^November 3, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



641 



•and so fundamental to it are correlation and 

 ■cooperation, it does seem that among its pro- 

 posals of service the National Academy of Sci- 

 ences might include something looking toward 

 the improvement of international relations. 



For instance, has science nothing to con- 

 tribute to the supreme international problem 

 ■of the day, that of the use of the high seas? 

 And can science suggest no way of utilizing 

 its riches of anthropological and psychological 

 knowledge through governmental channels to 

 help toward a better understanding among 

 peoples of different nations and races? 



Lack of sympathetic knowledge on the part 

 ■of citizens of one country about those of other 

 ■countries is undoubtedly one of the fertile 

 sources of international friction and hatred; 

 and since a nation must have a large measure 

 of responsibility for its nationals while so- 

 journing in foreign lands, it seems only 

 reasonable that it should make some effort to 

 prevent its citizens, especially those engaged 

 in international trade, from needlessly im- 

 periling its good relationships with other 

 nations. 



Since such knowledge is so largely involved 

 in ethical science which in turn is inseparable 

 from physical and cultural anthropology and 

 •comparative psychology, it would seem emi- 

 nently proper that a National Eesearch Coun- 

 cil created at the request of the President of 

 the United States falls short of recognizing 

 its full possibilities if it has nothing to pro- 

 pose touching these vital aspects of the 

 national life. 



Wm. E. Eitter 



The Scripps Institution for 

 Biological Eesearch op the 

 University op California, 

 September 22, 1916 



QUOTATIONS 



SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY 



On July 28, 1915, an Order in Council con- 

 stituted two new bodies — a " Committee of 

 the Privy Council for Scientific and Indus- 

 trial Eesearch," of which Lord Crewe (as Lord 

 President) is chairman, and an advisory coun- 

 cil, consisting of eight very eminent men of 



science under the chairmanship of Sir "William 

 McCormick. The first annual report of each 

 of these bodies is now published, and that of 

 the latter, signed by Sir William McCormick, 

 is a document of considerable length and im- 

 portance. He and his scientific colleagues 

 have made a serious attempt to gauge the ex- 

 tent of our deficiency, both in the volume of 

 scientific research which is being conducted in 

 this country and in its correlation to the 

 needs of industry. In reviewing the question 

 they recognize that the distinction between 

 " pure " and " applied " science is, in a sense, 

 a false one. They point out that all the im- 

 portant advances which recent generations 

 have made in industrial science, from wireless 

 telegraphy to synthetic indigo, have been the 

 direct outcome of discoveries made by " pure " 

 science conducting research solely for its own 

 sake. At the same time they have temporarily 

 concentrated their first attention upon " re- 

 search of directly industrial application," both 

 for reasons of industrial urgency and because 

 the universities, which are the natural homes 

 of research in pure science, have been so de- 

 pleted both of students and of teachers by the 

 war, that " they are barely able to continue 

 their routine work, and can command at the 

 moment neither the leisure nor the detach- 

 ment of spirit that are essential conditions of 

 original research." 



"Within this narrower field their first step 

 was to save from actual or imminent aban- 

 donment a number of researches which were 

 being conducted or directed by professional 

 associations in the period preceding the war. 

 These have been kept going by a series of gov- 

 ernment grants, and in one case by getting the 

 War Office to release the investigator from mil- 

 itary duties. The next step was to hold con- 

 ferences with the various professional so- 

 cieties and trade associations. These showed 

 that in the main it is the most highly organ- 

 ized industries that have made most use of 

 scientific research, and are therefore most 

 ready for, though perhaps not most in need of, 

 encouragement to make more. Thus " the en- 

 gineering trades, with their attendant group 

 of distinguished professional societies, have 



