8 J. B. CLELAND. 
scientific careers. They would know that if they ‘‘made 
good,’’ such positions, as they fell due, or were created, 
would be fully open to them, and that they would have 
first claim on them. - Public announcement of such a policy 
would go far to hearten those already embarked on such 
careers, would encourage able young men to pursue with 
diligence their scientific work, and would tend to promote 
the advancement of natural knowledge in Australia. 
The Representation of Science in Parliament. 
As under our present State and Commonwealth Constitu- 
tions, it is almost impossible for direct representatives of 
science or in fact of knowledge in general—as, for instance, 
persons elected by members of our Universities—to occupy 
seats in Parliament, it seems necessary in the public interest 
to devise some other means by which legislators may be 
guided to right decisions on these aspects. That such a 
course 1s necessary is Shown by a recent Weights and Meas- 
ures Bill. No provision was made in this for the use of the 
metric system as a legal alternative. The necessity for 
such inclusion was not even hinted at till the Bill was 
launched. Yet the importance of the metric system in 
international commerce and in science, and the clear in- 
dication that its adoption throughout the British Empire 
is merely a matter of a few years, should have been recog- 
nised, especially by those members conversant with business 
requirements. There seems one way by which candid and — 
unfettered scientific advice can be rendered to members 
of Parliament. This would be by the appointment of one 
or two Royal Commissioners of Science in each Parliament. 
These Commissioners should have, by Act of Parliament, 
the right to be heard at the Bar of the House on any matter 
in which scientific knowledge plays a part. In other words, 
they would be to all intents and purposes members of Par- 
liament, but would not be allowed to express any political 
