1917] The Fourth Indian Science Comjress. cli 



out of them Things of Use, and Practise for Man's life and 



Knowledge. 



These wee call Dowry-men or Benefactours." 



* # * 



Observe who are the Benefactours, and in the use of this 

 term we all doubtless most cordially agree ; personally I would 

 not have it supposed for one moment that I am belittling re- 

 search even if undertaken from pecuniary motives, or would say 

 one word to detract from its importance. All I maintain is 

 that pure science must remain upon a pedestal and no utili- 



tarain work can replace it. 



Dr. Mees may talk of going to the root of things and of 

 the fundamental and underlying theory of a subject in connec- 

 tion with his industrial research, but all this is, for the most part, 

 mere superstructure based on pure scientific research. 



What utilitarian research would have discovered the funda- 

 mental facts in regard to electricity or have led to the framing 

 of the atomic theory? Who can say how many profound 

 truths await discovery because some utilitarian who happened 

 upon a glimmering of them did not think it worth while to 

 pause and investigate the apparently irrelevant 1 In like case 

 your " Pioner or Miner " eager to ascertain the causes of all 

 things would have asked no better lot than to follow up the 

 faintly marked trail wheresoever it might lead, perchance in 

 the end to the elucidation of some great truth susceptible of an 

 application which might completely revolutionize the very sub- 

 ject upon which the utilitarian had been at work. 



How much research has been undertaken by the student of 

 pure science which he would have frankly admitted to be 

 apparently useless ! How much patient work and loving care 

 have been bestowed upon investigations seemingly impossible 

 of application to any of the specific problems of the day . 

 Upon research of this kind no utilitarian would have been at 

 all likely to embark, vet sooner or later such research has 

 either proved capable of direct application or, and this has 

 more often been the oase, has unexpectedly formed a corner- 

 stone, or occupied a more humble but still useful position, in 

 building up some far-reaching generalization capable ot being 

 seized upon at once by the worker at applied science, thus m 

 turn perhaps stimulating further scientific research. 



It has been said that " even the brilliant experiments of 



Daw did not suffice to give any very great impetus towards 

 further work at the subject until Ronalds constructed an elec- 



tric telegraph, and in this and other ways pure electrical science 

 r»n»i,r»A .„L,k imntilaes bv the commercial applications ot 



received enormus impulses by the commercial a ppiwi>»£ 

 electricitv." Thus according to Sir Frederick liramwell the 

 applications of science and discoveries m pure science lave 

 acted and re-acted the one upon the other. No one can deny 

 the existence of such action and reaction, but nevertheless it 



