  SIR JAGADIS CHUNDER BOSE On the 30th November, 1858, Jagadis Chunder was born, in a respectable Hindu family, which hails from village Rarikhal, situated in the Vikrampur Pargana of the Dacca District, in Bengal. He passed his boyhood at Faridpur, where his father, the late Babu Bhugwan Chunder Bose, a member of the then Subordinate Executive Service was the Sub-Divisional Officer; and it was there that he derived "the power and strength that nerved him to meet the shocks of life."1 HIS FATHER His father was a fine product of the Western Education in our country. Speaking of him, says Sir Jagadis "My father was one of the earliest to receive the impetus characteristic of the modern epoch as derived from the West. And in his case it came to pass that the stimulus evoked the latent potentialities of his race for evolving modes of expression demanded by the period of transition in which he was placed. They found expression in great constructive work, in the restoration of HIS EARLY EDUCATION Little Jagadis received his first lesson in a village pathsala. His father, who had very advanced views in educational matters, instead of sending him to an English School, which was then regarded as the only place for efficient instruction, sent him to the vernacular village school for his early education. "I now realise" continues Sir Jagadis "the object of my being sent at the most plastic period of my life to the vernacular school where I was to learn my own thoughts and to receive the heritage of our national culture through the medium of our own literature. I was thus to consider myself one with the people and never to place myself in an equivocal position of assumed superiority."3 "The moral education which we received in our childhood" adds Sir Jagadis "was very indirect and came from listening to stories recited by the And it is very interesting to learn from the lips of Sir Jagadis himself "that the inventive bent of his mind received its first impetus" in the industrial and technical schools established by his father.4 HIS COLLEGIATE EDUCATION IN INDIA After he had developed, in the pathsala, some power of observation, some power of reasoning and some power of expression through the healthy medium of his own mother tongue, young Jagadis was sent to an English School for education. He passed the Entrance Examination, in 1875, from the St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Calcutta, in the First Division. He then joined the College classes of that Institution, and there, in the "splendid museum of Physical Science Instruments," he drew his early inspirations in Physics from that remarkable educationist and brilliant experimentalist, the Rev. Father E. Lefont, S.J., C.I.E., M.I.E.E., who had the rare gift of enkindling the imagination of his pupils. He passed the First Examination in Arts, in 1877, in the Second Division and the B.A. Examination by the B. Course (Science Course), in 1880, in the HIS STUDY ABROAD After Jagadis had graduated himself, in the Calcutta University, he longed to get a course of scientific education in England. He was sent to Cambridge and joined the Christ's College. He came in "personal contact with eminent men, whose influence extorted his admiration and created in him a feeling of emulation. In the way he owed a great deal to Lord Rayleigh, under whom he worked."6 He passed the B.A. Examination of the Cambridge University, in Natural Science Tripos, in 1884. He also secured, in 1883, the B.Sc. Degree with Honours of London University. Jagadis had, by birth, the speculative Indian mind. And, by his scientific education, at home and abroad, he developed a capacity for accurate experiment APPOINTED AS A PROFESSOR After having completed his education abroad. Jagadis chose the teaching of Science as his vocation. He was appointed as Professor of Physical Science at the Presidency College, Calcutta. He joined the service on the 7th January, 1885. Although he was appointed in Class IV of the then Bengal Educational Service, (which afterwards merged in the present Indian Educational Service), he was not admitted to the full scale of pay of the Service. He, being an Indian, was allowed to draw only two-thirds the pay of his grade. This humiliating distinction was, however, removed in HIS RESEARCHES ON ELECTRIC WAVES It was in 1887, some times after Professor J. C. Bose had joined the Presidency College, Hertz demonstrated, by direct experiment, the existence of Electric Waves—the properties of which had been predicted by Clerk Maxwell long before. This great discovery sent a reverberation through the gallery of the scientific world. And, at once, the scientists in all countries began to devote their best energies to explorations in this new Realm of Nature. Young J. C. Bose—who had drunk deep at the springs of Scientific Knowledge and whose imagination had been very deeply touched by the scientific activities of the West and who had in him the burning desire that India should 'enter the world movement for that advancement of knowledge'—also followed suit. DIFFICULTIES OF RESEARCHES When, however, Prof. J. C. Bose joined the Presidency College, there was no laboratory worth the name there, nor had he any of 'those mechanical facilities at his disposal which every prominent European and American experimental scientist As the wave-length of a Hertzian (electric) ray was very large—about 3 metres8 long—compared with that of visible light, considerable difficulties were experienced in carrying on experiments with the same. It was thought, for instance, that very large crystals, much larger than what occur in nature, would be required to show the polarisation of electric ray. Prof. Bose who 'combined in him the inventiveness of a resourceful engineer, with the penetration and imagination of a great scientist'—designed an instrument which generated very short electric waves with a length of about 6 millimetres or so. And, by working with Electric radiations having very short wave-lengths, he succeeded in demonstrating that the electric waves are polarised by the crystal Nemalite (which he HIS EARLY CONTRIBUTIONS AND THEIR APPRECIATIONS His first contribution was 'On Polarisation of Electric Rays by Double Refracting Crystals.' It was read at a meeting of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, held on the 1st May 1895, and was published in the Journal of the Society in Vol. LXIV, Part II, page 291. His next contributions were 'On a new Electro polariscope' and 'On the Double Refraction of the Electric Ray by a Strained Di-electric.' They appeared, in the Electrician, the leading journal on Electricity, published in London. These 'strikingly original researches' won the In recognition of the importance of the contribution made by Prof. Bose, the University of London conferred on him the Degree of Doctor of Science and the Cambridge University, the degree of M.A., in 1896. And, to crown all, the Royal Institution of Great Britain—rendered famous by the labour of Davy and Faraday, of Rayleigh and Dewar—honoured him by inviting to deliver a 'Friday Evening Discourse' on his original work. It would not be out of place to observe that the rare privilege of being invited to deliver a 'Friday Evening HIS FIRST SCIENTIFIC DEPUTATION. (1896-97) The Government of India showed its appreciation of his work by deputing him to Europe to place the results of his investigations before the learned Scientific Bodies. He remained on his Deputation from the 22nd July 1896 to the 19th April 1897. He read a paper 'On a complete Apparatus for studying the Properties of Electric Waves' at the meeting of British Association, held at Liverpool, in 1896. He then communicated a paper 'On the Selective Conductivity exhibited by Polarising Substances,' which was published by the Royal Society, in January 1897. He next delivered his 'Friday Evening Discourse,' at the Royal Institution, 'On Electric Waves,' on the 29th January 1897. "There is, however, to our thinking" wrote the Spectator at the time "something of rare interest in the spectacle presented of a Bengalee of the purest descent possible, lecturing in London to an audience of appreciative European savants upon one of the most recondite branches of the modern physical science." He was then invited to address the Scientific Societies in Paris. "Prof. J. C. Bose" wrote the Review Encyclopedique, Paris "exhibited on the 9th of March before the Sorbonne, "By your discoveries you have greatly furthered the cause of Science. You must try to revive the grand traditions of your race which bore aloft the torch light of art and science and was the leader of civilization two thousand years ago. We, in France applaud you." This fervent appeal, we shall see, as we proceed, did not go in vain. He was next invited to lecture before the Universities in Germany. At Berlin, before the leading physicists of Germany, he gave an address on Electric Radiation, which was subsequently published in the Physikaliscen Gesellschaft Berlin, in April 1897. FURTHER RESEARCHES ON ELECTRIC WAVES Having received the most generous and wide appreciation of his work, Dr. J. C. Bose continued, with redoubled vigour, his valuable researches on Electric Waves. He studied the influence of thickness SELF-RECOVERING "COHERER" The study of Electric Waves by Dr. J. C. Bose led As a result of his painstaking investigation on the action of Electric Waves on different kinds of matter, Dr. Bose invented a new type of self-recovering electric receiver, "so perfect in its action HIS RESEARCHES TAKE A NEW TURN This inquiry which Dr. J. C. Bose started for the purpose of ascertaining 'coherer action'—why the "receiver" had to be tapped in order to respond again to electric waves—took him RESPONSE IN LIVING AND NON-LIVING He began an examination of inorganic matter in the same way as a biologist examines a muscle or a nerve. He subjected metals to various kinds of stimulus—mechanical, thermal, chemical, and electrical. He found that all sorts of stimulus produce an excitatory change in them. And this excitation sometimes expresses itself in a visible change of SECOND SCIENTIFIC DEPUTATION, 1900-01 In the year 1900, the International Scientific Congress was held, in Paris. And Dr. J. C. Bose was deputed by the Government of India to the Congress as a delegate from this country. Before the assembled scientists, Dr. Bose delivered a remarkable address on the results of his researches on the similarity of Response of Inorganic and Living Substances to Electric stimulus ... 'De la gÊnÊralitÊ de PhÊnomÊnes Moleculairs produits par l'EctricitÉ sur la matiriÊ Inorganique et sur la matiÊre Vivante.' He next read a paper 'On the Similarity of effect of Electric Stimulus on Inorganic and Living Substances' before the Bradford meeting of the British Association in 1900. He then contributed a very interesting paper 'on Binocular Alteration of Vision,' which was published by the Physiological Society of London, in November 1900. It may be mentioned here, by the way, that, in course of his investigations on the Response of the Living and Non-Living substances, Dr. Bose constructed an "artificial retina" to study the characteristics of the excitatory change produced by a stimulus on OPPOSITION OF THE PHYSIOLOGISTS Then, on the 5th June 1901, he gave an experimental demonstration, before the Royal Society, on the subject of his researches 'On Electric Response of Inorganic Substances' which had already been communicated to that Society, on the 7th May 1901. He was strongly assailed by Sir John Burden Sanderson, the leading physiologist, and some of his followers. They objected to a physicist straying into the preserve especially reserved for The opposition of the physiologists, however, did one good. It spurred Dr. Bose on and made him stronger in his determination not to encompass himself, within the narrow groove of physical investigation. He took furlough for one year, in Dr. Bose then brought out a systematic treatise embodying the results of his researches under the significant title of 'Response in the Living and Non-living.' He returned to India, in October, 1902. GOVERNMENT RECOGNITION After he had come back, from the Second Scientific Deputation, the Government of India conferred on him the distinction of Companion of the Order of PLANT LIFE AND ANIMAL LIFE Next Dr. Bose, in natural sequence to the investigation of the response in 'inorganic' matter commenced 'a prolonged study of the activities of plant life as compared with corresponding functioning of animal life.' ALL PLANTS ARE "SENSITIVE" It was believed that so-called 'sensitive' plants alone exhibited excitation by electric response. But Dr. Bose, believing in continuity of responsive phenomena, used the same experimental devices, with which he had already succeeded in obtaining the electric response of inorganic substances, to test whether ordinary plants also—meaning those usually regarded as 'insensitive'—would or would not exhibit excitatory electrical response to stimulus. With the help of very delicate instruments, Dr. Bose demonstrated the very startling fact that not only every plant, but every organ of every plant gave true excitatory electric response—and that response was not confined alone to 'sensitive' plants like Mimosa. Dr. Bose then proceeded to investigate whether the responsive effects which he had shown to occur 'TROPIC' MOVEMENTS Finding that the plants give, not only electric but motile response as well, to stimulus, Dr. Bose proceeded to study the nature of responses evoked in plants by the stimuli of the natural forces. He found that plants respond visibly, by movements, to environmental stimuli. But the movements induced—'tropic' movements—are extremely diverse. Light, for example, induces sometimes positive curvature, sometimes negative. Gravitation, again, induces one movement in the root, and the opposition in the shoot. Dr. Bose applied himself to find out whether EXTENDED APPLICATION OF MECHANICAL THEORY With an extended application of his mechanical theory, Dr. Bose has gradually removed the veil of obscurity from many a phenomenon in plant life. 'AUTONOMOUS' MOVEMENTS It was believed that automatically pulsating tissues draw their energy from a mysterious "vital force" working within. By controlling external forces, Dr. Bose stopped the pulsation and re-started it and thus demonstrated that the 'automatic action' was not due to any internal vital force. He pointed out that the external stimulus—instead of causing, as was customary to suppose, an explosive chemical change and an inevitable run-down of energy—brings about an accumulation of energy by the plant. And with the accumulation of absorbed energy, a point is reached when there is an overflow—the excess of energy bubbles over, as it were, and shows itself in 'spontaneous' movements. The stimulus being strong a single response—a single twitching of the leaflets—is not enough to express the whole of the leaf's responsive energy and it yields a multiple response—it reverberates—it manifests itself in 'automatic' pulsations. When, however, the accumulated energy is exhausted, then there is also an end of 'spontaneous movements.' There are strictly speaking, no 'spontaneous' movements; those known by that name are really due "ASCENT OF SAP" "AND GROWTH" Dr. Bose then showed that, not gross mechanical movements alone, but also other invisible movements are initiated by the action of stimulus, and that the various activities, such as the "ascent of sap" and "growth" are in reality different reactions to the stimulating action of energy supplied by the environment. In this way, Dr. Bose showed that several obscure phenomena, in the life-processes of the plant, can be very satisfactorily explained by the Mechanical Theory. It would not be out of place to mention that Dr. Bose, to carry on his researches on the Ascent of Sap, invented a new type of instrument (Shoshungraph). And for an accurate investigation on the phenomenon of growth of plants he devised an instrument (Growth Recorder) for instantaneous measurement of the rate of growth and another instrument (Balanced Crescograph) for determining the influences of various agencies on growth. So FUNDAMENTAL IDENTITY OF REACTIONS Dr. Bose showed that there is no physiological response given by the most highly organised animal tissue that is not also to be met with in the plant. He carried on "Researches on Diurnal Sleep" and showed that the plant is not equally sensitive to an external stimulus during day and night, and that there is a fundamental identity of life-reaction in plant and animal, as seen in a similar periodic These remarkable researches on Plant Response have 'revolutionised in some respects and very much extended in others our knowledge of the response of plants to stimulus.' FURTHER DIFFICULTIES Dr. Bose communicated his paper 'On the Electric Pulsation accompanying Automatic Movements in Desmodium Gyrans' to the Linnaean Society, which was published, in December 1902. Then, in 1903, he communicated to the Royal Society his researches on 'Investigation on Mechanical Response in Plants,' 'On Polar effects of Currents on the Stimulation of Plants,' 'On the Velocity of Transmission of Excitatory waves in Plants,' 'On the excitability and conductivity of Plant Tissues,' 'On the Propagation of the Electromotive Wave concomitant of Excitatory Waves in Plants,' 'On Multiple Response in Plants,' 'On an enquiry into the cause of Automatic Movements.' "These new contributions" made by Dr. Bose on Plant Response "were regarded as of such great importance that the Royal Society showed its special appreciation by recommending them to be HE BUILT HIS LIFE ON THE ROCK OF FAITH But these difficulties—sufficient to crush many a spirit—could hardly quench the ardour of his burning soul, which was 'hungering and thirsting' for the establishment of a truth in which he had a firm Faith. Though the surges would beat against him, he would not give way. With the true spirit of a Sadhak, he devoted himself to the realisation of the great dream of his life. And, for the next ten years, the one tap, jap and aradhana of his life—the PUBLICATION OF "PLANT RESPONSE" Though his researches did not find an outlet, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, he did not lose heart. He brought out, in April 1906, a systematic treatise—"The Plant Response as a Means of Physiological Investigation"—in which he incorporated the results of his investigations on plant life. ADOPTS A NEW METHOD OF INVESTIGATION Hitherto Dr. Bose detected the various excitatory effects of plants by means of mechanical response. Being now confronted with opposition, he turned his attention to the finding of corroboration of the various results, which he had already obtained, by some other method of investigation. And for this he employed the method of electric response. He found that the results obtained by this new method of inquiry corroborated those already obtained by him by the old method. Emboldened by this corroboration, he next proceeded to extend this new method of inquiry by means of electric response into the field of Animal Physiology with a view to explain responsive phenomena in general on the RESULT OF THE INVESTIGATION Dr. Bose found, in the plant as well as in the animal, "a similar series of excitatory effects, whether these be exhibited mechanically or electrically. Both alike are responsive, and similarly responsive, to all the diverse forms of stimulus that impinge upon them. We ascend, in the one case as in the other, from the simplicities of the isotropic to the complexities of the anisotropic; and the laws of these isotropic and anisotropic responses are the same in both. The responsive peculiarities of epidermis, epithelium, and gland; the response of the digestive organ, with its phasic alterations; and the excitatory electrical discharge of an anisotropic plate, are the same in the plant as in the animal. The plant, like the animal, is a single organic whole, all its different parts being connected, and their activities co-ordinated, by the agency of those conducting strands which are known as nerves. As in the plant nerve, moreover, so also in the animal, stimulation gives rise to two distinct impulses, exhibiting themselves by two-fold mechanical and electrical indications of CLASH WITH CURRENT VIEWS The results, which Dr. Bose obtained from actual experiments, clashed, however, with the theories in vogue. The reactions of different issues were hitherto regarded as special differences. As against this, a continuity is shown to exist between them. Thus, nerve was universally regarded as It was customary to regard plants as devoid of the power to conduct true excitation. Dr. Bose had already shown that this view was incorrect. He now showed, by experiment, that the response of the isolated vegetal nerve is indistinguishable from that of animal nerve, throughout a large series of parallel variations of condition. So complete, indeed, is the similarity between the responses of plant and animal, found, of which this is one instance, that the discovery of a given responsive characteristic in one case proves a sure guide to its observation in the other, and the explanation of phenomenon, under the simpler conditions of the plant, is found fully sufficient for its elucidation under the more complex circumstances of the animal. Dr. Bose found 'differential excitability' is widely present as a factor in determining the character of special responses and showed that many anomalous conclusions, with regard to the response of certain animal tissues, had arisen from the failure to take account of the 'differential excitability' of anisotropic organs. Hitherto SENSATION It was supposed that nervous impulse, which, must necessarily form the basis of sensation, was beyond any conceivable power of visual scrutiny. But Dr. Bose showed that this impulse is actually attended by change of form, and is, therefore capable of direct observation. He also showed that the disturbance, instead of being single, is of two different kinds—viz., one of expansion (positive) and the other of contraction (negative)—and that, when the stimulus is feeble, the positive is transmitted, and, when the stimulus is stronger, both positive and negative are transmitted, but the negative, however, being more intense, masks the positive. He identified the wave of expansion travelling along the nerve with the tendency to pleasure, and the wave of contraction, with the tendency to pain. It thus appears that all pain contains an element of MEMORY IMAGE AND ITS REVIVAL Dr. Bose next pointed out that there remains, for every response, a certain residual effect. A substance, which has responded to a given stimulus, retains, as an after-effect, a 'latent impression' of that stimulus and this 'latent impression' is capable of subsequent revival by bringing about the original condition of excitation. The impress made by the action of stimulus, though it remains latent and invisible, can be revived by the impact of a fresh excitatory impulse. Experimenting with a metallic leaf, Dr. Bose demonstrated the revival of a latent impression under the action of diffused stimulus. The investigation by Dr. Bose on the after-effects of stimulus has thrown some light on the obscure phenomenon, of 'memory.' It appears that, when there is a mental revival of past experience, the diffuse impulse of the 'will' acts on the sensory surface, which contains the latent impression and re-awakens the image which appears to have faded out. Memory is concerned, thus, with the after-effect of an impression Dr. Bose has, by experimental devises, shown the possibility of tracing 'memory-impression' backwards even in inorganic matter, such latent