Makch 30, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



303 



all parts of India is said to have been present, 

 including the Hon. Mr. H. Y. Cobb, Sir Alfred 

 Bourne, Sir Sidney Burrard, Mr. J. Mac- 

 kenna. Dr. Mackighan, Dr. J. L. Simmonson, 

 Dr. H. E. Watson, Mr. E. H. Campbell, O.I.E., 

 Dr. Harold Mann, Dr. T. M. ISTair, Dr. E. H. 

 Hankin. There were also a niunber of promi- 

 nent local officials and others present. 



The Maharaja of Mysore in opening the 

 congress welcomed the members and made a 

 short speech in the course of which he referred 

 to the war. He said that one could not help 

 feeling it a tragedy that science, to which the 

 world so largely owed its progress and civili- 

 zation, was being, as it were, debased in this 

 war and used for the purpose of destroying 

 human life. But may we not hope that good 

 may come out of evil and that the lesson which 

 the present war will leave behind of the ap- 

 palling results of applying discoveries of sci- 

 ence to the fast destruction of the human race, 

 may eventually bring about a world peace by 

 making the very thought of war abhorrent? 

 May we not look forward to the time when 

 science will be hailed not only as a beacon 

 light of civilization but as the world's peace- 

 maker? He alluded to the effect on Indian 

 conditions of efforts made in the British 

 Isles to develop science and trade and pro- 

 mote economic efB.ciency and said that the 

 recent appointment of the industries commis- 

 sion will also doubtless help in that direction. 

 He thought that some organization on the 

 lines of the advisory board recently brought 

 into existence in England, should be attempted 

 in India, and referred to the need of further 

 expansion of the Indian Institute of Science 

 on its practical side. 



As president of the Chemistry Section, Dr. 

 J. L. Simonsen, of the Presidency College, 

 Madras, said in the course of his address to 

 that body: 



I do not think that "we can say that all is well 

 with chemistry in India. I would submit for your 

 consideration what I consider to be the four main 

 causes of the paucity of research: (1) That in 

 many colleges the staff are insufficiently trained. 

 I do not intend to throw any aspersions on a hard 

 working and worthy body of men; it was not their 

 fault that when at college they received a training 



which did not fit them for higher teaching or re- 

 search and for reasons which I shall mention they 

 have had no subsequent opportunity to improve 

 their knowledge. (2) That the majority of colleges 

 are very much understaffed. This, in my opinion, 

 is the most serious defect and the main cause of 

 the present state of affairs. (3) The low rate of 

 pay in academic posts. (4) The present method of 

 promotion by seniority and not by merit. Of 

 the other causes to which lack of research has from 

 time to time been ascribed, I may perhaps mention 

 two, namely, the want of library facilities and the 

 want of a scientific atmosphere. I can not bring 

 myself to believe that these are really serious fac- 

 tors. It is always a somewhat delicate matter to 

 discuss the question of the pay offered in the vari- 

 ous collegiate appointments. It appears to me, how- 

 ever, that unless the scale of pay is improved it 

 will be impossible for us to attract the best intel- 

 lects. The tendency for teaching and research to 

 deteriorate is further announced by the fact that 

 in practically all cases promotion is made by senior- 

 ity and not by merit. I am quite willing to admit 

 that in the larger services, such as the various gov- 

 ernment educational services, it will be a matter 

 of considerable difficulty to make any change in 

 the system, but I really can not imagine that it is 

 beyond the wit of man to devise some more satis- 

 factory scheme than the present one. One can but 

 too well understand the feelings of a brilliant 

 young investigator when he sees a colleague pro- 

 moted to a higher post who has done nothing to 

 render himself worthy of it, beyond putting in a 

 certain number of years of service. This system 

 must be radically altered if we are to see research 

 really develop. 



I have dealt with the question of the staffs of 

 the colleges at some length because I feel it to be 

 of vital importance. We have to meet in this 

 country the same opposition as has to be met in 

 England. The heads of colleges, the managers of 

 schools, in short, the authorities in charge of edu- 

 cation, have, as a rule, little or no appreciation of 

 the importance of science or of its requirements. It 

 is, perhaps, too late in the day for us to educate 

 them, but we must make sure that the rising gen- 

 eration is not similarly steeped in ignorance. "We 

 must insist that our science shall be given a fair 

 chance and that our schools shall not be sweated. 

 I use this strong word with intent, but that they 

 shall be given an opportunity for original work, for 

 I very strongly hold the view that no man can re- 

 main a first-class teacher or inspire his students who 



