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years of the Institute it would be wise to place the leadership in the hands of Europeans, or at least of men who have had the best training Europe can give and have shown their power to profit by it. The rapid success of Japan in the Western arts has been largely due to the adoption of this policy, while a principal reason for the success of Germany and the United States in productive industry is their appreciation of the value of using organised teams of well-trained men of science in the attack on industrial problems.
If this were the policy of the new Institute, the same practical aims would be found in its Department of Economics. This Department should begin by a careful survey of the export trade of China with a view to selecting those materials and products for scientific study which are most hopeful and important. The leason of Tung oil would indicate the method of approach. The Department would no doubt go on to consider on a statistical basis the directions in which, with the help of science, waste could be avoided in production or marketing, with a view to ameliorating the poverty of the people. From these concrete studies economic generalisations would in time emerge which would put economics in China upon a sound basis of ascertained fact.
It is not suggested that "pure science" should be excluded from the Institute. If men capable of adding to knowledge in this way should appear, they should be encouraged and not excluded-for all "useful" knowledge is based upon the work of such men.
It is here only a question of what the primary purpose of the Institute should be. The purposes of the Imperial College of Science and Technology are those we have in mind-interpreted in a similarly liberal spirit.
APPENDIX II.
LETTER FROM DR. W. H. WONG (OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CHINA) AND OTHERS REGARDING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.
To the British China Indemnity Delegation, Peking.
Dear Sirs,
Peking, June 6, 1926.
The undersigned have the honour to submit for your consideration a memoran- dum on the use of a portion of the Returned Indemnity Fund for the establishment of a national institute of science and technology.
Trusting that the scheme will receive your favourable consideration.
We beg to be, dear Sirs,
Yours very faithfully,
WONG WEN-HAO. CHEN SHIH-CHANG. And about a dozen others.
Memorandum on the Establishment of a National Institute of Science and Technology.
The generosity of the British people and Government in returning to China the Indemnity Fund imposes upon the Chinese the duty to devise the best means to utilise this fund for the greatest benefit of the Chinese people, so that such generosity may not be wasted. In this spirit, the undersigned beg to call special attention of the British China Indemnity Delegation, and the full board which it represents, on the scheme for the establishment of a National Institute (or Research Institute) of Science and Technology.
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I-Object.
The object of such an Institute is to be threefold :--
1. Research. The importance and necessity of scientific and technical researches are too evident to need any explanation. The organisation of research laboratories is, however, especially urgent in China, as we have immense natural resources awaiting to be developed not only for the benefit of China, but for the world at large. To develop such natural resources it requires, first of all, full investigation and studies. It is true there exists in China already a number of universities and technical colleges, but they offer little opportunities for original research. There are also students of pure and applied sciences who return every year from Europe and America, and most of them are prepared to pursue the study on their special lines. Therefore, the establishment of research laboratories will greatly assist both the cultural and economic develop- ment of this country.
2. Exploration.There is no doubt that China offers unusual opportunity for scientific discoveries. The remarkable results attained by the occasional foreign expeditions and a few Chinese institutions working in most unfavourable conditions warrant best success of more systematic explora- tions. A number of scientific problems are waiting for solution from local studies in China; and many a part of this immense country and its dependencies have scarcely been touched by scientific investigation. Field study shall be, therefore, systematically carried out in order to fully investigate the hitherto imperfectly known resources and eventually to discover unknown ones. Better knowledge cannot fail to bring about better use.
3. Exhibition. In conjunction with the above work, museum or museums should be organised to exhibit specimens of natural and industrial products of various provinces with explanations and illustrations so as to be useful to both special students and the general public. Exhibition may be also made of the scientific and technical instruments with practical demonstration of their uses. A well-arranged exhibition is always the best thing for popularising scientific knowledge, and a good combination of the museum with laboratory and field work will give it still more living interest and higher scientific value.
II-Scope.
The proposed institute shall include the following divisions:—
1. Department of Physics and Chemistry-There are the basic sciences which have the greatest need of organised effort and adequate equipment in China, Besides the theoretical problems of general interest, special attention shall be paid towards matters of practical utility and local problems. An ideal plan would be to establish some such organisation as the Physico-Chemical Institute in Japan.
2. Department of Botany and Zoology. This will include botanical and
zoological gardens, marine biological stations and agricultural experi mental stations, &c. Besides the systematic faunal and floral survey of the country, improvement of seeds, fighting of plant diseases and insect devastation, experiment on fertilisers, study on oil-bearing plants, scientific method of breeding, &c., are but the few practical problems which can be immediately thought of and which would help most materially to increase the national prosperity.
3. Department of Geology and Mineralogy-The richness of Chinese coal resources is well known, but still imperfectly surveyed. Of the metallic mines, such as antimony, tungsten. manganese, &c., discovery of which dates back only a few decades or even a few years, and yet their industry assumes already a world-wide importance. Fuller investigation cannot fail to result in more discoveries and better utilisation.
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