impression being capable of subsequent revival. An investigation of the after-effects of stimulus, on living tissues would open out the great problem of the influence of past events on our present condition. DEATH-STRUGGLE AND MEMORY REVIVAL There is a wide-spread belief that, in the case of a sudden death-struggle, as for example, when drowning, the memory, of the past comes in a flash. "Assuming the correctness of this," says Sir Jagadis "certain experimental results which I have obtained may be pertinent to the subject. The experiment consisted in finding whether the plant, near the point of death, gave any signal of the approaching crisis. I found that at this critical moment a sudden electrical spasm sweeps through every part of the organism. Such a strong and diffused stimulation—now involuntary—may be expected in a human subject to crowd into one "COMPARATIVE ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGY" Dr. Bose published the results of these new researches, in 1907, in another remarkable volume, which was styled 'The Comparative Electro-Physiology.' THIRD SCIENTIFIC DEPUTATION, 1907-08 After the publication of 'The Comparative Electro-Physiology,' the Government of India again sent Dr. Bose on a Scientific Deputation. He went over to England and America and placed the results of his researches before the learned Scientific Bodies. He read a paper 'On Mechanical Response of Plants' at the Liverpool meeting of British Association, in 1907. He then read a paper on 'The Oscillating Recorder for Automatic Tracing of Plant Movements' before the New York Academy of Sciences, and, in December 1908, he gave an address on 'Mechanical and Electrical Response in Plants,' at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Baltimore, and, in January 1909, he FURTHER EXPERIMENTAL EXPLORATION By his new and newer methods of investigation, Dr. Bose got a deep and deeper perception of that underlying unity, for the demonstration of which he had been labouring since 1901. But the dream of his life was not yet realised. No direct method of obtaining response record was yet obtained. Hitherto the response recorder employed was a modification of the optical lever, automatic records being secured by the very inconvenient and tedious process of photography (which again introduced complications by subjecting a plant to darkness and TRANSMISSION OF EXCITATION IN MIMOSA Dr. Bose had shown that all plants are sensitive—that there is no difference between the so-called 'sensitive' and the supposed 'non-sensitive'—that they gave alike the true excitatory electric response as well as motile response. The evidence of plant's script now removed beyond any doubt the long-standing error which divided the vegetable world into 'sensitive' and 'insensitive.' There remained, however, the question of nervous impulse in plants, the discovery of which, though announced by Dr. Bose, ten years ago, did not yet find full acceptance. Finding that the scope of his investigation has been very much enlarged by the devise of the Resonant Recorder, Dr. Bose proceeded to attack the current view "that there was no transmission of true excitation in Mimosa, the propagated impulse being regarded as merely hydromechanical." This conclusion was based on the experiments of the leading German plant physiologists, Pfeffer and Dr. Bose went further and showed that the impulse is transmitted in both directions along the nerve but not at the same rate. And, by interposing an electric block, he arrested the nervous impulse in a plant in a manner similar to the corresponding arrest in the animal nerve and thereby MIMOSA AND MAN Dr. Bose showed not only that the nervous impulse in plant and in man is exalted or inhibited under identical conditions but carried the parallelism ROYAL SOCIETY Having found that his investigation on Mimosa had broken down the barriers which separated kindred phenomena, Dr. Bose next communicated the results of his wonderful researches to the Royal Society. His paper was read, at a meeting of the Society, held on the 6th March 1913. The Royal Society now found that Dr. Bose had rendered the seemingly impossible, possible—had made the plant tell its own story by means of its self-made records. It could no longer withhold the recognition which was his due. The barred gates, at last, opened and the paper of Dr. Bose "On an Automatic Method, for the investigation of the Velocity of Transmission HIS FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS Dr. Bose next pursued with great vigour his investigations on the Irritability of Plants. By making the plant tell its own story, by means of its self-made records, he showed that there is hardly any phenomenon of irritability observed in the animal which is not also found in the plant and that the various manifestations of irritability in the plant are identical with those in the animal and that many difficult problems in Animal Physiology find their solution in the experimental study of corresponding problems under simpler conditions of vegetable life. HOURS OF SLEEP OF THE PLANT It may be mentioned that Dr. Bose showed one very remarkable fact—from the summaries of the automatic records of the responses given by a plant (which was subjected to an impulse during all hours of the day and night)—that it wakes up during morning slowly, becomes fully alert by noon, and becomes sleepy only after midnight, resembling man in a surprising manner. "IRRITABILITY Dr. Bose embodied the results of his fascinating researches, obtained by the introduction of new methods, in another remarkable volume—"Researches on Irritability of plants"—which was published, in 1913. FURTHER RECOGNITION In recognition of his valuable researches, Dr. J. C. Bose was invested with the insignia of the Companion of the Order of the Star of India by His Majesty the King Emperor, on the occasion of his Coronation Durbar, at Delhi, in 1911. The intelligentsia of Bengal showed also their tardy appreciation by calling on him to preside over the deliberations of the Mymensing meeting of the Bengal Literary Conference, held on the 14th April 1911, when he delivered a unique Address,26 in the Bengali language, on the results of his epoch-making researches. The Calcutta University next showed its belated recognition, by conferring on him the degree of D.Sc. honoris causa, in 1912. And the Punjab University also showed its appreciation by inviting him, in 1913, to deliver a course of lectures on the results of his investigation. PUBLIC Dr. J. C. Bose was invited to give his evidence before the Royal Commission on the Public Services in India. With reference to the Method of Recruitment, he observed, in his written statement, as follows:—" ... I think that a high standard of scholarship should be the only qualification insisted on. Graduates of well-known Universities, distinguished for a particular line of study, should be given the preference. I think the prospects of the Indian Educational Service are sufficiently high to attract the very best material. In Colonial Universities they manage to get very distinguished men without any extravagantly high pay.... At present the recruitment in the Indian Educational Service is made in England and is practically confined to Englishmen. Such racial preference is, in my opinion, prejudicial to the interest of education. The best men available, English or Indian, should be selected impartially, and high scholarship should be the only test.... It is unfortunate that Indian graduates of European Universities who had distinguished themselves in a remarkable manner do not for one reason or other find facilities for entering the higher Educational Service.... I should like to add that these highly qualified Indians need only opportunities to render service which would greatly advance the cause of higher education.... If "It has been said that the present standard of Indian Universities is not as high as that of British Universities, and that the work done by the former is more like that of the 6th form of the public schools in England. It is therefore urged that what is required for an Educational officer in the capacity to manage classes rather than high scholarship. I do not agree with these views. (1) There are Universities in Great Britain whose standards are not higher than ours; I do not think He then dwelt on what should be the aim of Higher Education in India and observed as follows:— "... I think that all the machinery to improve the higher education in India would be altogether ineffectual unless India enters the world movement for the advancement of knowledge. And for this it is absolutely necessary to touch the imagination of the people so as to rouse them to give their best energies to the work of research and discovery, in which all the nations of the world are now engaged. To aim anything less will only end in lifeless and mechanical system from which the soul of reality has passed away."28 He was called, on the 18th December 1913, and was put to a searching examination by the Members "... The educational service ought to be regarded not as a profession, but as a calling. Some men were born to be teachers. It was not a question of race, of course; in order to have an efficient educational system, there must be an efficient organisation, but this should not be allowed to Being asked by Sir Valentine Chirol, he said "If a foreign professor would not come and serve in India for the same remuneration as he obtained in his own country, he would certainly not force him to come."29 To Mr. Abdur Rahim he said: "Recruitment for the Educational Service should be made in the first place in India, if suitable men were available; but if not then he would allow the best outsiders to be brought in. In the present state of the country it would be very easy to fill up many of the chairs by selecting the best men in India. The aim of the universities should be to promote two classes of work—first, research; and, secondly, an all-round sound education...."29 In answer to questions of Mr. Madge, he said: "Any idea that the educational system of India was so far inferior to that of England, that Indians, who had made their mark, had done so, not because of the educational system of the country, but in spite of it, was quite unfounded. The standard of education prevailing in India was quite up to the mark of several British Universities. It was To Mr. Fisher, he said that he "desired to secure for India Europeans who had European reputations in their different branches of study. If it was necessary to go outside India or England, to procure good men, he would prefer to go to Germany. This was the practice in America where they were annexing all the great intellects of Europe. He would like to see India entering the world movement in the advance and march of knowledge. It was of the highest importance that there should be an intellectual atmosphere in India. It would be of advantage if there were many Indians in the To Mr. Gokhale, he said that he "knew of three instances in which the Colonies had secured distinguished men on salaries which were lower than those given to officers of the Indian Educational Service. One was at Toronto, another was in New Zealand and the third at Yale University. The salaries on the two latter cases were £600 and £500 a year. The same held good as regards Japan. The facts there had been stated in a Government of India publication as follows: 'Subsequent to 1895 there were 67 professors recruited in Europe and America. Of these 20 came from Germany, 16 from England and 12 from the United States. The average pay was £384. In the highest Imperial University the average pay is £684. As soon as Japanese could be found to do the work, even tolerably well, the foreigner was dropped.' When he first started work in India, he found that there was no physical laboratory, or any grant made for a practical experimental course. He had To Sir Theodore Morison, he said: "There should be one scale of pay for all persons in the higher Educational Department. The rate of salary, Rs. 200 rising to Rs. 1,500 per month, was suitable subject to the proviso that a man of great distinction, instead of beginning at the lowest rate of pay, should start some where in the middle of the list, say, at Rs. 400 or Rs. 500. He would make no difference in regard to Europeans or Indians in that respect.... It would not be right for a great Government to grant a minimum of pay to Indian Professors and an extravagantly high pay to their To Mr. Gupta, he said that "He desired one Service, because he thought it was most degrading that certain man, although they were doing the same work should be classed in a Provincial Service, while others should be classed in an Imperial Service. The prospects of the members of the Provincial Service were not at all what they ought to be, and that was the reason why the best men were not attracted to it."33 FOURTH SCIENTIFIC DEPUTATION (1914-15) Though the theories of Dr. Bose received acceptance from the leading scientific men of the Royal Society, yet Dr. Bose realised the necessity of bringing about a general conviction as to the truth of the identity of life-reactions in plant and in animal. So he looked for an opportunity of giving demonstration of his discoveries before the leading Scientific Societies of the World. And that opportunity came. The Royal Institution of Great Britain again invited him to deliver a 'Friday evening discourse' on the results of his new researches. The University of Oxford and Cambridge DR. BOSE IN EUROPE Proceeding on his Deputation to England, Dr. Bose gave his first lecture, on the 20th May 1914, at Oxford,—where the late Sir John Burden Sanderson and his followers were the leaders of biological thought—in presence of very distinguished scientists. It was a grand success. Actual visualisation by physical demonstration of the results of his novel researches at once convinced those who were present. He next proposed to give a discourse on Plant Response before the University of Cambridge. The interest in this lecture became so very keen that the Botanical Department of Cambridge went to the length of importing soil from India to give the plants the most favourable conditions for exhibiting their specific reactions. At the lecture, the large Botanical Theatre became filled with scientific specialists, dons and advanced students, who followed with great attention the experiments with which he illustrated his discourse. He was greeted THE MAIDA VALE LABORATORY The demonstrations of a far-reaching character which Dr. Bose gave evoked considerable public interest in England. His private laboratory at Maida Vale, in London, became the object of pilgrimage to the leading men of thought there. Sir William Crookes, the President of the Royal Society, came and became 'much impressed by the most ingenious and novel self-recording instruments.' Professor Starling, the author of the standard work on Physiology, and Professor From England Dr. Bose proceeded to the Continent, where his researches had already evoked keen interest. On the 27th June 1914, he gave an address, illustrated with experiments, before the University of Vienna, which stands foremost in Biological researches. He was greeted with enthusiasm by the savants there. Some of the workers in plant physiology became so very much impressed with his demonstrations that they expressed a desire to be trained under him. Professor Molisch, the Director of the Pflanzen-physiologisches Institute of the Imperial University of Vienna, in proposing a vote of thanks, spoke highly of the great inspiration which the Viennese scientific men received from his discourse and dwelt on the indebtedness of Europe to India for the method of investigation initiated by Dr. Bose—method, which rendered it possible to prove deep into plant-life and bring forth results of which they could not hitherto dream. And the University of Vienna officially addressed the Secretary of State for India asking that special thanks of the University be conveyed to the Government of On his return to London, medical men evinced great interest in his researches. Sir John Reid, President of the Royal Society of Medicine, and Sir Lauder Brunton, Physician of His Majesty the King Emperor, paid a visit to his laboratory to witness the action of drugs upon plants. Sir Lauder Brunton became of opinion that 'much light would be thrown on action of drugs on animals, by first observing their effects on plants.' As a result of this visit, Dr. Bose was invited to give an address to the Royal Society of Medicine in the beginning of winter. But, as the period of his Deputation was about to expire, the Society cabled to the Government of India for an extension, which was granted. Dr. Bose then delivered a lecture, before the Royal "... The lecture was one of the most successful we have had yet and evoked the keenest interest in the audience, Sir Lauder Brunton, Bt., and others taking part in the discussion, and warmly congratulating Prof. Bose and the Society on the value of his work. Since then I have received many expressions of appreciation that the Society was able to offer its fellows such an interesting demonstration of an entirely new departure in Biological Science." "At the invitation of the Psychological Society of London, Dr. Bose next delivered an interesting lecture on his theory of Memory Image."37 He also gave an Address before the London Imperial college of Science. DR. BOSE IN AMERICA Dr. Bose's discoveries in the meantime evoked great interest in America. He was invited by several leading scientific bodies to come over there and acquaint them with the results of his wonderful researches. So he next went to America. "While in America, he was swamped with letters and telegrams for lecture engagements from Maine to The Columbia University, the largest in the United States, requested Dr. Bose to provide facilities in his Laboratory "for the reception of foreign students, who are desirous of familiarising themselves first hand with his apparatus and methods." WHAT DR. BOSE SAW IN JAPAN Dr. Bose then came back to India, in June 1915, via Japan. During his stay, in Japan, he acquainted himself with the efforts of the people and their aspirations towards a great future. He found that, A "A very serious danger" continues Dr. Bose "is thus seen to be threatening the future of India, and to avert it will require the utmost effort of the people. They have not only to meet the economic crisis but also to protect the ideals of ancient Aryan civilisation from the destructive forces that are threatening it.... There is a danger of regarding the mechanical efficiency as the sole end of life; there is also the opposite danger of a life of dreaming, bereft of struggle and activity, the degenerating into parasitic habits of dependence. Only through the noble call of patriotism can our nation realise the highest ideals in thought and in action...."42 BACK TO INDIA After his return to India, Dr. Bose attended the Indian Science Congress at Lucknow. He then attended the ceremony of the laying of the foundation stone of the Hindu University at Benares. On that occasion he delivered a masterly address. He said:— "In tracing the characteristic phenomena of life from simple beginnings in that vast region which may be called unvoiced, as exemplified in the world of plants, to its highest expression in the animal "Further, it must not only constantly receive stimulus from without, but must also give out something from within, and the healthy life of the organism will depend on these two-fold activities of inflow and outflow. When there is any interference with these activities, then morbid symptoms appear, which ultimately must end in disaster and death. This is equally true of the intellectual life of a Nation. When through narrow conceit a Nation regards itself self-sufficient and cuts itself from the stimulus of the outside world, then intellectual decay must inevitably follow. "So far as regards the receptive function. Then there is another function in the intellectual life of a Nation, that of spontaneous flow, that going out of its life by which the world is enriched. When the Nation has lost this power, when it merely receives, but cannot give out, then its healthy life is over, and it sinks into a degenerate existence, which is purely parasitic. "How can our Nation give out of the fulness of "This world status can only be won by the intrinsic value of the great contributions to be made by its own Indian scholars for the advancement of the world's knowledge. To be organic and vital our new University must stand primarily for self-expression and for winning for India a place she has lost. Knowledge is never the exclusive possession of any particular race, nor does it recognise geographical limitations. The whole world is interdependent, and a constant stream of thought has been carried out throughout the ages enriching the common heritage of mankind. Although science was neither of the East nor of the West but international, certain aspects of it gained richness by reason of their place of origin."43 OUTCOME OF THE SCIENTIFIC MISSION The scientific mission of Dr. Bose to the West was a great success. The very convincing character of the demonstrations that he gave, before the RETIREMENT FROM GOVERNMENT SERVICE Dr. Bose reached the age limit of 55 on the 29th November 1913 but he was granted an extension till the 13th September 1915. The period of his extension having expired, he retired from the Professorship in the Presidency College after 31 years of service. The Governing Body of the College, FURTHER RECOGNITION After his retirement, the Secretary of State, who had already been impressed with the high value of his researches, sanctioned a recurring grant of Rs. 30,000 a year (for him and his assistants) for 5 years and a non-recurring grant of Rs. 25,000 (for equipment) for continuation of his original work.... And, in further recognition of his valuable scientific work, the Government conferred on him a Knighthood, on the 1st January 1917. It may, however, be mentioned that this high honour has been bestowed for the first time on an Indian for his original work in Science. FEELS THE NECESSITY FOR THE FOUNDATION OF AN INSTITUTE Relieved of the trammels of service, Dr. Bose felt the necessity for realising a dream that wove a network round his wakeful life for years past—for THE BOSE INSTITUTE Though the realisation of such a glorious Institute would not be effected through one life or one fortune, he wanted to accomplish something—something, so far as it lay in his power. So he proceeded to build and equip an Institute—the "Bose Institute"—at a cost of about 5 lakhs, the entire savings of his lifetime. While it was being constructed Their Excellencies the Viceroy and the THE AIMS OF THE INSTITUTE In this Institute, Dr. Bose intends to go on with "the further and fuller investigation of the many and ever-opening problems of the nascent science which includes both Life and None Life" and wants to train up a devoted band of workers, with the Sanyasin mind, who would keep alive the flame kindled by him, and who, by acute observation and patient experiment would "wring out from Nature some of her most jealously guarded secrets" and who would thus lead to the establishment of a great Indian School of Science and to the "building of the greater India yet to be." There would be no academic limitation here to the widest possible diffusion of knowledge. The facilities of the Institute would be available to workers from all countries and there would be no desecration of knowledge here by its utilisation for personal gain—no patent would be taken of the discoveries here made. The high aim of a