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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LUI. No. 1372 



unions or associations are to comply with, its 

 statutes. Of these the vital clause is that 

 membership is to be limited at first to what 

 were the Allied countries during the war but 

 that countries then neutral may be admitted 

 if tliey obtain, a favorable majority of not less 

 than three-quarters of the countries already 

 in the Union. It appears to be the case that 

 former enemy countries if they choose to 

 plead for admission and can obtain a three- 

 quarters majority are also eligible, but there 

 is dispute as to the interpretation of the 

 phrases. ' In any event the scheme perpetuates 

 for ten years the division of the nations into 

 the groups of war with the addition that 

 former neutrals are asked to desert their 

 neutrality and join the Allied scientific 

 combine. 



The legal domicile of the new supreme body 

 is to be at Brussels where the funds are to 

 be kept, and triennial general assemblies are 

 to be held. An executive committee consist- 

 ing of five members (a " big five ") is to direct 

 the affairs of the Eesearch Council between 

 the meetings of the Assembly. All the 

 branches of science are invited to form inter- 

 national unions with their statutes in agree- 

 ment with those of the Eesearch Council. 



The organization is actually in existence 

 and several of the subordinate international 

 unions have been formed. But how far these 

 have any real significance or vitality it is 

 more difficult to say. The statutes laid down 

 that a country could join the International 

 Research Council or any Union connected 

 with it through its principal academy, its 

 national research council, some other national 

 institution or association of institutions, or 

 through its government. 



It is therefore clearly within the power of 

 bodies without a direct mandate from scien- 

 tific men as a whole to make their countries 

 formal participants. British biologists, for 

 example, have formally refused to join an 

 International Biological Union on the double 

 ground that the complex organization will 

 hinder rather than help cooperation, and that 

 the constitution perpetuates international 

 divisions which should be left to time to 



heal. But the promotors of the scheme are 

 making efforts to create a " National Coun- 

 cil" which could then enter the new edifice 

 by a back door. No clear statement has been 

 published as to the action of other countries, 

 but evidence accumulates as to the absence 

 of real support for the scheme of super- 

 organization. — The London Times. 



The issue of the Times published on March 

 8 contains an article headed " The Progress 

 of Science; Revolt against Super-Organiza- 

 tion." A few words of comment are necessary, 

 though the task is disagreeable owing to the 

 general tenor of the article, which in parts 

 is frankly abusive and in others misleading. 

 Its chief invective is directed against the 

 International Eesearch Council. This, ac- 

 cording to the author, is to be " the supreme 

 body in all the affairs of science," and he 

 follows up this product of his imagination by 

 enumerating in the same sentence the avowed 

 objects of the International Eesearch Council, 

 placing a pure invention of his own in juxta- 

 position to the actual functions of the body 

 concerned so as to leave the impression that 

 both have equal authority. 



The International Eesearch Council was 

 founded in the first instance through the 

 action of the Eoyal Society and the Acad- 

 emies of Paris, Italy, Brussels and Wash- 

 ington. Its object was to reorganize inter- 

 national work which had come to a standstill 

 through the war, and to extend it where found 

 desirable. The question as to the time at 

 which former enemy countries should be ad- 

 mitted is a matter for argument, and it may 

 be the policy of the Times to urge their im- 

 mediate inclusion in the interests of the 

 general peace of the world. Eecent incidents 

 at a meeting in Paris at which a German pro- 

 fessor took part do not confirm this view, but 

 the question has had nothing to do with the 

 purpose which the writer pretends to discuss. 

 It should not be forgotten, however, that a 

 friendly personal intercourse is an essential 

 condition of the success of international con- 

 ferences. This is recognized by the countries 

 neutral during the war, which have nearly 



