August 24, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



235 



offence lies, for no one seeks to blame these 

 officials for a condition of things which is 

 traditional and frankly admitted. 



This is really a very serious matter for 

 the British Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science to consider and deal with. 

 We represent a line of activity, a group of 

 professions which are, in our opinion, of 

 vital importance to the well-being of the 

 nation. We know that those interests 

 which we value so highly are not merely 

 ignored and neglected, but are actually 

 treated as of no account or as non-existent 

 by the old-established class of politicians 

 and administrators. It is not too much to 

 say that there is a natural fear and dislike 

 of scientific knowledge on the part of a 

 large proportion of the persons who are 

 devoid of it, and who would cease to hold, 

 or never have held, the positions of au- 

 thority or emolument which they now oc- 

 cupy, were scientific knowledge of the mat- 

 ters with which they undertake to deal re- 

 quired of them. This is a thorny subject, 

 and one in which, however much one may 

 endeavor to speak in general terms, it is 

 difficult to avoid causing personal annoy- 

 ance. Yet it seems to me one which, be- 

 lieving as I do that it is of most urgent 

 importance, it is my duty as your president 

 to press upon the attention of the members 

 of the British Association. Probably an 

 inquiry into and discussion of the neglect 

 of science and the questionable treatment 

 of scientific men by the administrative de- 

 partments of government would be more 

 appropriate to a committee appointed by 

 the council of the association for this pur- 

 pose than to the presidential address. 



At the same time, I think the present 

 occasion is one on which attention should 

 be drawn in general terms to the fact that 

 science is not gaining 'advancement' in 

 public and official consideration and sup- 

 port. The reason is, I think, to be found 



in the defective education, both at school 

 and university, of our governing class, as 

 well as in a racial dislike among all classes 

 to the establishment and support by public 

 funds of posts which the average man may 

 not expect to succeed by popular clamor 

 or class privilege in gaining for himself — 

 posts which must be held by men of special 

 training and mental gifts. Whatever the 

 reason for the neglect, the only remedy 

 which we can possibly apply is that of im- 

 proved education for the upper classes, and 

 the continued effort to spread a knowledge 

 of the results of science and a love for it 

 amongst all members of the community. 

 If members of the British Association took 

 this matter seriously to heart they might 

 do a great deal by insisting that their sons, 

 and their daughters too, should have rea- 

 sonable instruction in science both at school 

 and college. They could, by their own 

 initiative and example, do a good deal to 

 put an end to the trifling with classical 

 literature and the absorption in athletics 

 which is considered by too many school- 

 masters as that which the British parent de- 

 sires as the education of his children. 



It is more agreeable to me not to dwell 

 further on the comparative failure of sci- 

 ence to gain increased influence and sup- 

 port in this country, but to mention to you 

 some instances on the other side of the ac- 

 count. As long ago as 1842 the British 

 Association took over and developed an ob- 

 servatory in the Deer Park at Kew, which 

 was placed at the disposal of the associa- 

 tion by Her Majesty the Queen. Until 

 1871 the association spent annually a large 

 part of its income— as much in later years 

 as £600 a year— in carrying on the work 

 of the Kew Observatory, consisting of mag- 

 netic, meteorological and physical observa- 

 tions. In 1871 the association handed over 

 the observatory to the Eoyal Society, which 