great Seat of Learning would be sought to be maintained here. The lectures here given would not be mere repetitions, second-hand knowledge but would announce The efforts of Dr. Bose have also animated our countrymen. Maharaja Sir Manindra Chandra Nandy of Kasimbazar has made a gift of two lakhs to the Institute. Mr. S. R. Bomanji has given one lakh. Mr. Moolraj Khatao has endowed the Institute with two lakh and a quarter. Other contributions are still pouring in. A GREAT 'SADHAK' With a true Sanyasin spirit, Dr. Bose applied himself to the study of Nature. His ardour was ever compassable. Even the limitations of the senses would hardly fetter him in his explorations in the regions of the Unknown. He expended the range of perception by means of wonderfully sensitive instrumental devices. By acute observations and patient experiment he wrung out from Nature some of her most jealously guarded secrets in the realm of Electric Radiation, which "literally filled with wonder and admiration" the greatest scientist of the age. Allurements of great material prospects—which might lead him to the path of immense fortune—came to him, in the shape of the patents of his inventions. But they had no attraction for In pursuit of his investigations on Electric Radiation, he was unconsciously led into the border region of Physics and Physiology. He caught a glimpse of ineffable wonder that remained hidden behind the view. He attempted to lift the veil. And, at once, difficulties presented themselves one after another. An unfamiliar caste in the domain of Science got offended. He was asked not to encroach on the special preserve of the Physiologists and, as he did not pay any heed to the warning, misrepresentations began. Even the evidence of his supersensitive appliances failed to convince many. And the Royal Society withheld publication of his researches. He was recompensed with ridicule and reviling. The limited facilities that he had in the prosecution of his researches were in danger of being withdrawn. But he had a burning Faith in the Vision and was not to be boggled at with these difficulties. He became stronger in his determination. Realising an inner call, he dedicated himself for the establishment of the truth underlying his Faith. He cast his life, as an offering, regarding success and failure as one, and engaged himself in a protracted struggle to get behind the deceptive seeming into the reality that remained unseen. After years of sustained efforts, "They who see but one in all the changing manifestations of this universe, unto them belongs Eternal Truth—unto none else, unto none else."48 The Rishis of ancient India, by their intense Yoga, realised the One in the Many. But Sir Jagadis Chandra, by rigorous experimental demonstration, realised a Unity amidst Diversity. He perceived that "there was no such thing as brute EFFECT OF HIS WORK It is impossible to estimate the effect of his epoch-making researches. The psychic stone flung by him into the pool of physical botany, has made the ripples run in so many directions. There have been produced "unexpected revelations in plant life, foreshadowing the wonders of the highest animal life." And there "have opened out very extended regions of inquiry in Physics, in Physiology, in Medicine, in Agriculture and even in Psychology. Problems, hitherto regarded as insoluble, have now been brought within the sphere of experimental investigation." Sir J.C. Bose has not only extended the distant boundaries of Science, but, by his peculiarly Indian contribution, has secured a recognised place for India and has revived a hope in the Indian mind that India may yet regain a place among the intellectual nations of the world. Men like him are rare not only in India but rare any where in the world. May he live long! Footnotes [1] Vide 'History of a Failure that was great'—Modern Review, Vol. XXI, p. 221. [2] Vide 'History of a Failure that was great'—Modern Review. Vol. XXI p. 221. [3] Vide 'History of a failure that was great'—Modern Review, Vol. XXI, p 221. [4] 'History of a Failure that was great'—Modern Review. Vol, XXI, p. 221. [5] Convocation Address, dated 2nd March 1907, delivered by Sir Ashutosh Mookerjea. [6] Vide Evidence of Dr. J. C. Bose before the Public Services Commission,—Vol. XX, p. 136. [7] Address to the Royal Society by its President, Sir Benjamin Brodie, 30th November 1859. [8] 1 metre = 39.4 inches. [9] EncyclopÆdia Britannica, 11th Edition, Vol IX, p. 206. [10] EncyclopÆdia Britannica, 11th Edition, Vol. IX, p. 206. [11] See 'History of a Discovery'—Modern Review, Vol. XVIII, p. 693. [12] See 'Voice of Life'—Modern Review, Vol. XII, p. 590. [13] Vide 'History of a Discovery'—Modern Review, Vol. XVIII, p. 694. [14] Response in Living and Non-Living, p. 191. [15] See 'Voice of Life'—Modern Review, Vol. XXII, p. 588. [16] See 'History of a Discovery'—Modern Review, Vol. XVIII, p. 694. [17] Vide 'Voice of Life'—Modern Review, Vol. XXII, p. 592. [18] See 'Voice of Life'—Modern Review, Vol. XXII, p. 592. [19] Vide 'Voice of Life'—Modern Review, Vol. XXII, p. 592. [20] Vide 'History of a Discovery'—Modern Review, Vol. XVIII, p. 694. [21] Cf. Preface to 'Comparative Electro-Physiology' p. IX. [22] Vide 'Comparative Electro-Physiology' pp. 732-733. [23] Vide 'Memory Image and its Revival,' Sir J. C. Bose—Modern Review, Vol. XXIV, p. 447. [24] Sri Sermon on "Prayer" delivered by Keshub Chunder Sen at the Prarthana Samaj, Bombay, on March 26, 1868. [25] See 'Voice of Life'—Modern Review, Vol. XXII, p. 588. [26] Vide Modern Review Vol. XI, p. 539. [27] Vide Appendix to the Report of the Royal Commission on the Public Services in India, Vol. XX, p. 135-136. [28] Vide Appendix to the Report of the Royal Commission on the Public Services in India, Vol. XX, p. 135. [29] Vide Appendix to the Report of the Royal Commission on the Public Services in India, Vol. XX, p. 136 [30] Vide Appendix to the Report of the Royal Commission on the Public Services in India, Vol. XX, p. 137. [31] Vide Appendix to the Report of the Royal Commission on the Public Services in India, Vol. XX, p. 137. [32] Vide Appendix to the Report of the Royal Commission on the Public Services in India, Vol. XX, p. 137. [33] Vide Appendix to the Report of the Royal Commission on the Public Services in India, Vol. XX, p. 139. [34] Vide Modern Review—Vol. XVI, pp. 16, 118, 120. [35] Vide Modern Review, Vol. XVI, pp. 120, 121, 126. [36] Vide Modern Review, Vol. XVII, P. 559. [37] Vide Modern Review, Vol. XVI, p. 246. [38] Vide Modern Review, Vol. XVII, p. 559. [39] Vide Modern Review, Vol. XVIII, p. 1. [40] Vide Modern Review, Vol. XVIII. p. 214. [41] Vide Modern Review, Vol. XVIII. p. 215. [42] Vide Modern Review, Vol. XVIII, p. 215. [43] Vide Modern Review, Vol. XIX, p. 277. [44] Vide 'Voice of Life'—Modern Review, Vol. XXII, p. 591. [45] Presidency College Magazine, Vol. II, p. 335. [46] Presidency College Magazine, Vol. II, p, 335. [47] Vide 'Voice of Life'—Modern Review, XXII, p. 590. [48] Vide 'Voice of Life'—Modern Review Vol XXII, p. 590. [49] Vide Modern Review, Vol. XXI, p. 343. LITERATURE The following is a substance of the Address delivered in Bengali by Prof. J. C. Bose, on the 14th April 1911, as the President of the Bengal Literary Conference, which met in the Easter of 1911 at Mymensing. In this Literary Congress it would appear that you have interpreted Letters in no exclusive sense. We are not met to discuss the place that literature is to hold in the gospel of beauty. Rather are we set upon conceiving of her in larger ways. To us to-day literature is no mere ornament, no mere amusement. Instead of this, we desire to bring beneath her shadow all the highest efforts of our minds. In this great communion of learning, this is not the first time that a scientific man has officiated as priest. The chair which I now occupy has already been held by one whom I love and honour as friend and colleague, and glory in our countryman, Praphulla Chandra Ray. In honouring him, your Society has not only done homage to merit, but has also placed before our people a lofty and inclusive ideal of literature. The Eastern aim has been rather the opposite, namely, that in the multiplicity of phenomena, we should never miss their underlying unity. After generations of this quest, the idea of unity comes to us almost spontaneously, and we apprehend no insuperable obstacle in grasping it. I feel that here in this Literary Congress, this characteristic idea of unity has worked unconsciously. We have never thought of narrowing the bounds of literature by a jealous definition of its limits. On the contrary, we have allowed its empire to extend. And you have felt that this could be adequately done only, if in one place you could gather together all that we are seeking, all that we are thinking, all that we are examining. And for this you have to-day invited those who sing along POETRY AND SCIENCE The poet, seeing by the heart, realises the inexpressible and strived to give it expression. His imagination soars, where the sight of others fails, and his news of realm unknown finds voice in rhyme and metre. The path of the scientific man may be different, yet there is some likeness between the two pursuits. Where visible light ends, he still follows the invisible. Where the note of the audible reaches the unheard, even there he gathers the tremulous message. That mystery which lies behind the expressed, is the object of his questioning also; and he, in his scientific way, attempts to render its abstruse discoveries into human speech. This vast abode of nature is built in many wings, each with its own portal. The physicist, the chemist, and the biologist entering by different doors, each one his own department of knowledge, comes to think that this is his special domain, unconnected with that of any other. Hence has arisen our present rigid division of phenomena, into the worlds of the inorganic, vegetal, and sentient. But Both poet and scientific worker have set out for the same goal, to find a unity in the bewildering diversity. The difference is that the poet thinks little of the path, whereas the scientific man must not neglect. The imagination of the poet has to be unrestricted. The intuitions of emotion cannot be established by rigid proof. He has, therefore, to use the language of imagery, adding constantly the words 'as if.' The road that the scientific man has to tread is on the other hand very rugged, and in his pursuit of demonstration he must pay a severe restraint on his imagination. His constant anxiety is lest he should be self-deceived. He has, therefore, at every step to compare his own thought with the external fact. He has remorselessly to abandon all in which these are not agreed. His reward is that he gets, however little is certain, forming a strong foundation for what is yet to come. Even by this path of self-restraint and verification, however, he is INVISIBLE LIGHT. In illustration of this sense of wonder which links together poetry and science, let me allude briefly to a few matters that belong to my own small corner in the great universe of knowledge, that of light invisible and of life unvoiced. Can anything appeal more to the imagination than the fact that we can detect the peculiarities in the internal molecular structure of an opaque body by means of light that is itself invisible? Could anything have been more unexpected than to find that a sphere of China-clay focuses invisible light more perfectly than a sphere of glass focuses the visible; that in fact, the refractive power of this clay to electric radiation is at least as great as that of the most costly diamond to light? From amongst the innumerable octaves of light, there is only one octave, with power to excite the human eye. In reality, we stand, in the midst of a luminous ocean, almost blind! The little that we can see is nothing, compared to the vastness of UNVOICED LIFE. Again, just as, in following up light from visible to invisible, our range of investigation transcends our physical sight, so also does our power of sympathy become extended, when we pass from the voiced to the unvoiced, in the study of life: Is there then any possible relation between our own life and that of the plant world? That there may be such a relation, some of the foremost of scientific men have denied. So distinguished a leader as the late Burdon-Sanderson declared that the majority of plants were not capable of giving any answer, by either mechanical or electrical excitement, to an outside stock. Pfeffer, again, and his distinguished followers, have insisted that the plants have neither a nervous system, nor anything analogous to the nervous impulse of the animal. According to such a view, that two streams of life, in plant and animal, flow side by side, but under the guidance of different laws. The problems of vegetable life are, it must be said, extremely obscure, and for the penetrating How are we to know what unseen changes take place within the plant? If it be excited or depressed by some special circumstance, how are we, on the outside, to be made aware of this? The only conceivable way would be, if that were possible, to detect and measure the actual response of the organism to a definite external blow. When an animal receives an external shock it may answer in various ways if it has voice, by a cry; if it be dumb, by the movement of its limbs. The external shock is a stimulus; the answer of the organism is the response. If we can find out the relation between this stimulus and the response, we shall be able to determine the vitality of the plant at that moment. In an excitable condition, the feeblest stimulus will evoke an extraordinarily large response: in a depressed state, even a strong stimulus evokes only a feeble response; and lastly, when We might therefore have detected the internal condition of the plant, if, by some inducement, we could have made it write down its own responses. If we could once succeed in this apparently impossible task we should still have to learn the new language and the new script. In a world of so many different scripts, it is certainly undesirable to introduce a new one! I fear the Uniform Script Association will cherish a grievance against us for this. It is fortunate however that the plant-script bears, after all, a certain resemblance to the Devanagari—inasmuch as it is totally unintelligible to any but the very learned! But there are two serious difficulties in our path; first, to make the plant itself consent to give its evidence; second, through plant and instrument combined, to induce it to give it in writing. It is comparatively easy to make a rebellious child obey: to extort answers from plants is indeed a problem! By many years of close contiguity, however, I have come to have some understanding of their ways. I take this opportunity to make public confession of various acts of cruelty which I have from time to time perpetrated on unoffending plants, in order to compel them to give me answers. For this purpose, I have devised various forms of torment,— It is our object, then, to gather the whole history of the plant, during every moment between its birth and its death. Through how many cycle of experience it has to pass! The effects on it of recurring light and darkness; the pull of the earth, and the blow of the storm; how complex is the concatenation of circumstances, how various are the shocks, and how multiplex are the replies which we have THE DIARY OF THE PLANT. The little seedling we know to be growing, but the rate of its growth is far below anything we can directly perceive. How are we to magnify this so as to make it instantly measurable? What are the variations in this infinitesimal growth under external shock? what changes are induced by the action of drugs or poisons? will the action of poison change with the dose? Is it possible to counteract the effect of one by another? Supposing that the plant does not give answers to external shock, what time elapses between the shock and the reply? Does this latent period undergo any variation with external conditions? Is it possible to make the plant itself write down this excessively minute time-interval? Next, does the effect of the blow given outside reach the interior of the plant? If so, is there anything analogous to the nerve of the animal? If so, again, at what rate does the nervous impulse travel the plant? By what favourable circumstances will this rate of transmission become enhanced, and "If the plant could have been made thus to keep its own diary, then the whole of its history might have been recovered!" But words like these are born of day dreams merely. Vague imaginings of this kind may furnish much gratification to an idle life. When, awaking from these pleasant dreams of science, we seek to actualise the conditions imposed by them, we find ourselves face to face with a dead wall. For the doorway of nature's court is barred with iron, and through it can penetrate no mere cry of childish petulance. It is only by the gathered force of many years of concentration, that the gate DIFFICULTIES OF RESEARCH IN INDIA. We often hear that without a properly equipped laboratory, higher research in this country is an absolute impossibility. But while there is a good deal in this, it is not by any means the whole truth. If it were all, then from these countries where millions have been spent on costly laboratories, we should have had daily accounts of new discoveries. Such news we do not hear. It is true that here we suffer from many difficulties, but how does it help us, to envy the good fortune of others? Rise from your depression! Cast off your weakness! Let us think, "In whatever condition we are placed, that is the true starting-point for us." India is our working-place, and all our duties are to be accomplished here, and nowhere else. Only he who has lost his manhood need repine. In carrying out research, there are other difficulties, besides the want of well-equipped laboratories. We often forget that the real laboratory is one's own mind. The room and the instruments only externalise that. Every experiment has first to be carried out in that inner region. To keep the mental vision clear, great struggles have to be In the first place, we have to realise that knowledge for the sake of knowledge is our aim, and that the world's common standard of utility have no place in it. The enquirer must follow where he is led, holding the quiet faith that things which appear to-day to be of no use, may be of the highest interest to-morrow. No height can be climbed, without the hewing of many an unremembered step! It is necessary, then, that the enquirer and his disciples should work on ceaselessly, undeterred by years of failure, and undistracted by the thunder of public applause. We may one day come to realise that India in the past has shared her knowledge with the world, and we may ask ourselves, is that destiny now ended for us? Are we of to-day to be debtors only? Perhaps when we have once felt this, a new Nalanda may arise. THE I was speaking of the need of various delicate instruments—phytographs, as I shall call them—for the automatic record of the plant's responses. What was, ten years ago, a mere aspiration, has now after so many years of effort, become actual fact. It is unnecessary to tell here of many a fruitless and despairing attempt. Nor shall I trouble you with any account of intricate mechanism. I need only say that with the aid of different types of apparatus, it is now possible for all the responsive activities of the plant to be written down. For instance, we can make an instantaneous record of the growth and its variations, moment by moment. Scripts can be obtained of its spontaneous movement. And a recording arm will demorcate the line of life from that of death. The extreme delicacy of one of these instruments will be understood, when it is said that it measures and records a time-interval so short as one-thousandth part of a second! It has been supposed that instruments for research of this delicacy and precision, were only possible of construction in the best scientific manufactories of Europe. It will therefore be regarded as interesting and encouraging to know that every one of these has been executed entirely in India, by Indian workmen and mechanicians. With perfect instruments at our disposal, we may THE DETERMINATION OF THE LATENT PERIOD When an animal is struck by a blow, it does not respond at once. A certain short interval elapses between the incidence of the blow, and the beginning of the reply. This lost time is known as the latent period. In the leg of a frog, the latent period according to Helmwoltz, is about one-hundredth of a second. This latent period, however, undergoes appropriate variation with changing external conditions. With feeble stimulus, it has a definite value, which, with an excessive blow, is much THE RELATION BETWEEN STIMULUS AND RESPONSE According to varying circumstances, the same blow will evoke responses of different amplitudes. SPONTANEOUS PULSATION In certain tissues, a very curious phenomenon is observed. In man and other animals, there are tissues which beat, as we say, spontaneously. As Physiologists, in order to know the heart of man, play with those of the frog and tortoise. "To know the heart," be it understood, is here meant in a purely physical, and not in a poetic sense. For this it is not always convenient to employ the whole of the frog. The heart is therefore cut out, and make the subject of experiments, as to what conditions accelerate, and what retard, the rate and amplitude of its beat. When thus isolated, the heart tends of itself to come to a standstill, but if, by means of fine tubing, it be then subjected to interval blood pressure, its beating will be resumed, and will continue uninterrupted for a long time. By the influence of warmth, the frequency of the pulsation may be increased, but its amplitude diminished. Exactly the reverse is the effect of cold. The natural rhythm and the amplitude of the pulse undergo appropriate changes, again, under the action of different drugs. Under either, the I have thus briefly stated some of the most important phenomena in connection with spontaneous movements in animal tissues. Is it possible that in plants also any parallel phenomena might be observed? In answer to this question, I may say that I have found numerous instances of automatic movements in plants. RHYTHMIC PULSATIONS IN DESMODIUM The existence of such spontaneous movements can easily be demonstrated, by means of our Indian Bon charal, the telegraph plant, or Desmodium gyrans, whose small leaflets dance continually. The popular belief that they dance in response to the clapping of the hands is quite untrue. From readings of the scripts made by this plant, I am in a position to state that the automatic movements of both plants and animals are guided by laws which are identical. Let us now enquire into the causes of these automatic movements so-called. In experimenting with certain types of plant-tissues, I find that an external stimulus may not always evoke an immediate reply. What happens, then, to the incident energy? It is not really lost, for these particular plant-tissues have the power of shortage. In this way, energy derived in various ways from without—as light, In the matter of these so-called spontaneous activities of the plant, I find that there are two distinct types. In one, the overflow is initiated with very little storage, but here the unusual display of activity soon comes to a stop. To maintain such specimens in the rhythmic condition, constant stimulation from outside is necessary. Plants of this type are extremely dependent on outside influences, and when such sources of stimulus are removed, they