14 THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 



Research, so wisely kept in being after 1919, now forms part of that larger 

 scheme. This department is responsible for making recommendations as 

 to the expenditure of funds voted by Parliament for research, especially 

 in relation to industry. Thus science is welcomed into the inner circle 

 of Imperial administration. This the State owes to Lord Balfour. 



And so, in this hundredth year of its existence, the British Association 

 sees research recognised and fostered in the service of the State in a way 

 never dreamed of in 1831, when a small body of enthusiasts met at York 

 for the advancement of science. But though the individual seeker after 

 truth may thus be involved in official harness, as of old an inner voice 

 will yet speak to him. He will himself be as near to Nature to-day as he 

 was in the simpler days that are gone. 



