Welsh Journals

INDUSTRY AND RESEARCH* BY PRINCIPAL E. H. GRIFFITHS THE late Sir George Darwin, whose researches on the tides and the shifting of sandbanks are so well known, and have proved of great service, told me that on one occasion, when he had constructed in his rooms in Trinity a simple apparatus consisting of a bath, some sand and a can of water, his bed-maker, on entering, found him employed in the manufac- ture of artificial sandbanks. Said he A queer occupation, isn't it, Mrs. Brown ? Well, well, Sir," she replied, it does no harm and it amuses you." I believe that Mrs. Brown's sentiment is that of the present day. In former times the British public was suspicious, perhaps more than suspicious, of such apparently futile occupations, and occasion- ally burnt or tortured one of the enquirers for the encouragement of the others but it has progressed in understanding and to-day the attitude is one of toleration. However, I fear that the statement, that labours of this kind are of paramount importance to the nation, is one which in most assemblies would still be received with scepticism. I propose briefly to direct your attention to examples of the benefits which we now enjoy, and to remind you of the foundations on which they rest. Perhaps some of you are fortunate enough to hold shares in companies such as Brunner, Mond & Co., and receive with satisfaction your annual dividends. I wonder what proportion of those dividends *From an Address to The Bristol University Colston Society, February 11th, 1914. This Society during its 15 years of existence has collected a sum of nearly 1.7,500 for the promotion of research. is due to the discovery of the metals of the alkalis by Humphrey Davy ? It is probable that many here present are deriving satisfactory returns from capital invested in industries dependent on the mechanical generation of electricity. Not only the shareholders, but also the million of employees in electrical light works, tramways, mines and various elec- trical undertakings, with all their dependent industries, should join in a chorus of praise to the name of Faraday, while that of Perkins deserves to be exalted by the army of workers (unfortunately for us chiefly in Germany) dependent on the aniline industry. The point which I wish specially to emphasise is this, that the discoveries on which most of our great industries are based were made by men who were searching after knowledge for its own sake, without, in general, any thought of financial recompense to themselves or others. There was a toast in a certain society Here's to science, pure and undefiled, and may it never do a ha'porth of good to anyone." Curiously enough, this is the spirit in which research must be conducted, it it is to produce substantial results. I know hardly any salient case in which real advance has been due to efforts prompted solely by the hope of financial gain. The man who applies the discoveries of the laboratory to the business of the work- shop and the market place, is almost necessarily of a different type from the one who seeks after knowledge for its own sake. The settler and the farmer follow in the steps of the explorer, and it is not, as a rule, the pioneer who reaps the benefit. Hence the necessity of support such as this