speedily come to an inglorious stop. Kamranga or Averrhoa is an example of this kind. In the second type of automatic plant activity I find that long continued storage is required, before an overflow can begin. But in this case, the spontaneous outburst is persistent and of long duration, even when the plant is deprived of any immediately It appears to me that we have here a suggestive parallel to certain phenomena with which this audience will surely prove more familiar than I, namely, the facts of literary inspiration. For the attainment of this exalted condition, also, is it not necessary to have previous storage, with a consequent bubbling overflow? Certain indications incline me to suspect that perhaps in this also we have an example of so-called spontaneity, or automatic responsiveness. If this be so, aspirants, to the condition might well be asked to decide in whose footsteps they will choose to tread—those of Kamranga, with its dependence on outside influences, and inevitably ephemeral activity, or those of Bon charal, with its characteristic of patient long enduring accumulation of forces, to find uninterrupted and sustained expression. THE PLANT'S RESPONSE TO THE SHOCK OF DEATH A time comes when, after one answer to a supreme shock, there is a sudden end of the plant's power to give any response. This supreme shock is the shock of death. Even in this crisis, there is no immediate These are mute companions, silently, growing beside our door, have now told us the tale of their life-tremulousness and their death spasm, in script that is as inarticulate as they. May it not be said that this their story has a pathos of its own, beyond any that the poets have conceived? PROF. MARVELS OF PLANT LIFE On the 8th June 1912, Dr J. C. Bose, who had gone to Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, on a holiday trip, gave an illuminating discourse on the marvels of plant life. He began by stating that a stimulus takes a certain time before it gets a response. This stimulus may be of different forms, e.g., it may be a sound stimulus, a light stimulus, an electric stimulus, and so on. The feebler the stimulus, the greater is the time it takes to elicit the response. For instance if one is called by a distant voice, one doubts whether he has been called at all, but in the case of a piercing scream, he starts up at once. Now, the difficulty is that when the stimulus, the blow, is so strong as to get an instantaneous response, how is one to measure this infinitesimal time between the blow and the response? And this must be done absolutely free from any personal interference, so as to ensure correct results. As an example of the similarities of reactions in plant and animal, Prof. Bose described the rhythmic activities of certain plants, in which automatic pulsations are maintained as in the animal heart. This phenomenon is exemplified by the Telegraph plant, which grows wild in the Gangetic plane; its Indian name is Bon charal or 'forest churl', the popular belief being that it dances to the clapping In the intact plant, under favourable conditions, these movements are easily observed to take place more or less continuously; but there are times when they come to a standstill. For this reason and because of the fact that a large plant cannot easily be manipulated as a whole and subjected to various changing conditions which the purpose of the investigation demands, it is desirable, if possible, to experiment with the detached petiole, carrying the pulsating leaflet. The required amputation however may be followed by arrest of the pulsating movements. But, as in the case of the isolated heart in a state of standstill, Dr. Bose found that the movement of the leaflet can be renewed, in the detached specimen, by the application of the internal hydrostatic pressure. Under these conditions, the rhythmic pulsations are easily maintained uniform for several hours. This is a great advantage, Under varying conditions the same plant has been observed to take different response times, as for instance, less in heat than in cold, less in summer than in winter, less in the morning than in the evening, and so forth. Again, different plants have different response times. It is a remarkable fact that the mimosa is ten times as sensitive as a frog in giving the response. And the native idea that plants are of a lower order than animal life will cost many a sad disappointment. In the course of his lecture Dr. Bose spoke of some of his startling discoveries recently made.... The lecturer gave quite a spiritual turn to his discourse as he finished it with the remark that, as it has been the earnest endeavour of scientists to minimise material friction in order to get the best results, so in our human concerns, it should be our best aim to minimise friction,—which is, Ignorance. —Modern Review, Vol. XII, pages 314-315. PLANT HOW PLANTS CAN RECORD THEIR OWN STORY Under the presidency of His Excellency Lord Carmichael, Prof. J. C. Bose delivered on Friday, the 17th January 1913 an interesting address on his recent researches at the Physical Laboratory of the Presidency College, Calcutta, his subject being "Plant Autographs." Professor Bose has been long engaged in researches on the "Irritability of Plants," with results of great interest. These results have been made possible by the invention of a series of instruments of extraordinary precision and delicacy. Some of Professor Bose's instruments measure and record a thousandth of a second. Invisible movements in plants, hitherto beyond human scrutiny, have been brought within the range of immediate perception through the wonderful devices shown by the lecturer's demonstration of same on the screen. Among those present were:—Sir William and Lady Duke, the Maharaja of Nashipur, Sir Gurudas His Excellency, as President, called upon Dr. Bose to deliver his lecture. Professor Bose commenced with a reference to the claims made by those who profess to discriminate character by handwriting. As to the authenticity of such claims, scepticism was permissible; but there was no doubt that one's handwriting might be modified profoundly by conditions, physical and mental. There still existed, at Hatfield House, documents which contained the signature of the historical Guy Fawkes. A photograph projected on the screen showed a sinister variation in those AUTOMATIC RECORDERS The lecturer had succeeded in devising experimental methods and apparatus by which the plant was made to give an answering signal, which was then automatically recorded into an intelligible script. The results of the new investigations were so novel that Professor Bose spent several years in perfecting automatic instruments which completely eliminated all personal equations. The plant attached to the recording apparatus was automatically excited by a stimulus absolutely constant, making its own responsive records, going through its period of recovery, and embarking on the same cycle over again without assistance at any point EFFECT OF FOOD AND DRUGS It was shown that when the plant had a surfeit of drink, it became excessively lethargic and irresponsive. By extracting fluid from the gorged plant, its motor activity was at once re-established. Under alcohol its responsive script became ludicrously unsteady. A scientific superstition existed regarding carbonic acid as being good for a plant. But Professor Bose's experiments showed distinctly that the gas would suffocate the plant as readily as it did the animal. Only in the presence of sunlight could the effect be modified by secondary reaction. AUTOMATISM It was impossible in a limited space, said Professor Bose, to do more than mention the numerous other remarkable experiments which riveted the attention of the audience. By means of apparatus specially devised, pulsative plants were made to record their rhythmic throbbings. It was shown that the pulse beats of the plants were affected by the action of various drugs, and divers stimuli, in a manner similar to that of the animal heart. Perhaps the most weird experience was to watch the death-struggle of a plant under the action of poison. Turning from death to its antithesis life and growth, the audience were shown how the latter was made visible by means of the appliances invented by Professor Bose. The infinitesimal growth of a plant became highly magnified in the experiment. RESEARCHES AT PRESIDENCY COLLEGE When the lecturer commenced his investigations, original research in India was regarded as an impossibility. No proper laboratory existed, nor was there any scientific manufactory for the construction of a special apparatus. In spite of these difficulties it had been a matter of gratification to the lecturer that the various investigations already carried out at the Presidency College had done something for the advancement of knowledge. The It was also with pride that the lecturer referred to the co-operation of his pupils and assistants, through whose help the extensive works, requiring ceaseless labour by day and night, had been accomplished. Doubt had been cast on the capacity of Indian students in the field of science. From his personal experience Professor Bose bore testimony to their special fitness in this respect. An intellectual hunger had been created by the spread of education. An Indian student demanded something absorbing to think about and to give scope for his latent energies. If this could be done, he would betake himself ardently to research into Nature, which could never end. There was room for such toilers who by incessant work would extend the bounds of human knowledge. FROM PLANT TO ANIMAL LIFE Before concluding the lecturer dwelt on the fact that all the varied and complex responses of the animal had been foreshadowed in the plant. The phenomena of life in the plant were thus not so remote as had been hitherto supposed. The plant —Amrita Bazar Patrika, 20-1-1913. INVISIBLE A most instructive and interesting lecture was delivered on Thursday, the 30th Jaunuary, 1913, at the Calcutta University Institute Hall, by Dr. J. C. Bose, on the above subject. It was illustrated with experiments and in spite of the technical nature of the subject, the manner of treatment made the discourse extremely palatable and easy of apprehension to the lay understanding and intelligence. The truths of science could seldom be exposed so light-heartedly and in language leavened with balmy humour. The lecture was very largely attended by ladies and gentlemen, European and Indian, representing the light and leading of the city. The chair was taken by Mr. W. R. Gourlay. Amongst those present we noticed the Hon. Mr. Ramsay McDonald, Mr. Justice Harington, Mr. Justice Chaudhuri, Hon'ble Mr. Gokhale, Hon'ble Mr. Lyon, Hon'ble Mr. D. N. Sarvadhikari, Sir Gurudas Banerji, Hon'ble Mr. Apcar and Dr. Chuni Lal Bose Rai Bahadur. The Chairman, in a few well chosen words introduced the lecturer. Mr. Gourlay observed that the lecture opened out to himself, as well as to other vistas, which they had never dreamt of before. —Amrita Bazar Patrika, 31-1-1913. PROFESSOR LECTURE ON ELECTRIC RADIATION A crowded assembly met at the University Hall, on the 22nd February, 1913, to hear the first of Prof. Bose's discourses before the University of Lahore. Dr. Bose opened his address by alluding to the historic journey of Jivaka, who afterwards became the physician of Buddha, making his way from Bengal to the University of Taxila, in quest of knowledge. Twenty-five centuries had gone by and there was before them another pilgrim who had journeyed the same distance to bring, as an offering what he had gathered in the domain of knowledge. The lecturer called attention to the fact that knowledge was never the exclusive possession of any particular race nor did it ever recognise geograpahical geographical limitations. The whole world was interdependent, and a constant interchange of thought had been carried on throughout the ages enriching the common heritage of mankind. Hellenistic Greeks and Eastern Aryans had met here in Taxila to exchange the best each had to offer. With the coming of the spring the dormant life springs forth; similarly the life that India conserves, by inheritance, culture and temperament, was only latent and was again ready to spring forth into the blossom and fruit of knowledge. Although science was neither of the East nor of the West, but international in its universality, certain aspect of it gained richness of colour by reason of their place of origin. India, perhaps through its habit of synthesis, was apt to realise instinctively the idea of unity and to see in the phenomenal world an universe instead of a multiverse. It was this tendency, the lecturer thought, which had led Indian physicist, like himself, when studying the effect of forces on matter to find boundary lines vanishing, and to see points of contact emerge between the realms of the living and non-living. In taking up the subject of the evening's discourse on electric radiation of Hertzian waves, the lecturer explained Finally Professor Bose explained his discovery of Polarisation of these rays by various crystals. Tourmaline, which was a good polariser for ordinary light, was not so effective. The lecturer discovered that the crystal Nemalite possessed the power of polarising the electric rays in the most perfect manner. Professor Bose also explained how the internal constitution of an opaque mass was revealed by the help of light which was itself invisible. The lecturer concluded his discourse by drawing attention to the limitations of human perception. Man's power of hearing was confirmed to eleven octaves of sound notes. In the case of vision the As the ether note rose still higher in pitch, they would for a brief moment perceive a sensation of —Amrita Bazar Patrika, 24-2-1913. DR. PLANT RESPONSE In his third lecture delivered, on the 25th February 1913, at the Punjab University Hall, Dr. Bose of Calcutta dealt with "Plant Response." He said:— In strong contrast to the energetic animal, with its various reflex movements and pulsating organs, stands the plant, in its apparent placidity and immobility. Yet that same environment which with its changing influences affects the animal is playing upon it also. Storm and sunshine, the warmth of summer and the frost of winter, drought and rain, all these come and go about it. What coercion do they exercise upon it? What subtle impress do they leave behind? These internal changes are entirely beyond our visual scrutiny. Is it possible in any way to have these revealed to us? Dr. Bose had shown the possibility of this by detecting and measuring the actual response of the organism to a questioning shock. In an excitable condition the feeblest stimulus should evoke in the plant an extraordinarily large reply in a depressed state even In taking the self-made records made by the plant it was found that after the prolonged inactivity of a cold night the plant was apt to be lethargic, and its first answers indistinct. But as blow after blow was delivered, the lethargy passed off, and the replies became stronger and stronger. After the fatigue of the day, the state of things was reversed. The plant became very lethargic after excessive absorption of food; but the normal activity might be restored by artificial removal of the excess. The effect of alcohol and of various narcotics were clearly followed in the modification of the automatic record made by the plant. A prevailing scientific error had overcome in life, there would be an abrupt end regarding a certain class of plants to be alone sensitive. The lecturer showed by certain remarkable experiments that all plants and all organs of plants were sensitive. In certain animal tissues, a very curious phenomenon A time came when after one answer to a supreme shock there was a sudden end of the plant's power to give any response. This supreme shock was the shock of death. Even in this crisis, there was no immediate change in the placid appearance of the plant. In man at the critical moment, a spasm passed through the whole body, and similarly in the plant the lecturer had discovered that a great contractile spasm took place. This was accompanied by an electrical spasm also. In the script of the death recorder the line that up to this point was being drawn became suddenly reversed, and then ended. This was the last answer of the plants. Thus the responsiveness of the plant world was one. There was no difference of any kind between sunshine plants, and those which had hitherto been regarded as insensitive or ordinary. It had also been shown that all the varied and complex responses of the animal were foreshadowed in the plant. An impressive spectacle was thus revealed of that vast unity in which all living organisms, from the simplest plant to the highest animal, were linked together and made one. —Amrita Bazar Patrika, 5-3-1913. EVIDENCE The following is the evidence given by Dr. J. C. Bose, C. S. I., C. I. E., Professor of Physics, Presidency College, Calcutta, on the 18th December, 1913, before the Royal Commission on the Public Services in India, presided over by Lord Islington, and published, in the Minutes of Evidence relating to the Education Department, at pages 135 to 137, in volume XX, Appendix to the Report of the Commissioners: WRITTEN STATEMENT RELATING TO THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT 83, 627 (I) Method of recruitment.—The first question on which I have been asked to give my opinion is as regards the method of recruitment. I think that a high standard of scholarship should be the only qualification insisted on. Graduates of well-known Universities, distinguished for a particular line of study, should be given the preference. I think the prospects of the Indian Educational Service are 83, 628 (II) System of training and probation.—As regards probation and training, Educational officers should first win a reputation as good teachers before the appointment is confirmed as they are transferred to important colleges. 83, 629 (IV) Conditions of Salary.—As regards conditions of Salary, the pay should be moderately high, but not extravagant, and settled once for all under some simple and well-defined rules. It is not only very humiliating but degrading to a true scholar to be scrambling for money. The difference between the pay of the higher and lower services should be minimised. 83, 630 (VI) Conditions of pension.—With reference to pension, I think it is very unfair that more favourable terms are offered, when the pensioner elects to retire in England. 83, 631 (VII) Such limitations as exist in the employment of non-Europeans.—Passing on to the question of limitations that exist in the employment of Indians in the higher service, I should like to give expression to an injustice which is very keenly felt. It is As teachers and workers it is an incontestable fact that Indian officers have distinguished themselves very highly, and anything which discriminates between Europeans and Indians in the way of pay and prospects is most undesirable. A sense of injustice is ill-calculated to bring about that harmony which is so necessary among all the members of an educational institution, professors and students alike. 83, 632 (VIII) Relations of the service with the Indian Civil Service and with other services.—As regards the relations with the Indian Civil Service, I am under the impression that they are somewhat strained, but of this I have no personal experience. 83, 633 (IX) Other points.—I have endeavoured to give my opinion on the definite questions which have been asked. There is another aspect of educational work in India which I think of the highest importance, though I am not exactly sure whether it falls within the terms of reference to the Royal Commission. I think that all the machinery to improve the higher education in India would be altogether ineffectual unless India enters the world 83, 634. Supplementary Note.—I would like to add a few remarks to make the meaning of paragraphs 83, 627 and 83, 631 in my note more explicit. At the present recruitment in the Indian Educational Service is made in England and is practically confined to Englishmen. Such racial preference is in my opinion, prejudicial to the interest of education. The best man available, English or Indian should be selected impartially, and high scholarship should be the only test. It has been said that the present standard of Indian Universities is not as high as that of British Universities, and that the work done by the former is more like that of a sixth form of public schools in In paragraph 83,631 I have stated that even these Indians who have distinguished themselves in European Universities have little chance of entering the higher Educational Service. I should like to add that these highly qualified Indians need only opportunities to render service which would greatly advance the cause of higher education. As regards graduates of Indian Universities, I have known men among them whose works have been highly appreciated. If promising Indian graduates are given the opportunity of visiting foreign Universities, I have no doubt that they would stand comparison with the best recruits that can be obtained from the West. DR. 83,635. (Chairman). The witness favoured an arrangement by which Indians would enter the higher ranks of the service, either through the Provincial Service or by direct recruitment in India. The latter class of officers, after completing their education in India, should ordinarily go to Europe with a view to widening their experience. By this he did not wish to decry the training given in the Indian Universities, which produced some of the very best men, and he would not make the rule absolute. It was not necessary for men of exceptional ability to go to England in order to occupy a high chair. Unfortunately, on account of there being no openings for men of genius in the Educational Service, distinguished men were driven to the profession of Law. In the present condition of India a larger number of distinguished men were needed to give their lives to the education of the people. 83,636. The witness himself had spent part of his career in Europe, and looking back he could say that this had been of great profit to him, not so much on account of the training he got, as by being brought into personal contact with eminent men whose influence extorted his admiration, and create in him a feeling of emulation. In this way he owed a great deal to Lord Rayleigh under whom he 83,637. There should be only one Educational Service, but men who were distinguished in any subject should not start from its very lowest rung but should be placed somewhere in the middle of it. 83,638. There were men in the Provincial Service who were very distinguished; it was all a question of genius. The Educational Service ought to be regarded not as a profession, but as a calling. Some men were born to be teachers. It was not a question of race, of course; in order to have an efficient educational system, there must be an efficient organisation, but this should not be allowed to become fossilised, and thus stand in the way of healthy growth. 83,639. In the Presidency College a young man fresh from an English university was at once appointed a Professor regardless of his lack of experience, whereas an Indian who passed in highest examination with honours in India was appointed as an Assistant Professor. This grounding often made him more efficient as a teacher than the Professor recruited from England. There were now several Professors in the college, in the Provincial Service, who were highly qualified, and who lectured to the highest classes with very great success. 