The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-14 00:00:00

had been made the subject of elaborate research by the d is-
b tineuished French chemist, U. Dumas, whom we have hero
the honour of receiving as a guest. But the discovery of
its application is not the less a triumph of science
and of the best and highest scientific faculties. Seldom,
indeed, has that disposition of mind which is ever ready to
receive a chance suggestion, and to pursue it, believing
what great things we have yet to learn, been crowned with
a more brilliant and direct reward. It marks the growing
sense entertained of the value of statistical research that
during the late session of Parliament a committee of the
House of Lords eat for a considerable time en the best
moans for securing a complete system of agricultural re-
turns. We owe much in this matter to the exertions of
the Highland Society of Scotland, ' and, as has been spa-
, deafly recorded by the committee, to the zeal and activity
of their able secretary, Mr. Hall Maxwell. We owe not
lees, also, to the high intelligence of the farmers of Scot- '
laud generally, who have rendered every assistance in their
power, and th at with a willingness which can only arise ;
from an enlightened appreciat'o i of the great objects to be
gained by the inquiry. No one has renderedonore impor-
tant servic to statistical science in one of its most interest-
ing departments than the able chamberlain of this city,
Dr. Strang. His periodical reports on the growth and pro-
gress of Glasgow are among the most curious and useful
records of the kind which have been published in any part
of the Unite/ Kingdom. I need hardly, say that they supply
materials for much reflection on many questions connected
with the social welfare of the people. I believe Dr. Strang
has lately visited Paris, with a view to communicate to
this meeting of the association various fact connected with
the great improvenients which are in the course of pro-
gress in that city. Should his investigation cast any light
on the best means of improving the dwellings of the labour-
ing classes in the great centres of population, and on the
possibility of doing so on a large scale by public authority,
ho will have rendered no small service to his country in a
matter of vital interest and of much difficty. Closely
connected with the subject of statistics, as arpliecl to agri-
cultural returns, lam happy to say that, mainly owing to
the exertions of-Sir J. Forbes, of Fettercairn, and of Mr.
Milne Home, a meteorological society for Scotland has
been established, warmly seconded by the Highland So-
ciety. The wonderful results on a great scale, which
have been obtained in this • department of science by
Lieutenant,' Maury, of the United Statee, give ns ground
to hope that, even on the small areas of indivi-
dual, countries, where, of course, from the crossing
of local influences, the general result is infinitely compli-
cated, some approach may be made towards ascertaining
the laws which regulate the seasons. The admirable
agency which is now afforded by the Kew committee of
this a.ssociationl,for the verification of instruments, and by
the new meteorological department of the Board of Trade,
under Captain Fitzroy, for the reduction of local observa-
tions, will, I trust, be taken advantage of by the new
Scottish society. I cannot help coneratuleting the 21930•
ciation on the position which has been secured by science
in connection with both of these establishments. The
thanks of the commercial as well as of the scientific world
are due to Colonel Sabine and the other members of the
Kew committee, whose assistance is now highly appre-
ciated by practical men, and eagerly sought for by the beet
instrument-makers ; while Captain Fitzroy's office and
duties aro in themselves an acknowledgment of no small
importance of the public value of systematic observation.
The increasing employment of iron in shipbuilding has
brought into corresponding notice the uncertainty which
attends the action of the compass on board vessels of that
construction. This important and intricate subject has
been treated by Mr. Archibald Smith, of Jordan-hill,
with all the resources of his high mathematical and scien-
tific attainments, in publications which have appeared
under the sanction and with the recommendation of the
Admiralty. It will not fail to interest this great commer-
cial city, whose freights are on every sea, that this ques-
tion was taken up at the last Liverpool meeting by Dr.
Scoresby, that it has continued to occupy his close atten-
tion, and that he intends to communicate to this meeting
of the association some of the valuable results of his in-
vestigation. Feeling deeply, as I do, my own inability to
give anything like an adequate sketch—even in outline—
of the progress of the science during the last few years, I
remember at the same time with some satisfaction that it
is less the business of the association to boast of the achieve.
ments which have already been effected than to devise
means of facilitating those which are yet to come. You
have appointed a Parliamentary committee for the consi-
deration of one important branch of this inquiry. We
shall, doubtless, hear from my noble friend Lord Wrot-
tesley those recommendations which have been the result
of its recent labours, and which will be found to owe
much to his enlightened zeal, to his groat knowledge, and
his sound judgment. In the meantime I trust I may,
be allowed to make a few general observations on what ap-
pear to me to be some of the best means of promoting in
this country the advancement of physical science. It will
readily be understood that, in referring for a moment here
to the aid which may be afforded by the State to the ad-
vancement of science, I divest myself entirely of any offi-
cial character, other than that which belongs to me as
your president, and that I seek to give expression to my,
own opinions only. lam not one of those who are dis-
posed to look to public authority as the primary or the best
supporter of abstract science. In the main it must depend
for its advancement on its own inexhaustible attractions—
on the delight which it affords us to study the constitution
of the world around us, and to endeavour to understand,
thoufn it be but darkly, how the reins of its government
are held. Nor am I disposed to indulge in any complaint
on a matter which has lately attracted some attention
among scientific men. In a great manufacturing country
like ours, the disposition of whose 'Topic is eminently
practical, it is perfectly natural that greater attention
should be bestowed on the arts than on the abstract
sciences. This, indeed, is but adhering to what has been
hitherto, at least, the natural and historical order of pre-
cedence; for it is a just observation of Professor \Vhewell,
in his lecture on the results of the Great Exhibition of
1851, that practice has generally gone before thecrys--re-
sults have been arrived at before the laws ou which they
depend had been defined or understood. Art, in short, has
preceded science. But it is equally important to observe
that in recent times this order has been in numberless in-
stances reversed. Abstract science has gone ahead of the
arts, and the conduct of the workshop is now perpetually,
receiving its direction from the experiments of the labora-
tory. Perhaps the most wonderful discovery of modern
days—that of the electric telegraph—was thought out and
perfected, so far as its principle was concerned, in the
closet and the lecture-room, and flashed ready-made on the
astonishment of the world. In chemistry the lead taken
lw abstract science in reacting on the arts is manifest and
constant, and, in a greater or loss degree, the same result
is appearing in connection with every branch of physical
research. The interest, therefore, of the State, even if it
ho considered merely in this economic point of view, in
the encouragement of abstract science, is obvious and im-
mediate ; and there is this additional motive to be rernem-
pnae 1
guo:s
aat s-s.
