-_) i 
DEPARTMENTAL 
SNUBBING OF SCIENCE. 
W FE have pleasure in quoting the following para- 
graph extracted from ‘* Nature” of oth 
November, as its sentiments have our cordial 
approval. It must be remembered that it is the 
result of departmental administration, and not the 
instructions of Cabinet Ministers :— 
** Certainly not for many years has there been so 
much anxiety, either expressed or silently borne, as 
since some days ago, when the wire joining Ladysmith 
and civilisation was broken. Not only have the 
relatives of the 10,000 Britons beleaguered there been 
anxious, but all who take interest in the severe 
struggle which is now going on. It has been a 
matter of general surprise that in a campaign in 
which the cutting of telegraph wires was the first 
thing to be expected, and the investment of several 
isolated garrisons for a time was to be taken for 
granted, Marconi apparatus was not installed as a 
matter of course. We do not share this surprise ; 
science, and especially the latest developments of 
science, are the last things to interest our Government 
and the Government Departments; they do not 
believe in science, they care to know very little about 
it, and the scientific spirit is absent from too many of 
their plans and doings. Hlence we have now to be 
thankful that they have reached the level of the pigeon 
post, which has been the only official means, and that 
on the part of one or two birds, to keep us in touch with 
our beleaguered forces. It is stated that even the 
Commander-in-Chief, Lord Wolseley, has expressed 
some surprise that the so-called ‘Intelligence Depart- 
ment” of the Army allowed the Ladysmith force to 
go to the front with mountain guns against a Boer 
force which they should have known might be armed 
with Schneider-Canet cannons of large calibre ; and 
it would seem that probably a terrible disaster has 
been prevented, not by our Intelligence Department, 
not by the outfit of our Army, but by the apparently 
accidental arrival of naval guns and fessorne/ at the 
last moment. Why is there not a Scientific Com- 
mittee to do what it can in advising the military 
authorities? If they could do nothing, nobody would 
be the worse, but they might be able to do much to 
the nation’s advantage.” 
This snubbing of science extends in other direc- 
tions. Unlike the nations that are rapidly outrunning 
Bnitain in everything, from education to commerce ; 
the departmental administrations of what should be 
the great centres for the encouragement of science in 
Britain, are positively stingy in circulating printed 
matter expounding the results which the large expendi- 
ture granted by the Nation leads us to expect. As an 
example of what we mean, we append a recently 
received letter from the Director of the Geological 
Survey, which expends an annual grant of over £8,000. 
“* Geological Survey Office, 
**28, Jermyn Street, 
** London, S.W. 
‘“a3rd September, 1899. 
**Str,—I am desired by the Director-General to 
acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 18th 
inst., and to forward to you a copy of the ‘Sum- 
mary of Progress’ for 1898. 
‘While anxious to afford every assistance to 
scientific literature, he much regrets that—owing to 
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 205 
our stock of presentation memoirs being so limited— 
he is unable to comply with your request for review 
copies. 
“*T am, Sir, 
© Your obedient servant, 
**(Signed) Horace B. Woopwarp. 
“John T. Carrington, Esq., 
“* Editor * SC1ENCE-Goss1P.’ ” 
This is not the only case. If we want a copy of the 
Kew Bulletin we have to purchase it. A letter of 
similar tenor was sent to us from the Director of 
the Royal Gardens, Kew, in reply to our application 
to be placed on the list for the distribution of that 
magazine, issued by the Government ; we may, how- 
ever, except the Department of Agriculture. 
This gives us an opportunity of explaining to our 
ten thousand readers who extend to every portion of 
the civilised world, why, though Sc1eNcE-Gossip has 
been established about thirty-five years, and is the 
only English scientific magazine having independent 
offices—we so rarely mention scientific publica- 
tions issued by the English Government Departments, 
and so frequently the like publications of foreign 
nations. All of these latter regularly send their 
literature, but the Departments at home—‘‘ well, 
hardly ever.” 
GRANT ALLEN. —The death was recentlyannounced, 
to the sorrow of all who knew him, of this well-known 
novelist and pgpular science writer. Though better 
known in his former capacity, Mr. Grant Allen com- 
menced his literary career as writer of popular 
scientific articles. He has done much to render 
the dry facts of science interesting to those who would 
probably never take the trouble to wade through 
the books in which the original workers recorded their 
researches. His exposition of the Darwinian theory 
was so clear, that he has sometimes been called the 
**Darwinian St. Paul.” Among his better-known 
worksare ‘* The Evolutionist at Large,” ‘* Physiologi- 
cal Aesthetics,” ‘* The Colour Sense,” ‘‘ Flowers and 
their Pedigree,” ‘‘The Evolution of the Idea of 
xod,”’ ‘*Science in Arcady,” and many others. 
He was a Canadian, having been bornat Kingston, 
Ontario. We would remind our readers that at the 
time of his death a pleasing series of articles by him, 
on ‘Insect Life** were appearing in the ‘‘ Strand 
Magazine” ; illustrated by Mr. Fred Enock. 
STEEL BooksHELVES.—We have added to the 
office of Sc1ENCE Gossip a useful piece of furniture in 
the form of a stack of patent book-shelving, con- 
structed of steel. It stands 7ft. 6in. in height, by 
3ft. 6in. wide. We mention this convenient arrange- 
ment on account of its novelty, and light appearance. 
There are only two uprights, formed of light steel, 
which carry eight adjustable shelves. These are 
fixed by ingenious lever arrangements that act with 
clutches. The principle allows the brackets carrying 
the shelf to be raised without touching the clutch, 
and they drop into position on being released. To 
lower the shelf, it is only necessary to place one’s 
finger on the lever of the clutch until in the required 
position ; when released the clutch acts automatically. 
Thus the shelves can be arranged to the fraction of an 
inch at pleasure. The whole of the metal work is 
electroplated a dark copper colour, and so is not 
liable to rust. These patent shelves are supplied by 
the Library Bureau, Ltd., 10, Bloomsbury Street, 
London, W.C. 