83,641. A proportion of Europeans in the service was needed, but only as experts and not as ordinary teachers. Only the very best men should be obtained from Europe, and for exceptional cases. The general educational work should be done entirely by Indians, who understood the difficulties of the country much better than any outsider. 83,642. He advocated the direct recruitment of Indians in India by the local government in consultation with the Secretary of State, rather than by the Secretary of State alone. Indians were under a great difficulty, in that they could not remain indefinitely in England after taking their degrees and being away from the place of recruitment their claims were overlooked. 83,643. There was no reason why a European should be paid a higher rate of salary than an Indian on account of the distance he came. An 83,644. The term "professor", as at present used in India, was undoubtedly a comprehensive one, but it was equally comprehensive in the West. 83,645. (Sir Murray Hammick). The witness did not wish to recruit definite proportions of the service in England and in India respectively. He would for various reasons prefer a large number of Indians engaged in education. 83,646. Even in Calcutta he would not make any difference between the pay of the Indian and the pay of the European. 83,647. (Sir Valentine Chirol). The witness attached great value to the influence of the teacher upon the student in the earlier stages of his education, and it was in these stages that that influence could best be exercised. At the same time he desired to limit the appointment of non-Indians to men of very great distinction. 83,649. (Mr. Abdur Rahim). Recruitment for the Educational Service should be made in the first place in India, if suitable men were available; but if not then he would allow the best outsiders to be brought in. In the present state of the country it would be very easy to fill up many of the chairs by selecting the best men in India. 83,650. The aim of the universities should be to promote two classes of work—first, research; and secondly, an all-round sound education. Men of different types would be required for these two duties. 83,651. (Mr. Madge). Any idea that the educational system of India was so far inferior to that of England, that Indians, who had made their mark, had done so, not because of the educational system of the country, but in spite of it, was quite unfounded. The standard of education prevailing in India was quite up to the mark of several British universities. It was as true of any other country in the world as of India that education was valued as a means for passing examinations, and not only for itself, and there was no more cramming in India than elsewhere. 83,653. The educational system in India had in the past been too mechanical, but a turn for the better was now taking place and the universities were recognising the importance of research work, and were willing to give their highest degrees to encourage it. 83,654. (Mr. Macdonald). The witness did not think it was necessary to have a non-Indian element in the service in order to stiffen it up, but he accepted the principle that there should be a certain small proportion of non-Indians. 83,655. The title of professor at a college or University should carry with it dignity and honour, and ought not to be so freely used as at present. All he asked was that it should not be abolished at the expense of such Indians as were doing as good work as their European colleagues. 83,656. If the Calcutta university continued to develop its teaching side, there would be no objection to recruiting University Professors from aided colleges. This would have certain advantages. 83,657. (Mr. Fisher). The witness desired to secure for India Europeans who had European 83,658. The witness would like to see India entering the world movement in the advance and march of knowledge. It was of the highest importance that there should be an intellectual atmosphere in India. It would be of advantage if there were many Indians in the Educational Service. For they came more in contact with the people, and influenced their intellectual activity. Besides, on retirement they would live in India and their life experience would be at their countrymen's service. 83,659. There was very little in the complaint made in certain quarters that the work of the Professors in the colleges in India was hampered by the Government regulations as to curricula. A good teacher was not troubled by such matters. 83,660. (Mr. Sly). There was no scope for the employment of non-Indians in the high schools as apart from the colleges. It was in the professorial line that more help from the West was required. 83,661. (Mr. Gokhale). The witness knew of three instances in which the colonies had secured distinguished men on salaries which were lower than these given to officers of the Indian Educational 83,662. When the witness first started work in India, he found that there was no physical laboratory, or any grant made for a practical experimental course. He had to construct instruments with the help of local mechanics, whom he had to train. All this took him ten years. He then undertook original investigation at his own expense. The Royal Society became specially interested in his work and desired to give him a Parliamentary grant for its continuation. It was after this that the Government of Bengal came forward and offered him facilities for research. 83,663. In the Educational Service he would take men of achievement from anywhere; but men of promise he would take from his own country. 83,665. There was a difference of kind between the way in which students were taught in schools and the way in which they were taught in colleges. He did not agree with the witnesses who had said that during the first year or two years at college the instruction given was similar to that given in a school. It was very difficult to disprove or to prove such statements. There would be no advantage in keeping boys to a school course up the intermediate standard and making the colleges deal with only those students who had passed the intermediate examination. 83,666. (Sir Theodore Morison). There should be one scale of pay for all persons in the higher educational department. The rate of salary, Rs. 200 rising to Rs. 1,500 per month, was suitable, subject to the proviso that the man of great distinction, instead of beginning at the lowest rate of pay, should start some where in the middle of the list, say, at Rs. 400 or Rs. 500. He would make no reference in regard to Europeans or Indians in that respect. In effect this no doubt amounted to making Indians eligible for higher educational posts both by direct recruitment and by promotion. 83,668. Privately managed Colleges paid less in salary than the Government Colleges. They paid about the same as was given in the Provincial Service, and they obtained fairly good men. It would not be right for a great Government to grant a minimum pay to Indian Professors and an extravagantly high pay to their European colleagues, for doing the same kind of work. 83,669. At the Presidency College the facilities for scientific work were now greater than in many institutions in England. India was now becoming a great country for Biological research. Again, the Physical and Chemical Laboratories at the Presidency College were finer than many in England. If young men of science in England thought they obtained better opportunities in pursuing their subjects in New Zealand and Toronto than in India, the India office ought to remove that impression at once. 83,670. (Lord Ronaldshay). When an Indian graduate under the witnesses' scheme was appointed direct to the higher service in India he would 83,671. (Mr. Biss). The cost of living in Calcutta to an Indian Professor or Lecturer would all depend as the style in which he lived. In each service there is always a standard of living to which every member is expected to conform. An Indian Professor had to go to Europe from time to time to keep himself in touch with the developments of his subject. An Indian officer had to support a large number of relations. The question of a man's private expenses should not be raised in fixing his pay. One might as well inquire whether the candidate for admission to the service was a bachelor or married, or as to how many children he had. He had known Europeans who had led a simple life, and had been all the better for it. 83,672. He could not understand why men went to Japan and Canada instead of coming to India on better terms. It was a mystery to him. He thought it was either sheer ignorance or the spread of the commercial spirit. 83,673. All the students coming to his side of the University, were, as a rule, keen and 83,674. (Mr. Gupta). He desired one service, because he thought it was most degrading that certain men, although they were doing the same work, should be classed in a Provincial Service, while others should be classed in an Imperial Service. The prospect of the members of the Provincial Service were not at all what they ought to be, and that was the reason why the best men were not attracted to it. PROF. On his way back to Calcutta from the Fourth Scientific Deputation to the West, Prof. J. C. Bose visited Madura, 14th June 1915. The Tamil Sangam presented him with an address. In reply Dr. Bose made an important speech, in course of which he said:— I am no longer a representative of Bengal nor have I come to a strange place, but as an Indian addressing the mighty India and her people. When we realise that unity of our destiny then a great future opens out for us. It may be we may theorise and attribute to the plants all the characteristics of the animals; but that will be merely theory: there will be no proof. There are certain classes of people who think that plants are utterly unlike animals and some hold that they are like animals. The mere theory is absolutely worthless in order to find out the truth. We have to find by investigation, by means of researches, by means of proofs, that one is identical with the other. We have not only to drop all theory but we have to make the plant itself write If the plants are acted on by various medicines and drugs like ourselves, then we can create an agent or a spokesman on which we can carry out all future investigations on the action of drugs. Then there is opened out a great vista for the scientific study of medicine. And let me tell you medicine is not yet an exact science. It is merely a phase of tradition. We have not been able to make medicine scientific. Now by the data of the influence of drugs on the fundamental basis of life, as is seen in the plant, we shall be able to make the science of medicine purely scientific. In travelling all over the world, which I have done several times, I was struck by two great characteristics of different nations. One characteristic of certain nations is living for the future. All the modern nations are striving to win force and power from nature. There is another class of men who live on the glory of the past. Now, what is to be the future of our nation? Are we to live only on the glory of the past and die off from the face of the earth, to show that we are worthy descendants of the glorious past and to show by our work, by our intellect and by our service that we (Modern Review, Vol. xviii, p. 22-23). DR. PARTY AT RAM MOHAN LIBRARY On Saturday, 24th July, 1915, the members of the Ram Mohan Library and Reading room received Dr. J. C. Bose, the President of the Library in a right royal fashion, on his return to India from his Scientific Deputation to the West. There was a large and influential gathering, and the spacious hall was tastefully decorated. Dr. J. C. Bose arrived at 6:15 p.m. and was received at the gate by Mr. D. N. Pal, Secretary. Dr. Bose then went round the hall accompanied by the members of the Executive Committee while the Bharati Musical Association played excellent Jaltaranga Orchestra. Babu Bhupendra Nath Bose, Vice-President of the Library, made a brilliant speech welcoming Dr. Bose and detailing the great services done to the country by him. DR. BOSE'S REPLY Dr. Bose in reply expressed his thanks for the great interest shown in different parts of this country in the success of his work. This was the fourth RESEARCH LABORATORY FOR INDIA This recognition that the advance of human knowledge will be incomplete without India's special contributions, must be a source of great inspiration for future workers in India. His countrymen had the keen imagination which could extort truth out of a mass of disconnected facts and the habit of meditation without allowing the mind to dissipate itself. Inspired by his visits to the ancient Universities, at Taxila, at Nalanda and at Conjevaram, Dr. Bose had the strongest confidence that India would soon see a revival of those glorious traditions. There will soon rise a Temple of Learning where the teacher cut off from worldly distractions would go on with his ceaseless pursuit after truth, and dying, hand on his work to his disciples. Nothing would seem laborious in his inquiry; never is he to lose sight of his quest, never is he to let it go obscured by any terrestrial temptation. For he is the Sanyasin spirit, and India is the only country where so far from there being a conflict between science and religion. Knowledge is regarded as religion itself. Such a misuse of science as is now unfortunately ECONOMIC DANGER OF INDIA One of the most interesting events in his tour round the world was his stay in Japan, where he had ample opportunity of becoming acquainted with the efforts of the people and their aspirations towards a great future. No one can help being filled with admiration for what they have achieved. In materialistic efficiency, which in a mechanical era is regarded as an index of civilisation, they have even surpassed their German teachers. A few decades ago they had no foreign shipping and no manufacture. But within an incredibly short time their magnificent lines of steamers have proved so formidable a competitor that the great American line in the Pacific will soon be compelled to stop their sailings. Their industries again, through the wise help of the State and other adventitious aids are capturing foreign markets. But far more admirable is their foresight to save their country from any embroilment with other nations with whom they want to live in peace. And they realise any predominant interest of a foreign country in their trade REVIVAL OF INDIAN INDUSTRIES Is our country slow to realise the danger that threatens her by the capture of her market and the total destruction of her industries? Does she not realise that it is helpless passivity that directly provokes aggression? Has not the recent happenings in China served as an object lesson? There is, therefore, no time to be lost and the utmost effort is demanded of the Government and the people for the revival of our own industries. The various attempts that have hitherto been made have not been as successful as the necessity of the case demands. The efforts of the Government and of the people have hitherto been spasmodic and often worked at cross purposes. The Government should have an advisory body of Indian members. There should be some modification of rules as regards selection of Industrial scholars. Before being sent out to foreign countries they should be made to study the conditions of manufacture in this country and its difficulties. For a particular industry there should be a co-ordinated group of three scholars, two for the industrial and one for the commercial side. Difficulties A CALL FOR NOBLER PATRIOTISM A very serious danger is thus seen to be threatening the future of India, and to avert it will require the utmost effort of the people. They have not only to meet the economic crisis but also to protect the ideals of ancient Aryan civilisation from the destructive forces that are threatening it. Nothing great can be conserved except through constant effort and sacrifice. There is a danger of, regarding —Amrita Bazar Patrika, 26-7-1915. HISTORY Substance of a Lecture delivered by Prof. J. C. Bose on the 20th November 1915, at the Ram Mohan Library, under the Presidency of the Hon'ble Mr. P. C. Lyon, and published at p. 693, Vol. xviii, of the "Modern Review" (July to December, 1915). At the tournament held before the court at Hastinapur, more than twenty-five centuries ago, Karna, the reputed son of a Charioteer, had challenged the supremacy of Prince Arjuna. To this challenge Arjuna had returned a scornful answer; a prince could not cross swords with one who could claim no nobility of descent. "I am my own ancestor," replied Karna, and this perhaps the earliest assertion of the right of man to choose and determine his own destiny. In the realm of knowledge also the great achievements have been won only by men with determined purpose and without any adventitious aids. Undismayed by human limitations they had struggled in spite of many a failure. In their inquiry after truth they regarded nothing as too laborious, nothing too insignificant, nothing too painful. The lecturer's research on the properties of Electric Waves was begun just twenty-one years ago. In this he was greatly encouraged by the appreciation shown by the Royal Society, which not only published his researches, but also offered a Parliamentary grant for the continuance of his work. The greatest difficulty lay in the construction of a receiver to detect invisible ether disturbances. For this a most laborious investigation had to be undertaken to find the action of electric radiation on all kinds of matter. As a result of this long and very patient work a new type of receiver was invented, so perfect in its action that the Electrician suggested its use in ships and electro-magnetic high houses for the communication and transmission of danger signals at sea through space. This was in 1895, several years in advance of the present wireless system. Practical application of the result of Dr. Bose's investigations appear so important that Great Britain and the United States granted him patents for his invention of a certain crystal receiver which proved to be the most sensitive detector of wireless signals. UNIVERSAL SENSITIVENESS OF MATTER In the course of his investigations Dr. Bose found CASTE IN SCIENCE Dr. Bose's discovery of Universal sensitiveness of matter was communicated to the Royal Society on May 7th, 1901, when he himself gave a successful It is natural that there should be prejudice against all innovations, and the attitude of Sir John Burden-Sanderson is easily explained. Unfortunately there was another incident about which similar explanation could not be urged. Dr. Bose's Paper had been placed in the archives of the Royal Society, so that technically there was no publication. And it came about that eight months after the reading of his Paper, another communication found publication in the Journal of a different society which FURTHER DIFFICULTIES Dr. Bose's next work in 1903 was the discovery of the identity of response and of automatic activity in plant and animal and of the nervous impulse in plant. These new contributions were regarded as of such great importance that the Royal Society showed its special appreciation by recommending it to be published in their Philosophical transactions. But the same influence which had hitherto stood in his way triumphed once more, and it was at the very last moment that the publication was withheld. The Royal Society, however, informed him that his LONG DELAYED SUCCESS And when the night was at its darkest, light gradually appeared, and after innumerable difficulties had been overcome his Resonant Recorder was perfected, which enabled the plant to tell its own story. And in the meantime something still more wonderful came to pass. Hitherto all gates had been barred and he had to produce his passports everywhere. He now found friends who never asked him for credentials. His time had come at last. The Royal Society found his new methods most convincing and honoured him by publication of his researches in the Philosophical transactions. And his discoveries, Though his theories had thus received acceptance from the leading scientific men of the Royal Society, there was yet no general conviction of the identity of life reactions in plant and animal. No amount of controversy can remove the tendency of the human mind to follow precedents. The only thing left was to make the plant itself bear witness before the scientific bodies in the West, by means of self-records. At the recommendation of the Minister of Education, and of the Government of Bengal, the Secretary of State sanctioned his scientific deputation to Europe and America. JOURNEY OF INDIAN PLANT ROUND THE WORLD The special difficulty which he had to contend against lay in the fact that the only time during which the plant flourished at all in the West, was in the months of July and August, when the Universities and scientific societies were in vacation. The only thing left was to take the bold step of carrying growing plants from India and trust to human ingenuity to keep them alive during the journey. Four plants, two Mimosas and two Telegraph plants, were taken in a portable box with glass cover, and never let out of sight. In the OUTCOME OF HIS WORK The success of his scientific mission exceeded his most sanguine expectations. The work in which he long persevered in isolation and under most depressing difficulties, bore fruit at last. Apart from the full recognition that the progress of the world's science would be incomplete without India's special contributions, mutual appreciation and better understanding resulted from his visit. One of the greatest of Medical Institutions, the Royal Society of Medicine, has been pleased to regard his address before the society as one of the most important in their history and they expected that their science of medicine would be materially benefited by the researches that are being carried out by him in India. India has also been drawn closer to the great seats of learning in the West, to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; for there also the methods of inquiry initiated here have found the most cordial welcome. Many Indian students find their way to America, strangers in a strange land; hitherto they found few to advise and befriend them. It will perhaps be different now, since their leading Universities have begged from India the courtesy of hospitality for their post graduate scholars. Some THE INEFFABLE WONDER BEHIND THE VEIL As for the research itself, he said its bearings are not exclusively specialistic, but touch the foundation of various branches of science. To mention only a few; in medicine it had to deal with the fundamental reaction of protoplasm to various drugs, the solution of the problem why an identical agent brings about diametrically opposite effects in different constitutions; in the science of life it dealt with the new comparative physiology by which any specific characteristic of a tissue is traced from the simplest type in plant to the most complex in the animal; the study of the mysterious phenomenon of death and the accurate determination of the death point and the various conditions by which this point may be dislocated backwards and forwards; in psychology it had to deal with the unravelling of the great mystery that underlies memory and tracing it backwards to latent impressions even in the inorganic bodies which are capable of subsequent revival; and finally, the determination of the special characteristic of that vehicle through which sensiferous impulses are transmitted and the possibility A At the Social Gathering held on the 16th December 1915, in the compound of the Calcutta Presidency College, to meet