bored—the moment any result of science becomes ap-
plicablel
tniv oe err c
every com-
mercial
andsotl
ecoatft
stiirherrhi
its
ti manufacturing
gteteeetieehnodhscoenocet arts
ofeosywnmcpmnooa opsis
capital
bah Il eea unfailing
development.
sk classes
ill i ngi takes
v iintg
B enterpriseto
ou upendtt 0,
hf
sa theote
axlpob
science is still purely abstract, ithee often tobe prosecuted
with slender resources, and specially requires fostering
care and a helping hand. But I rejoice to believe that the
conviction of this truth is sensibly gaining ground. The
foundation of the geological museums, both in England
and in Scotland, and the carrying out of a complete geo-
logical concurrently with a geographical survey by public
authority, and at the public expense,were great steps in the
right direction. Another such step was the investment of
1.010/. annually in aiding experimental reeearch, through
the agency of the Royal Society, which undertook the
trouble of its special allocation. It is the intention of my
noble friend, Lord Palmerston, to bring the principle of
some expenditure in this direction specially under the no-
tice of Parliament for the future ; and it is worthy of re-
mark, as illustrating how far a small sum may go in aid of
abstract science, and how cheaply the largest and most
fruitful results may thereby be attained, that, as I have
boon informed on very high authority, this apparently
trivial sum has been felt as a most important help in num-
berless instances,' sometimes in the conduct of experiments,
sometimes in the publication of their results, and some-
times in securing accurate artistic delineations. The rela-
tions now established between the Board of Trade and
various branches of scientific investigation are such as to
lay the foundation for further progress in the same direc-
tion. lam happy to say that, in connection with the new
national museum which is being organised for Scotland,
there is to be a special branch devoted to the industrial
applications of science, and that anew professorship—one
which has long existed in almost all the continental Uni-
versities,
Government.tliat o technology—haslanot
an-
nounce that to that chair Dr. George Wilson has been ap-
ibneebneiningsatbitluetteod by
pointed. The writings which we owe to the pen of Dr.
Wilson, and especially his beautiful memoirsof Cavendish
and of Dr. Reid, are among the happiest productions
less hajp‘payL
of the literature of science. I trust also that the aid of
the State may be secured in providing a house and home
for the scientific bodies in the metropolis. lam dis-
posed to agree with those who attach no small importance
to this consummation. When the Royal Society alone
ceceaTigoll
trum:he
ineeroncoisoi
tuntlfh.
influence,
organisation
aegßdtnahoucuepeti
indispensabletseniadoiotfuniwocon,na fotwitt
with-
outtohhhtneehaasnteel
adequately represented all, or nearlyall, who were engaged
in physical science, that great body fulfilled all the neces-
sary
every separate division of' science has a separate
ought
yighi thtaahhttleaaftevsoeobfhfet scientificsachec voaioeemtundnec
some new arrangement should be come to, in order that
which its interests will never receive the public atten-
tionauthority of the State, may also, I think, be most benefi-
ciallyrules and principles of administration of the Privy Coun-
is necessarily governed to a certain extent by the
feelings and opinions of the various churches and bodies
which are the primary
supporters of our existing educa-
tional system. In the last report of the Council of the
Geographical Society they announce a communication from
the Committee of Privy Council, requesting the society to
appoint an examiner in geography, to be associated with
other examiners on other branches of education. It may
be well worthy of consideration whether the same expe-
dient might not be usefully adopted in reference to other
branches of science which have hitherto formed a less ad-
mitted part of ordinary instruction. And this, gentlemen,
brings me to say that the advancement of science depends,
above all things, on securing for it a better and more ac-
knowledged place in the education of the young. There are
many signs that the time is coming when our wishes in
this respect will be fulfilled. They would be fulfilled, per-
haps, still more rapidly but for the operation of obstruct-
ing causes, some of which we should do well to notice.
How often do we find it assumed that those who urge the
claims of science are desirous of depreciating some one or
more of the older and more sacred branches of education !
eascr:bitirlesiyiteerßstwa,cyeucohtxtnoi
In respect to elementary schools we are generally opposed,
as aiming at the displacement of religious teaching ; while
in respect to the higher schools and colleges, the cudgels
are taken up in behalf of classical attainments. A remark-
able example of the influence of these feelings will be
found in a speech ,delivered by. Lord Lyndhurst during
the late session of Parliament. With all the power of
his dignified and commanding eloquence, he asserted
the right of the older studies to their time-honoured
pre-eminence ; and in the keen pursuit of this argument
even he was almost tempted to speak in a tone of some f.l:-
preciation of the esoble pursuits in which.thaeUniterei y
of which he is a distinguished ornament has won no small
portion of her fame.
But surely no enlightened friend of
the natural sciences would seek to challen_ge this imaginary
competition. Perhaps, Wiped, like own kegag adulates,