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THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION MEETING AT
MANCHESTER, IN SEPTEMBER 1915 :
REPORT OF THE CLUB'S DELEGATE
MR. JOSEPH WILSON
(Read 27th November 1915.)
I have to report that, as the representative of the Essex Field Club, I
attended the Conference of Delegates of the Corresponding Societies.
The first meeting was held on Wednesday, 8th September, when Sir T.
H. Holland, F.R.S., president of the Conference, occupied the chair. Mr.
W. Whitaker, F.R.S., was Vice-Chairman, and Mr. W. M. Webb was
the Secretary.
The Chairman, as usual at the opening meeting, delivered an address.
He chose as his subject The Organisation of Scientific Societies, which
was more appropriate to the Conference than some addresses delivered
by his predecessors. The Chairman pointed out the short-comings of
our armies in the Crimean and South African Wars, due to want of orga-
nisation, and contrasted them with the highly-organised and efficient
state of the German army at the outbreak of the present war. The
principal lesson that we can learn was the necessity for organisation.
He further exemplified the necessity of organisation by showing how the
German methods of applied science assisted that nation in trespassing on
the markets created by British enterprise, thus showing the advantages
of organised co-operation over disconnected effort.
Sir Thomas also referred to the overlapping of work done by scientific
societies, and remarked that this Conference would be of some value, if,
instead of discussing some special scientific problem, its members became
inspired with a desire to direct the activities of the Societies which they
represent, so as to reduce the quantity of machinery and regroup those
who work with common data and a common aim. He gave, as an example,
that, in 1889, there were in this country eight separate societies devoted
to coal mining. In that year, they pooled their resources and issued a
common publication from a common office in Newcastle. As another
illustration, he took the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester,
consisting of 150 members. During the past five years, that society had
published some 91 memoirs, 44 of which may be placed under Sec. A
(Mathematics and Physics), 7 under Sec. C (Geology), 22 under Sec.
D (Zoology), and the remainder under various sections. He remarked
on the amount of labour which a student would have in wading through
this amount of literature before obtaining any reliable addition to his
knowledge on a particular subject, and remarked that, even when the
student had done so, the information might be of little value, from the
want of critical discussion in the heterogeneous assembly. He admitted,
however, that organisation, if carried to its logical conclusion, would
abolish many scientific societies and, with them, their local museums and
libraries ; but, in-order to preserve them and to turn their resources to
better advantage, he advocated having their publications censored—say,
by the Royal Society, which occupies the premier position in this country,
and might be induced to bear part of the cost of publication. In organ-
ization, it was necessary for some one to take a leading part ; and, if the