interest in many districts are 

 indicated in the following replies : ' The public interest has doubtless 

 decreased slightly during the past ten years. This is to some extent 

 accounted for by the fact that during recent years scholars from the 

 secondary and other schools in the city have continued their education 

 at the college and other institutions, attending two and three evenings 

 per week, and therefore do not attend single lectures as in former years. 

 The opening of picture-houses has probably also affected the attendance 

 at lectures' (University College, Nottingham). 'Decreased. The 



