October 12, 18S3.] 



SCIENCE. 



513 



to be done after my death, then the same shall revert 

 to my heirs, whereas 1 do mean the same to the 

 Commonwealth, and then tue Defaui-t tuereof 



SBALL BE TO TDK REPROACH AND CoXDEMXATION 

 OF TIIK SAID COKPOKATIONS AFORE GoD"). I 



confess that I find it difficult to see how tlie present 

 representatives of the corporations who perverted 

 Gresham's trust are to escape from justly deserving 

 the curse pronounced asrainst those corporations, 

 unless they conscientiously take steps to restore Gre- 

 sham's money to its proper uses. Let us hope that 

 Gresham's curse may be realized in no more deadly 

 form than that of an act of parliament repealing the 

 former one which sanctioned the perversion of Gre- 

 sham's money. Such a sequel to the report of the 

 commission which has recently inquired into the pro- 

 ceedings of the corporation and companies of the city 

 of London is not unlikely. 



Whilst we should, I think, especially press upon 

 public attention the need for an institute of seientitic 

 research in London, and indicate the source from 

 which its funds may be fitly derived, we must also 

 urge the foundation of other institutes in the prov- 

 inces, upon the scale already sketched; because it is 

 only by the existence of numerous posts, and of a 

 series of such posts, — some of greater and some of 

 less value, the latter more numerous than the former, 

 — that any thing like a professional career for scien- 

 tific workers can be constructed. It is especially 

 necessary to constitute what I have termed ' .assist- 

 antships,' that is, junior posts, in which younger men 

 assist, and are trained by, more experienced men. 

 Even in the few institutions which do .\lready exist, 

 additional provision of this kind is what is wanted 

 more than any thing else, so that there may be a 

 progressive career open to the young student, and a 

 sufficient field of trained investigators from which to 

 select in filling up the vacancies in more valuable 

 positions. 



I am well aware that it will be said that the scheme 

 whicli I have proposed to you is gigantic and almost 

 alarming in respect of the amount of money which it 

 demands. One hundred and sixty thousand pounds 

 a year for biology alone must seem, not to my hear- 

 ers, but to those who regard biology as an amusing 

 speculation, — that is to say, who know little or noth- 

 ing about it, — an extravagant suggestion. Unfortu- 

 nately, it is also true that such persons are very 

 numerous, — in f.ict, constitute an overwhelming 

 majority of the community; but they are becoming 

 less numerous every day. The time will come, it 

 seems possible, when there will be more tlian one 

 member of the government who will understand and 

 appreciate the value of scientific research. There are 

 already a few members of the House of Commons 

 who are fully alive to its significance and importance. 



We may have to wait for the expenditure of such a 

 sum as I have named, and po.ssib]y it may be derived 

 ultimately from local rather than imperial sources, 

 though I do not see why it should be; yet I think it 

 is a good thing to realize note that this is what we 

 ought to expend in order to be on a level with Ger- 

 many. This apparently extravagant and unheard of 



appropriation of public money (» acliMlly mnde every 

 year in Gennany. 



I think it is well to put the matter before you in 

 this definite manner: because I have reason to believe 

 that even those whom we might expect to be well 

 informed in regard to such matters are not so, and, 

 as a consequence, there is not that keen sense of tlie 

 inferiority and inadequacy of English arrangements 

 in these matters which une would gladly see actuat- 

 ing the conduct of English statesmen. For instance: 

 only a few years iigo, when speaking at Nottingham, 

 the present prime-minister, who has taken an active 

 part in re-arranging our universities, and has, it is 

 well known, much interest in science and learning, 

 stated that £27,000, the capital sum expended on the 

 Xottingham college of science, was a very important 

 contribution to the support of learning in this country, 

 amounting, as he said he was able to stale from the 

 perusal of official documents, to as much as one-third 

 of what was spent in Germany during the past year 

 upon her numerous universities, which were so often 

 held up to England as an example of a well-supported 

 academical system. Now, I do not think that Mr. 

 Gladstone can ever have had the opportunity of con- 

 sidering the actual facts with regard to German uni- 

 versities: for he was in this instance misled by the 

 official return of expenditure on a single university, 

 namely, that of Strasburg; the total annual expendi- 

 ture on the twenty-one German universities being, in 

 reality, about £800,000, by the side of which a capital 

 sum of £27,000 looks very small indeed. I cannot but 

 believe, that if the facts were known to public men, 

 in reference to the expenditure incurred by foreign 

 states in support of scientific inquiry, they would be 

 willing to do something in this country of a sufficient 

 and statesmanlike character. As it is, the conces- 

 sions which have been made in this direction appear 

 to me to be in some instances not based upon a really 

 comprehensive knowledge of the situation. Thus, the 

 tentative grant of £4.000 a year from the trea?ury to 

 the Royal society of London appears to me not to be 

 a well-devised experiment in tlie promotion of scien- 

 tific research by means of grants of money; because 

 it is on too small a scale to produce any definite effect, 

 and because the money cannot be relied upon from 

 year to year as a permanent source of support to any 

 serious undertaking. 



The Royal society most laboriously and conscien- 

 tiously does its l)est to use this money to the satisfac- 

 tion of the country, but the task thus assigned to it is 

 one of almost insurmountable difficulty. In fact, no 

 such miniature experiments are needed. The experi- 

 ment has been made on a large scale in Germany, and 

 satisfactory results have been obtained. The reason- 

 able course to pursue is to benefit by the experience, 

 as to details and methods of administration, obtained 

 in the course of tlie last sixty years in Germany, and 

 to apply that experience to our own ease. 



It is quite clear that ' the voluntary principle' can 

 do little towards the adequate endowment of scientific 

 research. Ancient endowments belonging to the coim- 

 try must be applied thereto, or else local or imperial 

 taxes must be the source of the necessary support. 



