: SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
From this modest beginning the Institution has increased in size, 
until now it consists of a large number of buildings, each specially 
equipped for some special purpose. Some departments are still located 
-in Bushy House, but more extensive and more suitable accommodation 
is required. Recent additions are the aeronautics building, the gauge 
workshop, and the optics. 
The Laboratory is now a part of the Department of Scientific and 
Industrial Research. The present Director is Dr. J. E. Petavel, 
F.R.S., who, prior to his appointment last September, was Professor 
of Engineering in Manchester University. His- career has been 
* brilliant, and he has done work of high scientific value in the borderland 
of physics, chemistry, and engineering. In 1914 he visited Australia 
in connexion with the meetings of the British Association for the 
Advancement of Science, and took part in the sessions of the engineer- 
ing section. 
The Laboratory is divided into four main divisions, dealing with 
“Physics,” “Engineering,” “Metallurgy and Metallurgical Chemistry,” 
and “The William Froude National Tank” respectively. Formerly 
the Director was superintendent of the Physies Department, having 
under him “principal .assistants” over the various sections. | Recently 
two.of these have been made separate departments, each with its own 
superintendent. As originally founded, the Laboratory was managed 
by a committee appointed in accordance with certain Treasury regula- 
tions by the Royal Society. The staif were not civil servants, but 
‘employees of the Royal Society. The Treasury made a_ grant 
of £7,000 a year to the Royal Society towards the cost of the Labora- 
tory, and in return exacted certain conditions in regard to the work to 
be undertaken and, among other things, in regard to the maximum 
salaries to be paid to members of the staff. For an institution of 
stich value, a grant of £7,000 is obyiously quite inadequate. A much 
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