Nature [antikvár]

Jubilee Meeting of the Indián Science Congress ' I VHIS week, the twenty-fifth meeting of the ^ Indián Science Congress Association opens in Calcutta, the jubilee being marked by the attendance of a strong delegation from the British Association ; Lord Rutherford was to have presided at the meeting, but fate decided otherwise, and the Association has been fortunate enough to persuade Sir James Jeans to take his place. It maj7 be hoped that this meeting will confirm the growing appreciation in India of the value of modern science. In the address prepared for the meeting by Lord Rutherford before his death, he pointed out that prior to the first decade of this century, scientific research in India was, with a few notable exceptions, confined to the great scientific services, initiated and maintained on a generous scale by the Government, such as the Survey of India, the Geological Survey, the Botanical Survey, the Departments of Agriculture and Meteorology, and others. To the work of members of the Trigonometrical Survey we owe the principle of isostasy, while the development of the mineral resources of the country has been due largely to the activities of the Geological Survey. In forestry, the fine research institute at Dehra Dun is a monument to the enthusiasm of past members of the Indián Forest Service. The Indián Medical Service has been the means of giving the world, not India alone, new weapons for the attack on tropical diseases such as malaria, cholera and leprosy. While this work was going on steadily, the Indián universities were being founded, and at first attention was mainly directed to the instruction and examination of students. There were always a few, however, who realized the role the universities must eventually take in the promotion of research, and, as a result of the Curzon Commission on Education in 1904, many of the universities introduced honours courses, and by new appointments and improvements in laboratories stimulated research in science. Amongst the pioneer men of science in India who distinguished themselves by originál investigations, Lord Rutherford mentioned in his address Sir Alexander Pedler, Sir J. Chandra Bose, Sir Alfréd Bourne and Sir Prafulla Rá,y. For geographical reasons, personal contact between scientific workers in India is diíficult. Occasional meetings of specialists may be arranged by the Board of Scientific Advice, but these meetings do not affect the university teachers, and in the autumn of 1911 two newly appointed professors, P. S. MacMahon in Lucknow and J. L. Simonsen in Madras, feeling the isolation in which they worked, considered that the time was ripe for the organization in India of a body having the same aims and functions as the British Association for the Advancement of Science. After considerable discussion, and acting on the advice of Sir Thomas Holland, a small committee was constituted to consider the formation of such a body. This committee met on November 2, 1912, and it was decided to ask the Asiatic Society of Bengal