him after his highly successful tour through Europe, America and Japan, Dr. Bose spoke as follows:— He said that it was his rare good fortune to have been amply rewarded for the hardships and struggles that he had gone through by the generous and friendly feelings of his colleagues and the love and trust of his pupils. He would say a few words regarding his experience in the Presidency College for more than three decades, which he hoped would serve to bring all who loved the Presidency College—present and past pupils and their teachers—in closer bonds of union. He would speak to them what he had learnt after years of patient labour, that the impossible became possible by persistent and determined efforts and adherence to duty and entire selflessness. The greatest obstacle often arises out of foolish misunderstanding of each other's ideals, such as the differing points of view, first of the Indian teacher, then of his western colleague, and Education in the West and in the East showed how different customs and ways might yet express a common ideal. In India the teacher was, like the head of a family, reverenced by his pupils so deeply as to show itself by touching the feet of their master. This in no servile act if we come to think of it; since it is the expression of the pupils' desire for his master's blessings, called down from heaven in an almost religious communion of souls. This consecration Turning to the Indian students he could say that it was his good fortune never to have had the harmonious relation between teacher and pupils in any way ruffled during his long connection with them —The Presidency College Magazine. Vol. II, pages 339-341. LIGHT On the 14th January 1916, Dr. J. C. Bose delivered a public lecture, on Light Visible and Invisible, at the third Indian Science Congress held at Lucknow, before a crowded audience which included the Lieutenant-Governor (Sir James Meston). Dr. Bose, in course of his lecture, spoke of the imperfection of our senses. Our ear, for example, fails to respond to all sounds. There are many sounds to which we are deaf. This was because our ear was tuned to answer to the narrow range of eleven octaves of sound vibrations. He showed a remarkable experiment of an artificial ear which remained irresponsive to various sounds, but when a particular note, to which it was tuned, was sounded even at the distant end of the hall, this ear picked it up and responded violently. As there were sounds audible and inaudible, so there were lights visible and invisible. The imperfection of our eye as a detector of ether vibrations was, however, far more serious. The eye could detect ether vibrations lying within a single octave—between 400 to 800 billion vibrations per second. Comparatively slow —Pioneer,—16-1-1916. HINDU The foundation of the Hindu University was laid by Lord Hardinge on the 4th February 1916. "Many striking addresses were delivered on the occasion. Professor J.C. Bose in his masterly address went to the root of the matter and pointed in an inspiring manner what should be done to make the Hindu University worthy of its name. He deprecated a repetition of the Universities of the West." He said:— In tracing the characteristic phenomenon of life from simple beginnings in that vast region which may be called unvoiced, as exemplified in the world of plants, to its highest expression in the animal kingdom, one is repeatedly struck by the one dominant fact that in order to maintain an organism at the height of its efficiency something more than a mechanical perfection of its structure is necessary. Every living organism, in order to maintain its life and growth, must be in free communion with all the forces of the Universe about it. STIMULUS Further, it must not only constantly receive stimulus from without, but must also give out something from within, and the healthy life of the organism will depend on these two fold activities of inflow and outflow. When there is any interference with these activities, then morbid symptoms appear, which ultimately must end in disaster and death. This is equally true of the intellectual life of a Nation. When through narrow conceit a Nation regards itself self-sufficient and cuts itself from the stimulus of the outside world, then intellectual decay must inevitably follow. SPECIAL FUNCTION OF A NATION So far as regards the receptive function. Then there is another function in the intellectual life of a Nation, that of spontaneous outflow, that giving out of its life by which the world is enriched. When the Nation has lost this power, when it merely receives, but cannot give out, then its healthy life is over, and it sinks into a degenerate existence which is purely parasitic. HOW INDIA CAN TEACH How can our Nation give out of the fulness of the life that is in it, and how can a new Indian HOW TO SECURE THIS STATUS This world status can only be won by the intrinsic value of the great contributions to be made by its own Indian scholars for the advancement of the world's knowledge. To be organic and vital our new University must stand primarily for self-expression, and for winning for India a place she has lost. Knowledge is never the exclusive possession of any particular race, nor does it recognise geographical limitations. The whole world is interdependent, and a constant stream of thought had been carried out throughout the ages enriching the common heritage of mankind. Although science was neither of the East nor of the West but international, certain aspects of it gained richness by reason of their place of origin. In any case if India need to make any contribution These are the hopes that animate us. For there is something in the Hindu culture which is possessed of extraordinary latent strength by which it has resisted the ravages of time and the destructive changes which have swept over the earth. And indeed a capacity to endure through infinite transformations —Modern Review, vol. XIX, pages 277, 278. THE At the invitation of the President and the committee of the Faridpore Industrial Exhibition, Dr. J. C. Bose gave a lecture on the life of his father, the late Babu Bhugwan Chunder Bose, who founded the Exhibition at Faridpore, where he was the sub-divisional officer, 50 years ago. It was published in the Modern Review for February 1917—volume xxi, p. 221. In course of his address, said Dr. Bose:— It is the obvious, the insistent, the blatant that often blinds us to the essential. And in solving the mystery that underlies life, the enlightenment will come not by the study of the complex man, but through the simpler plant. It is the unsuspected forces, hidden to the eyes of men,—the forces imprisoned in the soil and the stimuli of alternating flash of light and the gloomings of darkness these and many others will be found to maintain the ceaseless activity which we know as the fulness of throbbing life. This is likewise true of the congeries of life which we call a society or a nation. The energy which As a concrete example, I shall relate the history of a noble failure which had its setting in this little corner of the earth. And if some of the audience thought that the speaker has been blessed with life STIMULUS OF CONTACT WITH WESTERN CULTURE An impulse from outside reacts on impressionable bodies in two different ways, depending on whether the recipient is inert or fully alive. The inert is fashioned after the pattern of the impression made on it, and this in infinite repetition of one mechanical stamp. But when an organism is fully alive, the answering reaction is often of an altogether different character to the impinging stimulus. The outside shocks stir up the organism to answer feebly or to utmost in ways as multitudinous and varied as life itself. So the first impetus of Western education impressed itself on some in a dead monotony of imitation of things Western; while in others it awakened all that was greatest in the national memory. It is the release of some giant force which lay for long time dormant. My father was one of the earliest to receive the impetus characteristic of the modern epoch as derived from the West. And in his case it came to pass that the stimulus evoked the latent potentialities of his race for evolving MATTERS EDUCATIONAL In educational matters he had very definite ideas which is now becoming more fully appreciated. English schools were at that time not only regarded as the only efficient medium for instruction. While my father's subordinates sent their children to the English schools intended for gentle folks, I was sent to the vernacular school where my comrades were hardy sons of toilers and of others who, it is now the fashion to regard, were belonging to the depressed classes. From these who tilled the ground and made the land blossom with green verdure and ripening corn, and the sons of the fisher folk, who told stories of the strange creatures that frequented the unknown depths of mighty rivers and stagnant pools, I first derived the lesson of that which constitutes true manhood. From them too I drew my love of THE HISTORY OF A FAILURE THAT WAS GREAT There has been some complaint that the experiment of meeting out cut and dried moral texts as a part of school routine has not proved to be so effective as was expected by their promulgators. LIFE OF ACTION Faridpur at that time enjoyed a notoriety of being the stronghold of desperate characters, dacoits by land and water. My father had captured single-handed one of the principal leaders, whom he sentenced to a long term of imprisonment. After INDUSTRIAL EFFORTS I come now to another period of his life fifty years from now, when he foresaw the economic danger In practical agriculture my father was among Indians one of the first to start a tea industry in Assam, now regarded as one of the most flourishing. He gave practically everything in the starting of some Weaving Mills. He stood by this and many other efforts in industrial developments. The success of A failure? Yes but not ignoble or altogether futile. Since it was through the witnessing of this struggle that the son learned to look on success or failure as one, to realise that some defeat was greater than victory. And if my life in any way proved to be fruitful, then that came through the realisation of this lesson. To me his life had been one of blessing and daily thanksgiving. Nevertheless every one had said that he wrecked his life which was meant for far greater things. Few realise that out of the skeletons of myriad lives have been built vast continents. And it is on the wreck of a life like his and of many such lives there will be built the Greater India yet to be. We do not know why it should be so, but we do know that the Earth Mother is hungry for sacrifice. QUEST Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose delivered the following Address, on the 25th February 1917, to the students of the Presidency College on receiving their Arghya and congratulations on the occasion of his knighthood. It was published in the Modern Review for March 1917—Volume XXI, p. 343. In your congratulations for the recent honour, you have overlooked a still greater that came to me a year ago, when I was gazetted as your perpetual professor, so that the tie which binds me to you is never to be severed. Thirty-two years ago I sought to be your teacher. For the trust that you imposed on me could I do anything less than place before you the highest that I knew? I never appealed to your weaknesses but your strength. I never set before you that was easy but used all the compulsion for the choice of the most difficult. And perhaps as a reward for these years of effort I find all over India those who have been my pupils occupying positions of the highest trust and responsibility in different walks of life. I do not merely count those who have won fame and success but I also claim THE LAW UNIVERSAL Through science I was able to teach you how the seeming veils the real; how though the garish lights dazzle and blind us, there are lights invisible, which glow persistently after the brief flare burns out. One came to realise how all matter was one, how unified all life was. In the various expressions of life even in the realm of thought the same Universal law prevails. There was no such thing as brute matter, but that spirit suffused matter in which it was enshrined. One also realised dimly a mysterious Cyclic Law of Change, seen not merely in inorganic matter but also in organised life and its highest manifestations. One saw how inertness passes into the climax of activity and how that climax is perilously near its antithetic decline. This basic change puzzles us by its seeming caprice not merely in our physical instruments but also in the cycle of individual life and death and in the great cycle of the life and death of nations. We fail to see things in their totality and we erect barriers that keep kindreds apart. Even science which attempts to rise above common limitations, has not escaped the doom which limited vision imposes. We have And through science I was able to teach you to seek for truth and help to discover it yourself. This attitude of detachment may possess some advantage in the proper understanding of your duties. You will have, besides, the heritage of great ideals that have been handed down to you. The question which you have to decide is duty to yourself, to the king and to your country. I shall speak to you of the ideals which we cherish about these duties. DUTY TO SELF As regards duty to self, can there be anything so IDEAL OF KINGSHIP The Indian ideal of kingship will be clear to you if I recite the invocation with which we crowned our kings from the Vedic Times: "Be with us. We have chosen thee We have chosen thee, our prayers have consecrated thee, for all the wishes of the people went with thee. Thou art to stand as mountain unremoved, for thy throne is planted secure on the hearts of thy people. Stand steadfast then, for we have endowed thee with power irresistible. Fall therefore not away; but let thy sceptre be held firmly in thy grasp. Which is more potent, Matter or Spirit? Is the power with which the people endow their king identical with the power of wealth with which we enrich him by paying him his Royal dues? We make him irresistible not by wealth but by DUTY TO OUR COUNTRY And lastly, what are our duties to our country? These are essentially to win honour for it and also win for it security and peace. As regards winning honour for our country, it is true that while India has offered from the earliest times welcome and hospitality to all peoples and nationalities her children have been subjected to intolerable humiliations in other countries even under the flag of our king. There can be no question of the fundamental duty of every Indian to stand up and uphold the honour of his country and strove for the removal of wrong. The general task of redressing wrong is not a problem of India alone, but one in which the righteous men are interested the world over. For wrong cries for redress everywhere, in the clashings interests of the rich and poor, between capital and labour, between those who hold the power and those from whom it has been withheld,—in a word in the struggle of the Disinherited. What is the machinery which sets a going a world movement for the redress of wrong? For this I need not cite instances from the history of other countries but take one which is known to you and in which the living actors are still among us. In the midst of the degradation of his countrymen in South Africa, there stood up a man himself nurtured in luxury, to take up the burden of the disinherited. His wife too stood by him, a lady of gentle birth. We all know who that man is—he is Gandhi,—and what humiliations and suffering he went through. Do you think he suffered in vain and that his voice remained unheard? It was not so, for in the great vortex of passion for Justice, there were caught others—men like Polak and Andrews. Are they your countrymen? Not in the narrow sense of the word but truly in a larger sense, that these who choose to bear and suffer belong to one clan the clan from which Kshatriya Chivalry is recruited. The removal of suffering and of the cause of suffering is DEFENCE OF HOMELAND In your services for your country there is no higher at the present moment than to ensure for her security and peace. We have so long enjoyed the security of peace without being called upon to maintain it. But this is no longer so. At no time within the recent history of India has there been so quick a readjustment and appreciation as regards proper understanding of the aspiration of the Indian people. This has been due to what India has been able to offer not merely in the regions of thought but also in the fields of battle. MASS RESPONSE And remember that when the world is in conflagration, this corner which has hitherto escaped it, will not evade the peril which threatens it. The march of disaster will then be terribly rapid. You have soon to prepare yourself against any hostile sides. You can only withstand it if the whole people realise the imminent danger. You can by your DIFFERENCE OF TEMPERAMENT The issue is clear, and immediate action is imperative. But action is delayed by misunderstanding arising out of temperamental differences between the Governing Class and the People. Curiously enough the respective responsive characteristics of the Anglo Saxon and the Indians are paralleled by the two types of responses seen in all living matter. In the one type the response is slow but proportionate to the stimulus that excites it. The response The concessions made by a modern form of Government safeguarded by necessary limitations may appear almost as grudging gifts. The Indian wants something which comes with unhesitating frankness and warmth and strikes his ideality and imagination. But ancient and modern kingship are sometimes at one in direct and spontaneous pronouncement of the royal sympathy. Such was the Proclamation of Queen Victoria which stirred to its depths the popular heart. "In the Prosperity of Our subjects will be our strength, in their contentment Our security, in their Gratitude Our best Reward." That there are increasingly frequent reflexes in MARCH OF WORLD TRAGEDY In the meantime the Embodiment of World Tragedy is marching with giant strides. Brief will be his hesitation whether he will choose to step first to the East or to the West. Already across the Atlantic, they are preparing for the dreaded visitation. In the farthest East they have long been prepared. We alone are not ready. Pity for our helplessness will not stay the impending disaster, rather provoke it. When that comes, as assuredly it will unless we are prepared to resist, havoc will be let loose and horrors perpetrated before which the imagination quails back in dismay. I have tried to lay before you as dispassionately as I could the issues involved. But some of you may cry out and say, we can not live in cold scientific and philosophic abstractions. Emotion is more THE The following is the Inaugural Address delivered by Sir J. C. Bose, on the 30th November 1917, in dedicating the Bose Institute to the Nation. I dedicate to-day this Institute—not merely a Laboratory but a Temple. The power of physical methods applies for the establishment of that truth which can be realised directly through our senses, or through the vast expansion of the perceptive range by means of artificially created organs. We still gather the tremulous message when the note of the audible reaches the unheard. When human sight fails, we continue to explore the region of the invisible. The little that we can see is as nothing compared to the vastness of that which we cannot. Out of the very imperfection of his senses man has built himself a raft of thought by which he makes daring adventures on the great seas of the Unknown. But there are other truths which will remain beyond even the supersensitive methods known to science. For these we require faith, tested not in a few years but by an entire life. And a temple is erected as a fit memorial for the establishment of that truth for which faith was needed. The Thirty-two years ago I chose teaching of science as my vocation. It was held that by its very peculiar constitution, the Indian mind would always turn away from the study of Nature to metaphysical speculations. Even had the capacity for inquiry and accurate observation been assumed present, there were no opportunities for their employment; there were no well-equipped laboratories nor skilled mechanicians. This was all too true. It is for man not to quarrel with circumstances but bravely accept them; and we belong to that race and dynasty who had accomplished great things with simple means. FAILURE AND SUCCESS This day twenty-three years ago, I resolved that as far as the whole-hearted devotion and faith of one man counted, that would not be wanting and within six months it came about that some of the most difficult problems connected with Electric Waves found their solution in my Laboratory and received high appreciation from Lord Kelvin, Lord Rayleigh and other leading physicists. The Royal Society LIVING AND NON-LIVING In the pursuit of my investigations I was unconsciously led into the border region of physics and physiology and was amazed to find boundary lines vanishing and points of contact emerge between the realms of the Living and Non-living. Inorganic matter was found anything but inert; it also was a thrill under the action of multitudinous forces that played on it. A universal reaction seemed to bring together metal, plant and animal under a common law. They all exhibited essentially the same phenomena of fatigue and depression, together with possibilities of recovery and of exaltation, yet also that of permanent irresponsiveness which is associated with death. I was filled with awe at this stupendous It is but natural that there should be prejudice, even in science, against all innovations; and I was THE What is it that India is to win and maintain? Can anything small or circumscribed ever satisfy the mind of India? Has her own history and the teaching of the past prepared her for some temporary and quite subordinate gain? There are at this moment two complementary and not antagonistic ideals before the country. India is drawn into the vortex of international competition. She has to become efficient in every way,—through spread of education, through performance of civic duties and responsibilities, through activities both industrial and commercial. Neglect of these essentials of national duty will imperil her very existence; and sufficient stimulus for these will be found in success and satisfaction of personal ambition. But these alone do not ensure the life of a nation. Such material activities have brought in the West their fruit, in accession of power and wealth. There has been a feverish rush even in the realm of science, for exploiting applications of knowledge, not so often for saving as for destruction. In the absence of some power of restraint, civilisation is trembling in an unstable poise on the brink of ruin. Some complementary ideal there must be to save man from that mad rush which must end in disaster. He has followed the lure and excitement of some insatiable ambition, never pausing for a moment to think of The ideal of giving, of enriching, in fine, of self-renunciation in response to the highest call of humanity is the other and complementary ideal. The motive power for this is not to be found in personal ambition but in the effacement of all littlenesses, and uprooting of that ignorance which regards anything as gain which is to be purchased Public life, and the various professions will be the appropriate spheres of activity for many aspiring