24 FEBRUARY 1923, Page 3

Sir Alfred Yarrow's great gift of £100,000 to the Royal

Society for the advancement of scientific research repre- sents far more than the actual value of the donation. The opinion of a man of commercial and practical interests will have more weight with the average Englishman than that of the pure scientist would have. Therefore Sir Alfred's belief that the advancement of pure science is the great need of our nation to-day should prove both a corrective and a stimulus ; a corrective to the terribly prevalent type of person who cannot see beyond his nose and wants immediate return for his money or interest, and a stimulus to the research-worker who was becoming disheartened by the apathy of the nation towards the real value of laboratory work.