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BRITISH ASSOCIATION, MEETING AT EXETER. 283
the scientific world generally by receiving, discussing, and publisliing
the results which they may have obtained. The British Association,
on the other hand, aims at giving a more systematic direction to scien-
tific inquiry, and that in various M'ays.
In a rapidly progressing branch of science it is by no means, easy to
become acquainted with its actual state. The workers in it are scat-
tered throughout the civilized world, and their results are published in
a variety of Transactions and scientific periodicals, mixed with other
scientific matter. To make oneself, without assistance, well acquainted
with what has been done, it is requisite to have access to an extensive
library, to be able to read with facility several modern languages, and
to have leisure to hunt through the tables of contents, or at least the
indices, of a number of serial works. Without such knowledge there
is always the risk that a scientific man may spend his strength in doing-
over again what has been done already; whereas with better direction
the same expenditure of time and labour might have resulted in some
substantial addition to our knowledge. With a view to meet this diffi-
culty the British Association has requested individuals who were more
specially conversant with particular departments of science to draw up
reports on the present state of our knowledge in, or on the recent pro-
gress of, special branches ; and the influence of the Association as a
public body has been found sufficient to induce a number of scientific
men to undertake the great labour of preparing such reports.
ITo7C the Objects are worked out.
By thus ascertaining thoroughly what we already had, what we still
wanted was made more clear ; and, indeed, it was one special object of
the reports I have mentioned to point out what were the more promi-
nent desiderata in the various subjects to which they related. The
Association was thus the better enabled to fulfil another of its functions,
that of organizing means for the prosecution of researches which require
co-operation. When the want is withiti the compass of what can be
accomplished by individuals, the demand may be left to create the
supply ; but it often happens that a research can hardly be carried out
without co-operation. It may, for instance, require a combination of
the most profound theoretical knowledge with the greatest experimental
skill, or an extensive knowledge of very dissimilar branches of science
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