young men. But for my disciples, I call on those very few, who, realising inner call, will devote their whole life with strengthened character and determined purpose to take part in that infinite struggle to win knowledge for its own sake and see truth face to face. ADVANCEMENT AND DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE The work already carried out in my laboratory on the response of matter, and the unexpected revelations in plant life, foreshadowing the wonders of the highest animal life, have opened out very extended regions of inquiry in Physics, in physiology in Medicine, in Agriculture and even in Psychology. Problems, hitherto regarded as insoluble, have now been brought within the sphere of experimental investigation. These inquiries are obviously more extensive than those customary either among physicists or physiologists, since demanding interests and aptitudes hitherto more or less divided between them. In the study of Nature, there is a The farther and fuller investigation of the many and ever-opening problems of the nascent science which includes both Life and Non-Life are among the main purposes of the Institute I am opening to-day; in these fields I am already fortunate in having a devoted band of disciples, whom I have been training for the last ten years. Their number is very limited, but means may perhaps be forthcoming in the future to increase them. An enlarging field of young ability may thus be available, from which will emerge, with time and labour, individual originality of research, productive invention and some day even creative genius. The advance of science is the principal object of this Institute and also the diffusion of knowledge. We are here in the largest of all the many chambers of this House of Knowledge—its Lecture Room. In adding this feature, and on a scale hitherto unprecedented in a Research Institute, I have sought permanently to associate the advancement of knowledge with the widest possible civic and public diffusion of it; and this without any academic limitations, henceforth to all races and languages, to both men and women alike, and for all time coming. It is my further wish, that as far as the limited accommodation would permit, the facilities of this Institute should be available to workers from all countries. In this I am attempting to carry out the traditions of my country, which so far back as twenty-five centuries ago, welcomed all scholars THE SURGE OF LIFE With this widened outlook, we shall not only maintain the highest traditions of the past but also serve the world in nobler ways. We shall be at one with it in feeling the common surgings of life, the common love for the good, the true and the beautiful. In this Institute, this Study and Garden of Life, the claim of art has not been forgotten, for the artist has been working with us, from foundation to pinnacle, and from floor to ceiling of this very Hall. And beyond that arch the Laboratory merges imperceptibly into the garden, which is the true laboratory for the study of Life. There the creepers, the plants and the trees are played upon by their natural environments,—sunlight and wind, and the chill at midnight under the vault of starry space. There are other surroundings also, where they will be subjected to chromatic action of different lights, to invisible rays, to electrified ground or thunder-charged atmosphere. Everywhere they will transcribe in their own script the history of their experience. From this lofty point of observation, sheltered by the trees, the student will watch this panorama of life. Isolated from all distractions, he THE OUTLOOK These are the dreams that wove a network round my wakeful life for many years past. The outlook is endless, for the goal is at infinity. The realisation cannot be through one life or one fortune but through the co-operation of many lives and many fortunes. The possibility of a fuller expansion will depend on very large endowments. But a beginning must be made, and this is the genesis of the foundation of this Institute. I came with nothing and shall return as I came; if something is accomplished in the interval, that would indeed be a privilege. What I have I will offer, and one who had shared with me the struggles and hardships that had to be faced, has wished to bequeath all that is hers for the same object. In all my struggling efforts I have not been altogether solitary while the world doubted, there had been a few, now in the City of Silence, who never wavered in their trust. Till a few weeks ago it seemed that I shall have to look to the future for securing the necessary expansion of scope and for permanence of the A note that touched me deeply came from some girl students of the Western Province, enclosing their little contribution "for the service of our common motherland." It is only the instinctive mother-heart that can truly realise the bond that draws together the nurselings of the common homeland. There can be no real misgiving for the future when at the country's call man offers the strength of his life and woman her active devotion, she most of all, who has the greater insight and larger faith because of the life of austerity and self-abnegation. Even a solitary wayfarer in the Himalayas has remembered to send me message of cheer and good hope. What is it that has bridged over the distance and blotted out all differences? That I will come gradually to know; till then it will remain enshrined as a feeling. And I go forward to my appointed task, INDIA'S SPECIAL APTITUDES IN CONTRIBUTION TO SCIENCE The excessive specialisation of modern science in the West has led to the danger of losing sight of the fundamental fact that there can be but one truth, one science which includes all the branches of knowledge. How chaotic appear the happenings in Nature? Is nature a Cosmos! in which the human mind is some day to realise the uniform march of sequence, order and law? India through her habit of mind is peculiarly fitted to realise the idea of unity, and to see in the phenomenal world an orderly universe. This trend of thought led me unconsciously to the dividing frontiers of different sciences and shaped the course of my work in its constant alternations between the theoretical and the practical, from the investigation of the inorganic world to that of organised life and its multifarious activities of growth, of movement, and even of sensation. On looking over a hundred and fifty different lines of investigations carried on during the last twenty-three years, I now discover in them a natural sequence. The study of Electric Waves led to the devising of methods for the production of the shortest electric waves known and these bridged PLANT LIFE AND ANIMAL LIFE In natural sequence to the investigations of the response in 'inorganic' matter, has followed a prolonged study of the activities of plant-life as compared with the corresponding functioning of animal life. But since plants for the most part seem motionless and passive, and are indeed limited in their range of movement, special apparatus of extreme delicacy had to be invented, which should magnify the tremor of excitation and also measure the perception period of a plant to a thousandth part of a second. Ultra-microscopic movements were measured and recorded; the length measured being often smaller than a fraction of a single wave-length of light. The secret of plant life was thus for the first time revealed by the autographs of the plant itself. This evidence of the plant's own script removed the long-standing error which divided the vegetable world into sensitive and insensitive. The remarkable performance of the Praying Palm Tree of Faridpore, which bows, as if to prostrate itself, every evening, is only one of the latest instances which show that the supposed insensibility of plants Growth of plants and its variations under different treatment is instantly recorded by my Crescograph. Authorities expect this method of investigation will advance practical agriculture; since for the first time we are able to analyse and study separately the Returning to pure science, no phenomena in plant life are so extremely varied or have yet been more incapable of generalisation than the "tropic" movements, such as the twining of tendrils, the heliotropic movements of some towards and of others away from light, and the opposite geotropic movements of the root and shoot, in the direction of gravitation or away from it. My latest investigations recently communicated to the Royal Society have established a single fundamental reaction which underlies all these effects so extremely diverse. Finally, I may say a word of that other new and unexpected chapter which is opening out from my demonstration of nervous impulse in plants. The speed with which the nervous impulse courses through the plant has been determined; its nervous excitability and the variation of that excitability have likewise been measured. The nervous impulse in plant and in man is found exalted or inhibited under identical conditions. We may even follow this parallelism in what may seem extreme cases. A plant carefully protected under glass from outside shocks, looks sleek and flourishing; but its higher nervous function is then found to A question long perplexing physiologists and psychologists alike is that concerned with the great mystery that underlies memory. But now through certain experiments I have carried out, it is possible to trace "memory impressions" backwards even in inorganic matter, such latent impressions being capable of subsequent revival. Again the tone of our sensation is determined by the intensity of nervous excitation that reaches the central perceiving organ. It would theoretically be possible to change the tone or quality of our sensation, if means could be discovered by which the nervous impulse would become modified during transit. Investigation on nervous impulse in plants has led to the discovery of a controlling method, which was found equally effective in regard to the nervous impulse in animal. Thus the lines of physics, of physiology and of psychology converge and meet. And here will assemble those who would seek oneness amidst the manifold. Here it is that the genius of India should find its true blossoming. The thrill in matter, the throb of life, the pulse of It was a woman in the Vedic times, who when asked to take her choice of the wealth that would be hers for the asking, inquired whether that would win for her deathlessness. What would she do with it, if it did not raise her above death? This has always been the cry of the soul of India, not for addition of material bondage, but to work out through struggle her self-chosen destiny and win immortality. Many a nation had risen in the past and won the empire of the world. A few buried fragments are all that remain as memorials of the great dynasties that wielded the temporal power. There is, however, another element which find its incarnation in matter, yet transcends its transmutation and apparent destruction: that is the burning flame born of thought which has been handed down through fleeting generations. Asoka's emblem of the Amlaki will be seen on the cornices of the Institute, and towering above all is the symbol of the thunderbolt. It was the Rishi Dadhichi, the pure and blameless, who offered his life that the divine weapon, the thunderbolt, might be fashioned out of his bones to smite evil and exalt righteousness. It is but half of the Amlaki that we can offer now. But the past shall be reborn in a yet nobler future. We stand here to-day and resume work to-morrow so that by the efforts of our lives and our unshaken faith in the future we may all help to build the greater India yet to be. THE Under the presidency of Lord Ronaldshay Sir J. C. Bose delivered a lecture on Friday the 4th January 1918, at the "Bose Institute" on 'The Praying Palm-tree.' He said: Perhaps no phenomenon is so remarkable and shrouded with greater mystery as the performances of a particular palm tree near Faridpore. In the evening while the temple bells ring calling upon people to prayer, this tree bows down as if prostrate itself. It erects its head again in the morning, and this process is repeated every day during the year. This extraordinary phenomenon has been regarded as miraculous, and pilgrims have been attracted in great numbers. It is alleged that offerings made to the tree, that is to say to the custodian of the tree, have been the means effecting marvellous cures. It is not necessary to pronounce any opinion on the subject; these cures may be taken as effective as other faith cures now so fashionable in the West. I first obtained photographs of the two positions which proved the phenomenon to be real. The SENSITIVE OR INSENSITIVE? That not a "Mimosa" alone, but all plants are sensitive was demonstrated by some striking experiments. A spiral tendril, under electric shock was shown to writhe imitating the contortions of a tortured worm. In ordinary plants, all sides being equally sensitive contraction takes place on all directions with resulting neutral effect. Another striking experiment was to show how ordinary plants could be made sensitive by the mere process of amputation of the balancing half? Further experiments were shown demonstrating the effects of light, of warmth and other stimuli on the plant. Warmth worked antagonistically to light. The The experiments that have been shown will help the audience to realise in some measure that the world we live in is not a theatre of caprice or chance, but that an all pervading law holds and regulates its destiny. We have seen that the vast expanse of life which is unvoiced, seemingly, so impassive, is instinct with sensibility. Thus the whole of the vegetable world, including rigid trees perceive the changes in their environment and respond to them by unmistakable signals. They thrill under light and become depressed by darkness; the warmth of summer and frost of winter, drought and rain, these and many other happenings leave a subtle impression on the life of the plant. By invention of apparatus of extreme delicacy, it is possible to make the plant itself write down the history of its own experience in a hieroglyphic which it is possible to decipher. From these pages, taken from the diary of the plant, it will perhaps be possible some day to get an insight into the great mystery that surrounds life itself. For I shall in the course of lectures given here show how the life of plants is —Amrita Bazar Patrika, 7-1-1918. VISUALISATION Sir J. C. Bose delivered on the 18th January 1918, at the Bose Institute, the second of the series of discourses on revelations of plant life. This time the audience had the opportunity of witnessing the working of Bose's newly perfected Crescograph which is undoubtedly one of the marvels in modern Science. For this apparatus gives a visual demonstration of movements which are far beyond the highest powers of microscope. The invisible internal workings of life are thus for the first time revealed to man. LAW VERSUS CAPRICE The lecturer first described the infinite variations in life reactions in plants. The same external stimulus, he said apparently produces one effect in one plant; and precisely opposite in another. Some leaves move towards light; others are repelled by it. The root bends towards the centre of the earth, the shoot rises above away from it. Numerous other "tropic" movements are caused by RECORD OF GROWTH Most of these tropic movements are brought about by changes induced in growth by the action of different forces. But growth is so excessively slow that slight changes induced in it is impossible of detection. The proverbially slow paced snail moves two thousand times faster than the growing point of a plant. Hence to visualise growth and its changes, apparatus has to be invented which would magnify growth something like a million times. If such a thing were possible the pace of the snail would be quickened to the speed of a rifle bullet. The difficulties in connection with the devising and construction of apparatus with this extraordinary power appeared at first an impossibility. The Jewels for the fittings of the apparatus could not be found fine enough. The lecturer had to discard ordinary jewels for diamonds, such bearings being only made in Germany. But the outbreak of the ADVANCE OF AGRICULTURE The invention of method for immediate record of growth and its variations under various conditions is one of immense practical importance. Experiments on gigantic scales are in progress all over the world for this purpose. At Rothamstead, this work has been going on for more than half a century. The great Department of Agriculture in Mashington spends millions every year on such experiments, there being a thousand men employed in research. Recently many experiments have been undertaken on the effect of electricity on growth. The results obtained have been mostly contradictory. For real advance in agriculture we must first discover the laws of growth. Ordinary experiments on growth are of little value because they take weeks for detecting changes of growth which might have been brought about by charges in the environment. The only satisfactory method is to devise an apparatus which would make the plant itself record the rate of its growth, and the changes induced by food or treatment in the course of less than a minute, during which short time it is possible to maintain external conditions constant. THE All the difficulties connected with the devising of apparatus has been completely removed by the lecturer's successful invention of his new magnetic crescograph in which practically unlimited magnification is obtained without the difficulties arising from the unavoidable friction of bearings. Magnetic forces are so exactly balanced that a disturbance in the balance caused by slightest movements such as that of growth is magnified ten millions of times. The application of this new principle will be of great importance in various investigations in Physics. Sir J. C. Bose next demonstrated some marvellous results obtained with his apparatus. A seedling which on account of the Winter season appeared stationary jotted down by taps on a moving plate, the rate of its growth. The application of a chemical instantly arrested this growth, but an antidote timely applied, not only removed the torpor but enhanced the growth at an enormous rate. The life of the plant became pliant at the will of the experimenter, and nothing appeared more marvellous than the realisation that man has the power to pierce the veil that shrouds the mystery that had hitherto baffled him. The lecturer explained how the effect of a given agent—a chemical solution or an electric current— —Amrita Bazar Patrika, 19-1-1918. SIR There was a brilliant gathering at the Royal Opera House on Tuesday the 22nd January 1918, when Sir Jagadis Bose gave a deeply interesting lecture on the history of the inception of his Institute in Calcutta and its aims together with an exposition of his scientific researches illustrated by lantern slides. The theatre was full long before the lecture commenced and several prominent people were present the bulk of the audience consisting of Indians. Mr. Tilak in introducing the distinguished lecturer to the audience referred to Professor Bose's lasting services not only to the Indian nation but to the whole world. These references to Dr. Bose and his work elicited frequent applause from the large audience. A FIFTY THOUSAND RUPEES LECTURE. Sir Jagadis, who was accorded a most enthusiastic ovation on rising to address the gathering, acknowledged his gratitude to the public of Bombay who proved their appreciation of his work by their PLANTS UNDER ANAESTHETICS The Doctor explained the meaning and significance of the thunderbolt which has been adopted as the symbol of the institution. He explained also the special uses to which the various parts of the buildings would be put. The fact was brought out that the entire building and grounds had been designed to suit the special needs of the Institute and care had been taken to make it as far as possible self contained. An interesting feature of the garden close to that portion which forms the residence of Sir Jagadis was the open platform perched above two trees, transplanted under anaesthetic conditions. A variety of apparatus is displayed under these trees and the platform is intended for observation or meditation or both. Dr. Bose here explained SOME PHENOMENA OF PLANT LIFE The Professor explained next other experiments which he had performed on plants and whose results had exhibited the close parallel which plant life bears to human life. With the aid of another delicate instrument he showed how the growth of plants can be influenced by drugs and the demonstration on the screen of the manner in which the slow growth of a plant can be thus expedited was one of extraordinary interest. One was able to see the flame of life moving up the screen and recording at intervals the stages of growth, a lengthening of the intervals between each recorded glow illustrating the acceleration of growth as soon as the drug was applied. The instruments necessary to record this phenomenon are of extraordinary delicacy, and barely survived the strain of the journey from Calcutta. ELECTRICITY The last experiment was in regard to the effect of electricity on plant life. He referred particularly to the fact that it was his aim to discover the law of growth and atrophy among plants. Such a discovery had a great bearing on the future of agriculture and would revolutionise world thought. Electricity, he explained and illustrated, would promote or retard the growth of life by reaction. In England and other countries electricity had been applied to agriculture but without exact knowledge of its varying effect on plant life. He then showed by another apparatus of extreme delicacy that electricity might retard and even repel as well as promote the growth of plant life. But if the law of growth and decay could be ascertained, it was possible to regulate the control of life under most varied conditions. —Amrita Bazar Patrika, 29-1-1918. UNITY Under the auspices of the Bombay University, Sir Jagadis Chundar Bose delivered on Thursday, the 31st January 1918, a lecture on the "Unity of Life." It was illustrated by lantern slides and an instructive exposition was given of some of his unique discoveries in the realm of Plant Life.... HIDDEN HISTORY IN PLANTS LIFE "The subject of my address to-night is the 'Unity of Life.' Under a placid exterior there is a hidden history on the life of the plant. Is it possible to make the plants write down their own autographs and thus reveal their history? In order to succeed in this we have first to discover some compulsive force which will make the plant give an answering signal, secondly, we have to invent some instrument of extreme delicacy for the automatic conversion of these signals into an intelligent script; and last of all, we have ourselves to learn the nature of the hieroglyphics." Sir J. C. Bose then explained the principle of his epoch-making Resonant Recorder which writes "The plant is very human in its virtues and weakness. Plants like animals become exalted, grow tired or despond. An easy green-house life makes them less than themselves, overgrown and flabby, capable of response, till they have become hardened by adversity to a fuller existence. A time comes when after an answer to a supreme shock, there is a sudden end of the plant's power to give any further response. This supreme shock is the shock of death. Even in this crisis there is no immediate change in the placid appearance of the plant. Drooping and withering are events that occur long after