Address to the Department of Anatomy and Physiology of the British Association / by P.H. Pye-Smith.

  • Pye-Smith, Philip Henry, 1839-1914.
Date:
[1879?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Address to the Department of Anatomy and Physiology of the British Association / by P.H. Pye-Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    ADDRESS TO THE DEPARTMENT OP ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY Jr S'1 \ OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. /&! y a A‘\ * BY P. H. PYE-SMITH, B.A., M.D. VICE-PRESIDENT OP THE SECTION. The Association to which we belong seeks to advance Natural Science, that is to say, accurate knowledge of the material world, by the following means :— 1st.—By bringing together men who are engaged in the various fields of science v l indicated by our several Sections, by promoting friendship between them, by giving i opportunity for discussion on points of difference, by encouraging obscure but | genuine labourers with the applause of the leaders whom they have learnt to venerate, and by fostering that feeling of respect for other branches of science, that | knowledge of and interest in their progress, which chiefly marks the liberality of i scientific study. Secondly.—The Association provides funds, which, though small in amount, are | great in worth, from the mode of their distribution ; and serve in a limited degree as an encouragement, though not an endowment, of research. One proof of the value of this method of subsidising unremunerative work by small grants distri- buted by the master workmen themselves is given by the fact that the sum of 4,000/. annually contributed by the Government of the United Kingdom for the endow- ment of research is distributed on the same plan by a Committee of the Royal Society. The Third most important aim of our Association is, ‘ to obtain a more general attention to the objects and methods of Science, and the removal of any disad- vantages of a public kind which impede its progress.’ It is for this reason that the Association travels from one to another of the great centres of population and intel- lectual activity of the kingdom. Local scientific societies and local museums are generated and regenerated in its path, local industries are for a time raised to a higher level than that of money-getting, and every artisan may learn how his own craft depends upon knowledge of the facts of nature, and how he forms part of the great system of applied science, which is subduing the earth and all its powers to the use of man. We wish to make science popular, not by deceiving idlers into the belief that any thorough knowledge can be easy, but by exciting interest in its objects and appreciation of its methods. In the popular evening lectures you will A