GOVERNMENT ATD FOR SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION AND RESEARCH. 509 
■what regulations were about to be made. A Bill that has just been introduced 
into parliament explains what is proposed to be the new arrangement. The 15th 
section is to the following effect:— 
15. The Chancellor of the Exchequer of Great Britain for the time being shall be the 
master, worker, and warden of her Majesty’s royal mint in England, and governor of 
the mint in Scotland. 
Provided that nothing in this section shall render the Chancellor of the Exchequer in¬ 
capable of being elected to or of sitting or voting in the House of Commons, or vacate 
the seat of the person who at the passing of this Act holds the office of Chancellor of the 
Exchequer. 
All duties, powers, and authorities imposed on or vested in or to be transacted before 
the Master of the Mint may be performed and exercised by or transacted before him or 
his sufficient deputy. 
GOVERNMENT AID FOR SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION AND 
RESEARCH. 
The Council of the British Association for the Advancement of Science are 
trying to induce the Government to appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into 
the existing relations of the State to scientific instruction and research, with a 
view to its being put upon a more satisfactory footing. In furtherance of this 
object a deputation, comprising Professor Stokes, President of the Association, 
Professor Huxley (President elect), Professor Williamson, and other members of 
the Couucil, had an interview w r ith the Lord President of her Majesty’s Privy- 
Council on the 4th of February, when the subject was freely discussed. The 
members of the deputation do not appear to have expressed any very decided 
opinions in favour of extending Government-aid in this direction, but thought 
it very desirable to inquire among scientific men whether the assistance afforded 
by the State to the advancement of science was at present such as contributed in 
the most effectual manner to the object for which it was intended, or whether 
some other plan might not be more advantageously adopted. It was admitted 
that large sums were contributed by the Government towards the support of 
scientific institutions or the furtherance of some of the objects of such institu¬ 
tions, but doubts appeared to be entertained whether these contributions were 
well and economically applied. Allusion was made to the Observatory at Green¬ 
wich, the British Museum, and the institution at South Kensington, where good 
w r ork was done; also to the grant of £1000 annually made to the Royal Society 
for defraying the cost of scientific investigations, with reference to wdiich it was 
stated as the opinion of some persons that there should be a distinct national in¬ 
stitution for carrying out investigations of that kind. Professor Sylvester re¬ 
ferred to the advanced class at Woolwich, where there w T ere seven students (he 
has since corrected it to five) at a cost to the State of about £700 a year each, 
and the expensive school in Jermyn Street, with only thirty matriculated stu¬ 
dents, he thought was not appreciated as it ought to be. Professor Huxley, 
while in common w r ith the other members of the deputation he strongly advo¬ 
cated the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry, doubted the expediency of 
obtaining direct aid from Government for scientific education, and thought it 
w r ould eventually become a sort of decorated and endowed idleness. In express¬ 
ing this opinion, however, he did not allude to primary education, for he thought 
there w r as no man of science who disapproved of the grant made for promoting 
that object. Professor Williamson thought there were resources in the country 
for the aid of the higher branches of scientific education which were insufficiently 
utilized, or in other words, that there are existing institutions which are not so 
useful as they might be. The tone assumed by the deputation was not such as 
