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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVIII. No. 719 



with the physics of land and water in phys- 

 ical geography and geology, seismology and 

 terrestrial magnetism, oceanography and 

 hydrography. It is for the practical ap- 

 plications of these sciences to the service of 

 the navigator, the fisherman, the husband- 

 man, the miner, the medical man, the engi- 

 neer and the general public that there is an 

 obvious public want. 



Let me carry you with me in regarding 

 these departments, primarily, as centers for 

 establishing the growth of science by bring- 

 ing it to bear upon the practical business 

 of life, by a process of regular plantation, 

 and not the occasional importation of an 

 exotic scientific expert. I shall carry you 

 with me also if I say that the gravest 

 danger to such scientific institutions is the 

 tendency to waste. I use the term "waste" 

 not in its narrowest, but in its most liberal 

 sense, to include waste of money, waste of 

 effort, waste of scientific opportunity. I 

 do not regard it as a waste that such a de- 

 partment should be unable to emulate 

 Timotheus's efforts. Any aspiration in 

 that direction is, of course, worthy of every 

 encouragement, but the environment is not 

 generally suitable for such achievements. 

 I do, however, regard it as waste if the 

 divine Cecilia is not properly honored, and 

 if advantage is not taken of the fullest and 

 freest use of the newest and best scientific 

 methods, and their application in the widest 

 manner possible. 



I speak for the office with which I am 

 connected when I say its temptations to 

 waste are very numerous and very serious. 

 It is wasteful to collect observations which 

 will never be used; it is equally wasteful 

 to decline to collect observations which in 

 the future may prove to be of vital impor- 

 tance. It is wasteful to discuss observa- 

 tions that are made with inadequate appli- 

 ances; it is equally wasteful to aUow ob- 

 servations to accumulate in useless heaps 

 because you are not sure that the instru- 



ments are good enough. It is wasteful to 

 use antiquated methods of computation or 

 discussion ; it is equally wasteful to use all 

 the time in making trial of new methods. 

 It is wasteful to make use of researches if 

 they are inaccurate; it is equally wasteful 

 to neglect the results of researches because 

 you have not made up your mind whether 

 they are accurate or not. It is wasteful to 

 work with an inadequate system in such 

 matters as synoptic meteorology; it is 

 equally wasteful to lose heart because you 

 can not get all the facilities which you feel 

 the occasion demands. 



It is the business of those responsible for 

 the administration of such an office to keep 

 a nice balance of adjustment between the 

 different sides of activity, so that in the 

 long run the waste is reduced to a mini- 

 mum. There must in any case be a good 

 deal of routine work which is drudgery; 

 and if one is to look at all beyond the public 

 requirements and public appreciation of the 

 immediate present, there must be a certain 

 amount of enterprise and consequently a 

 certain amount of speculation. 



Let me remark by the way that there is a 

 tendency among some of my meteorological 

 friends to consider that a meteorological 

 establishment can be regarded as alive, and 

 even in good health, if it keeps up its regu- 

 lar output of observations in proper order 

 and up to date, and that initiative in dis- 

 cussing the observations is exclusively the 

 duty of a central office. That is a view that 

 I should like to see changed. I do not wish 

 to sacrifice my own privilege of initiative 

 in meteorological speculation, but I have no 

 wish for a monopoly. To me, I confess, the 

 speculation which may be dignified by the 

 name of meteorological research is the part 

 of the office work which makes the drudg- 

 ery of routine tolerable. For my part, I 

 should like every worker in the office, no 

 matter how humble his position may be, 

 somehow or other to have the opportunity 



