Page:History of the Royal Astronomical Society (1923).djvu/237

 1870-80] ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY 207 Though it involves a slight departure from chronological order it will be convenient to complete now the history of the question of the Endowment of Research in so far as it affected the actual proceedings being issued of our Society. The Duke of Devonshire's Commission on Scientific Instruction and Advancement of Science * continued its labours for some years, and by its action Mr. Norman Lockyer was given a post in the Royal College of Science in 1875, and a Committee was appointed by the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education in 1879, whose purpose it was to further the study of Solar Physics. This Committee was composed of G. G. Stokes, Balfour Stewart, Richard Strachey, Norman Lockyer, W. de W. Abney, and J. F. D. Donnelly. On its establishment Parliament voted an annual grant of 500, 300 of which was for payments to members of the Committee for fees and travelling expenses, leaving 200 for scientific assistance, chemicals, etc. It was arranged that in addition to this grant such assistance as was possible should be given by the general staff of the Depart- ment of Science and Art and in the Laboratory of the Science School. This provision, scanty as it was, did not however pass without comment, and there was correspondence in the public press protesting against the application of public funds for the purposes of pure research. The ordained staple work of the Com- mittee appears to have been to arrange for keeping a photographic record of the solar surface ; but a paragraph in a preliminary Report "f made in 1880, to the Committee of Council, to determine whether the Treasury should be applied to for an extension of the vote for another year, shows how this simple programme was extended, and is informing in several ways. The Committee have had thirteen formal meetings. In addition to this several Members of the Committee have carried on special branches of the inquiry ; and Mr. Lockyer, as arranged when the Committee was appointed, has been charged with the general conduct of the observational and experimental work at South Kensington. The Committee consider that by his Laboratory work and comparison of the results with Solar phenomena he has brought together a great body of evidence tending, prima facie, to conclusions of the utmost importance. The labour and difficulty of the research are, however, so great that much additional time and attention must continue to be bestowed on it before the questions thus raised can be considered as finally settled ; and the Committee think it of much importance that the researches now being carried on should not be interrupted. The remainder of this Preliminary Report deals mainly with
 * See above, p. 174. t See Nature, 1880 May 13.