38 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LI. No. 1306 



angles, so to speak, to the administrative 

 organization, which would bring the collective 

 judgment of experts to bear upon the choice 

 of scientific problems and upon the adoption 

 of adequate methods for their solution and 

 which would not be in any sense antagonistic 

 to the official organization. 



Much progress has already been made in 

 this direction. For example The American 

 Society of Animal Production has formulated 

 a valuable set of standard methods for the 

 conduct of feeding experiments, while the 

 very effective work of the "War Board of the 

 American Society of Phytopathologists is 

 familiar to us all and still another illustration 

 is the Association of Southern Agricultural 

 Workers. But the most significant and com- 

 prehensive achievement in the organization of 

 American research is one which has been 

 prominently before the scientific public and 

 with which we are all familiar, viz; the Na- 

 tional Eesearch Council. From the point of 

 view advocated in this paper its organization 

 is peculiarly significant because it was effected 

 by the voluntary initiative of the investiga- 

 tors themselves and because, therefore, it is 

 thoroughly democratic in form and has been 

 careful both in its initiation and development 

 to conserve the individuality of the research 

 men. The past successes of this wise combi- 

 nation of organization and individualism 

 demonstrate its essential soundness and con- 

 stitute the best guarantee of its future 

 achievements. 



Henry Prentiss Armsby 



The Pennsylvania State College 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 



CONFERENCE OF BRITISH RESEARCH 

 ASSOCIATIONS 



A CONFERENCE of research associations — the 

 second of a series — organized by the British 

 Department of Scientific and Industrial "Re- 

 search, was held according to Nature on 

 December 12 in the lecture-theater of the 

 Institution of Civil Engineers. The Eight 

 Hon. A. J. Balfour, Lord President of the 

 Cotmcil, appropriately presided, the Depart- 

 ment of Scientific and Industrial Eesearch 



being a committee of the Privy Council. Mr. 

 Balfour, who was warmly greeted on his first 

 public appearance in his capacity of head of 

 the department, delivered a short introductory 

 address on the national need for scientific 

 research, especially in its application to in- 

 dustry. Three points emphasized by Mr. Bal- 

 four were that, though man does not live by 

 bread alone, the amelioration of the material 

 lot of mankind can come only through prog- 

 ress in scientific knowledge; that we must not 

 imitate, but follow the example of the Ger- 

 mans in realizing a helpful and close alliance 

 between science and industry; and that in 

 the prosecution of this aim the paramount 

 interests of pure science must not be over- 

 looked. Papers were afterwards read by 

 Major H. J. W. Bliss, director of the British 

 Eesearch Association for the Woollen and 

 Worsted Industries, on " Eesearch Associa- 

 tions and Consulting Work and the Collection 

 and Indexing of Information," and by Dr. W. 

 Lawrence Balls on " The Equipment of Ee- 

 search Laboratories." There was a general 

 discussion on the subject-matter of the two 

 papers, from which it was clear that, although 

 there is a large common measure of agree- 

 ment among the different associations, there 

 is also enough variety of circumstance and 

 character to make it desirable for each asso- 

 ciation to work out its own salvation in many 

 problems of organization and method. It is 

 the intention of the Department of Scientific 

 and Industrial Eesearch to continue period- 

 ically these conferences of research associa- 

 tions. As the department, in fostering the as- 

 sociations, is engaged La a novel adventure in 

 government enterprise, the research associa- 

 tions have to set sail on uncharted seas, with- 

 out maps or precedent experience to guide 

 them, and these periodical conferences must 

 be of great help to them in mapping out their 

 courses and taking their soundings. 



THE MEDICAL STRIKE IN SPAIN 



The Journal of the American Medical Asso- 

 ciation states that the town of Jerez de la 

 Frontera, which has a world reputation on ac- 

 count of its famous wines, has just witnessed 

 the first general strike of physicians. This 



