The British Association opened its meeting at Manchester on Tuesday
under the presidency of Professor Schuster. This distinguished physicist is one of the secretaries of the Royal Society, and we may take the opportunity of strongly dissociating ourselves from the unworthy criticisms that have been made upon him in some quarters on account of the place of his birth. No greater proof of his loyalty Gould be given than the fact that he has already lost a nephew in the war and that one of his sons has been wounded at the Dardanelles. It is impossible not to regret deeply the meretricious patriotism that has prompted these attacks. At the beginning of the pro- ceedings a letter of greeting was read from the First Lord of the Admiralty, and a loyal address to the King was moved and carried by acclamation. After these unusual preliminaries, Professor Schuster delivered his Presidential address, of which we can give no more than the briefest outline. Its general sub- ject was the relation between science and practical life, and it treated this theme in various aspects. In the first place. Professor Schuster considered how far different qualities distinguished the man of business from the man of science, and urged the view that such distinctions were greatly exaggerated and were largely matters of education. The power of organization, he maintained, was not limited to any particular section of the community, nor was it the natural gift of any particular nation. It could be acquired by a process of training, and it was self-depreciation to suppose that we were less capable of it than Germany.
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