death itself. How does the plant then give its last answer? In man at the critical moment a spasm passes through the whole body and similarly in the plant I find a great contractile spasm takes place. This is accompanied by an electrical spasm also. In the script of the Death Recorder the line that up to this time was being drawn, become suddenly reversed and then ends. This is the last answer of the plant. "These our mute companions, silently growing beside our door, have now told us the tale of their "We have now before our mind's eye the whole organism of the perceiving, throbbing and responding plant, a complex unity and not a congeries of unrelated parts. The barriers which separated kindred phenomena in the plant and animal are now thrown down. Thus community throughout the great ocean of life is seen to outweigh apparent dissimilarity Diversity is swallowed up in unity. "In realising this, is our sense of final mystery of things deepened or lessened? Is our sense of wonder diminished when we realise in the infinite expanse of life that is silent and voiceless the foreshadowings of more wonderful complexities? Is it not rather that science evokes in us a deeper sense of awe? Does not each of her new advances gain for us a step in that stairway of rock which all must climb who desire to look from the mountain tops of the spirit upon the promised land of truth?" Sir Jagadis then gave a most interesting exposition of his researches with the aid of magic lantern slides. SENSITIVENESS IN PLANTS Referring first of all his discovery of sensitiveness He next went on to say that all plants were The next illustration was to show how long plants took to feel shock and what time they took to recover. Like the great human system plants were subject to periodic conscianimal [sic., consciousness?] had their periods of sleep and awakening. The extra water pressure produced during sunset had nothing to do with true sleep. Plants, too, were subject to exaltation and depression and at certain hours of the day they were fully conscious and active while at other hours they were dormant and lazy. He showed by means of a chart that they were fast asleep between 6 and 9 in the morning and his humorous remark that in that respect they had taken a leaf from our modern society ladies provoked a great deal of laughter. A series of records were then shown to illustrate the various degrees of plant consciousness, which were deeply appreciated by the audience. Proceeding Dr. Bose said that plants were far "PROTECTING" PLANTS It was a mistake to suppose that when "protected" plants would thrive better. Mothers had a tendency to keep their children away from contact with the outside world with a view to "protect" them. He had placed a plant under a glass case and the effect of it was he had a gloated and effete Another plant Desmodium which has accompanied him in his world tour was filmed on the screen. He spoke, next, of the apparatus which he had invented to record plant pulsation and the struggle they exhibited between life and death. Poisons had as much effect on plants as on men, and they The lecture was listened to with profound interest and lasted for an hour. Mr. Setalvad proposed a hearty vote of thanks to the Chancellor for presiding at the meeting. Lord Willingdon, in acknowledging it, said that the vote of thanks was due to Sir Jagadis rather than to himself. As he had anticipated in the beginning, the lecture had proved absorbingly interesting and he was afraid Sir Jagadis's discoveries might be positively alarming when he next visited Bombay. He hoped that they would accord Sir Jagadis a hearty vote of thanks with "true Bombay cordiality." After a few suitable remarks by Sir Jagadis the meeting terminated. —Amrita Bazar Patrika, 5-2-1918. THE On the 8th February 1918, Sir J. C. Bose delivered the following discourse on 'The Automatic Writing of the Plant,' at the Bose institute:— Sir J. C. Bose spoke of two different ways of gaining knowledge, the lesser way is by dwelling on superficial differences, the mental attitude which makes some say 'Thank God I am not like others:' The other way is to realise an essential unity in spite of deceptive appearance to the contrary. He had recently been on a visit to the western Presidency, he went there as a stranger, but he has come back with a pang at parting from kindreds. Never in his life did he realise so vividly as now the great unity that drew together all who regarded India as their home and place of work. They were bound to each other by mutual ties of dependence. He had for many years been engaged in discovering community in physical manifestations of life. Now he has realised an abiding unity in the highest manifestations of human life, in community of thoughts and ideals. How then are we to know what unseen changes take place within the plant? The only conceivable way would be, if that were possible, to detect and measure the actual response of the organism to a definite testing blow. When an animal receives an external shock it may answer in various ways; If it has voice, by a cry, if dumb, by the movement of its limbs. The external shock is the stimulus, the answer of the organism is the response. If we can make it give some tangible response to a questioning shock, then we can judge the condition of the plant by the extent of the answer. In an excitable condition the feeblest stimulus will evoke an extraordinarily Prof. Bose then explained the principle and action of his apparatus by which the plant attached to it is automatically excited by successive stimuli which are absolutely constant. In answer to this the plant makes its own responsive records, goes through its own period of recovery, and embarks on the same cycle over again without assistance from the observer at any point. In this way the effect of changed external conditions is seen recorded in the script made by the plant itself. It has been thought that plants like mimosa alone were sensitive. But Sir J. C. Bose's apparatus demonstrated the unsuspected fact that every plant and every organ of every plant answered to a shock by a contractile spasm, as by an animal muscle. If perception of feeble stimulus be taken as a measure of ascent in the scale of life then the superiority of man must be established on a foundation more secure than sensibility. The most sensitive organ by which we can detect electric current is our tongue. An average European can perceive a current as feeble as six micro-amperes, a micro-ampere being a millionth part of the electric unit. Possibly the tongue of a Celt is more excitable, and I have Professor Bose then showed how identical were the effects of light, warmth and various drugs on the plant and animal. These experiments bring the plant much nearer than we ever thought. We find that it is not a mere mass of vegetative growth, but that its every fibre is instinct with sensibility. We are able to record the throbbings of its pulsating life, and find these wax and wane according to the life conditions of the plant, and cease in the death of the organism. In these and many other ways the life reactions in plant and man are alike, and thus through the experience of the plant, it may be possible to alleviate the sufferings of man. —Amrita Bazar Patrika, 9-2-1918. CONTROL At the first anniversary meeting of the Bose institute, held on the 30th November 1918, Sir J. C. Bose gave the following discourse on his recent discoveries relating to the question of control of nervous impulse, under the Presidency of His Excellency Lord Ronaldshay, Governor of Bengal. It is one of the greatest of all mysteries how we are put in connection with the external world: how blows from without are felt within. Our organs of sensation are like so many antennae radiating in various directions and picking up messages of many kinds. All of these, when analysed to their utmost, consist of shock effects on different chords. An extremely feeble stimulus is below the limit of perception, a moderate stimulus transmits excitation, which is perceived as sensation of not an unpleasant character, but the tone of sensation becomes painful when the excitation is very intense. Our sensation is thus coloured by the intensity of the nervous excitation that reaches the central organ. We are subject to human limitations, through the imperfection of our senses on the one hand, and Since we have no direct power over the shocks which come to us from the outside world, is it possible to control the nervous impulse so that it should be exalted in one case, and inhibited or obliterated in the other? Does advance of science hold any such possibility? This question is plainly fraught with high significance. PROBLEM OF CONTROL OF NERVOUS IMPULSE Before proceeding further it will be necessary first to obtain a clear idea of the function of a nervous tissue and its characteristics; secondly the manner, in which the nervous impulse is propagated; and lastly, we have to discover some compulsive force by which the impulse may be intensified or inhibited during transit. The nerve circuit may be liked to an electric circuit, and invisible impulse bringing about response in the indicator, be it the brain or the galvanometer. In the electric circuit the conducting power of the metallic wire is constant, and the intensity of the electric impulse depends on the intensity of the electric force applied. If the conducting power of Under narcotic the nerve becomes paralysed and we can by its use save ourselves from pain. But such heroic measures are to be resorted to in extreme cases, as when we are under the surgeon's knife. In actual life we are confronted with unpleasantness without notice. A telephone subscriber has an evident advantage, for he can switch The lecturer then explained that the propagation of nervous impulse is a phenomenon of transmission of molecular disturbance. It occurred to him that the transmission could be controlled if he succeeded in discovering a compulsive force which would confer on the conducting particles two opposite molecular dispositions, one of which would exalt and the other resist the impulse. His experiments were first conducted with the primitive type of nerve which he had previously discovered in plants. In full confirmation of his theory, he succeeded in conferring on the nervous tissue two opposite dispositions. Under favourable disposition the nerve is rendered supra-conducting; subliminal stimulus now becomes fully perceived. Under the opposite molecular disposition the violent impulse due to excessive stimulus becomes weakened or arrested during transit, and the plant remains quite unaffected by the external shock. The lecturer has in his previous works demonstrated MAN VICTORIOUS OVER CIRCUMSTANCE Thus by the control of molecular disposition of the conducting nerve, nervous impulse, and the resulting sensation may become profoundly modified. The external is not so overwhelmingly dominant, and man is not to be merely passive in the hands of destiny. There is a latent power which would raise him above the terrors of his inimical surroundings. It remains with him that the channels through which the outside world reach him should, at his command be widened or become closed. It may thus be possible for him to catch those indistinct messages that had hitherto eluded him or he may withdraw within himself, so that in The whole audience heard the discourse with spell bound interest. The Indian Scientist came to that realisation by experiments at which the Indian Jogis of yore arrived by intuition. Following an absolutely original line inventing his own apparatus of the most simple yet subtle delicacy and having constructed them by the hands of Indian artisans, working without collaborators and with the smallest modicum of recognition by his fellow scientists, he has pursued his investigation to a result which has been a revelation to the whole world. Dr. Bose has proved that man and plant are one body and life in their physiology, in their vital habits and nervous responses. He has clearly demonstrated that nervous life in the plant responds to the same stimuli as in human beings. He has established between animal and plant a unity of incipient mind. The plant not only lives and dies, wakes and sleeps but it makes the responses which in animal would be pleasure and pain. Dr. Bose has made a great step towards the unification of knowledge. A bridge has been built between man and inert matter. Even if we take Dr. Bose's experiments with metals in conjunctions with his experiments on plants, we may hold it to be practically proved for the thinker that Life in The ancient thinkers knew well that life and mind exist everywhere in essence and vary only by the degree and manner of their emergencies and functionings. All is in all and it is out of complete involution that the complete evolution progressively appears. It is only appropriate that for a descendant of the race of ancient thinkers who formulated that knowledge, should be reserved the privilege of initiating one of the most important among the many discoveries by which experimental science is confirming the wisdom of his forefathers. —Amrita Bazar Patrika, 4-12-1918. MARVELS [Sir J. C. Bose has recently invented the "Magnetic" crescograph. It is a supersensitive instrument and the very high magnification obtained by it surpasses all existing appliances. By this instrument, phenomena hitherto beyond the reach of investigation can now be studied with great precision. It shows ultra-microscopic changes inducted in a growing organism even by a puff of smoke or a gentle breeze, by a passing cloud or fleeting brightness. This super magnifier was exhibited for the first time by Sir J. C. Bose before an appreciative gathering 10-1-1919. A number of lady students, professors, lawyers, doctors and several eminent personages gathered to hear the great Indian scientist.] In his Discourse on the above subject on Friday, Sir J. C. Bose illustrated how the limitations imposed on the advance of science by the imperfection of our senses, may stimulate the invention of supersensitive apparatus which reveals to us the existence of phenomena hitherto unknown. Thus THE SLOWNESS OF GROWTH The movement of growth is two thousand times less rapid than the place of the proverbially slow-footed snail. Taking the average annual growth in height of a tree to be 5 ft., it will take a tree a thousand years to cover a distance of a mile. We take a piece of 2 ft. in the course of half a second, during the interval plant grows through a length of 1,100,000 part of an inch or half the length of a wave of light. For investigation on the effect of external conditions on growth we have to measure even a fraction of that excessively small length. The peasant has eagerly watched the growth of his plants on which his own life and the world's depend and, even realised something of its vicissitudes, so the vegetable physiologist has here one of the many problems of his science. The invention of growth-measuring instruments has thus been one THE RECORDING CRESCOGRAPH A new apparatus devised by the lecturer, the Recording Crescograph, is described in the Transactions of the Royal Society, and of the Bose Institute. By a compound system of levers the magnification is raised to 10,000 but this is not without great technical difficulties, which cost five years of efforts to overcome. Thus the levers require to be extremely light; this was secured by the use of an alloy of aluminium used in the construction of Zeppelins: this combines lightness with rigidity. Another difficulty almost unsuperable THE MAGNETIC CRESCOGRAPH Such unlooked for results called for yet higher LIFE With the experiments carried with the Magnetic Crescograph life becomes subservient to the will of the experimenter. The rate of growth is indicated by the speed with which a spot of indicating light moves across the scale. The actual rate of growth is fifty thousandth part of an inch per second; this under magnification is seen by the indicating spot of light to move at the rate of 36 inches per second: this is the normal rate. The plant is made to imbibe soda water and the growth becomes suddenly exalted some ten times; but a puff of tobacco smoke instantly retards the rate. To induce further retardation a depressing drug is next applied. The growth gradually comes to a stop and the quiescent of the spot of light shows life in a state of suspense. The plant is now hovering in an unstable poise between life and death, a slight tilt one way, and life gets interlocked in the rigidity of death. But the antidote is applied just in time, the torpor and suspense is over, and life renews her activity once more with the fullest vigour. It is true that man is but poorly provided for his voyage of discovery in seas unknown, he can hear little and see less. A single octave of light circumscribes his vision; even of the visible the size of the ripple of light imposes an impassable barrier. —Amrita Bazar Patrika, 13-1-1919. THE Sir J. C. Bose gave the following Discourse on the 'Night-Watch of Nymphaea,' at the Bose Institute, on the 24th January, 1919. [Sir J. C. Bose's discourse delivered at the Bose Institute, on the 24th January, 1919, dealt with the mysterious phenomenon of recurrent opening and closure of flowers. Some of them open in the morning and close in the evening; others do exactly the opposite opening at night and closing during the day. These various effects have been described as the 'waking' and 'sleep' movements of plants. The subject had attracted the attention of plant physiologists for more than half a century. After summarising the various results lost in his recent work says that no satisfactory explanation of the sleep movements of plants has yet been forthcoming and that the true theory can only be established after new and exhaustive research. This investigation has been in progress at Sir J. C. Bose's laboratory for the last five years; and special automatic recorders have been invented by means of which In course of his discourse the lecturer said "The poets have forestalled the men of science. Why does the water-lily 'Kumud or Nymphaea' keep awake all night long and close her petals during the day? Because the water-lily is the lover of the Moon and like the human soul expanding at the touch of the beloved, the lily opens out her heart at the touch of the moon beam, and keeps watch all night long; she shrinks affrighted by the rude touch of the Sun, and closes her petals during the day. The outer floral leaves of the lily are green, and in the day time the closed flowers are hardly distinguishable from the broad green leaves which float on the water. The scene is transformed in the evening as if by magic, and myriads of glistening white flowers cover the dark water. "The recurrent daily phenomenon has not only been observed by the poets, but an explanation offered for it. It is the moonlight then that causes the opening of the lily, and the sunlight the movement of closure. Had the poet taken out a lantern in a dark night; he would have noticed that the lily opened at night in total absence of the moon; but a poet is not expected to carry a lantern and peep out in the dark; that inordinate curiosity is characteristic THE 'SLEEP' AND 'WAKING' OF JHINGA FLOWER The waking and sleeping of the water lily is by no means an isolated instance. My attention was first drawn to another remarkable floral display by the folk song which begins with: "Our day of work is over Since then I witness every afternoon a glorious transformation in my experimental garden at Sijbaria on the Ganges. The gardener has planted a large field with Jhinga (Luffa acutangula). The COMPLEXITY OF THE PROBLEM The revolutions made by the plant-scripts led to the discovery of certain new and unsuspected reactions in the life of plants, notably the influence of variation of temperature in modifying the geotropic curvature. There are at least ten variables, which by their joint effects give rise to over a thousand variations in the resulting movement of plants. The effect of each of these different factors has been isolated and a new theory propounded which offers a complete explanation of the so called sleep movements. The life reactions of plants to the various stimuli of the environment was most strikingly illustrated by means of supersensitive Magnetic Crescograph. The plant was shown to perceive the shock of light, to which it made an answering signal, so also to the action of warmth and cold. And it was explained how the various combinations of effects induced by environmental The scientific explanations offered for the opening and closing of the water lily is that the flower is closed under sunlight and that the opening takes place under darkness. But Prof. Bose has been able to keep the lily awake even in day time by placing it in a cool place. Simultaneous record of the movement of the flower and the thermograph of daily variation of temperature proved conclusively that a rapid fall of temperature in the evening brought about the opening of the flower, at first slowly then rapidly, and by 10 p.m. the flower was fully expanded. About 6 a.m. in the morning there is a rise of temperature, and the reverse movement of closure sets in. The flower continues to close very rapidly the sleep movement of closure is complete by about 10 a.m. It will be seen how different flowers through their sensitiveness to heat and cold execute movements of "sleep" or of "waking." Some of them have the healthy habit of normal humanity to sleep at night and keep awake at day-time. Others turn night into day, and make up for their long night watch by sleeping it off at the day-time. —Amrita Bazar Patrika, 25-1-1919. WOUNDED Sir J. C. Bose delivered the following lecture on the 'Wounded Plants' at the Bose Institute, on the 7th February, 1919:— It is a little over four years now that the Embodiment of World Tragedy stalked over Western Europe. The fair field of France and the bright sky was under a pall of battle-smoke. Our sight could not penetrate through the dense gloom, and the mortal cry of the wounded and dying, drowned by hoarse roar of a thousand did not reach our ear. But from the time the Sikh and the Pathan, the Gurkha and the Bengali, the Mahratta and the Rajput flung themselves in front of battle from that day our perception has become intensified. The distant cry of those whose life-blood has crimsoned the white field of snow, has found reverberating echo in our heart. What is that subtle bond by which all distances are bridged over, and by which an individual life becomes merged in larger life? Sympathy is that bond by which we come to realise the unity of all life. Before us are spread multitudinous plants, silent and seemingly impassive. They too When a man receives a blow or shock of any kind, his answering cry makes us realise that he is hurt, but a mute makes no outcry. How do we realise his sufferings? We know it by his agonised look by the convulsive movement of his limbs, and through fellow-feeling realise his pain. When a frog is struck it does not cry, but its limbs show convulsive movement. But from this it does not follow that the frog is not hurt, for some would urge that there is a great gap between us and lower animals. One who feels for the humblest of His creatures alone knows whether the frog is hurt or not. Human sympathy always aspires: it is sometimes extended to equals, hardly ever to inferiors. And so it happens that many would doubt, whether the lowly and the depressed possess the fine sense of the exalted to feel the same joy and sorrow, and to resent social tyranny. When human attitude is so finely discriminative as regards different grades of his own species, it might be TEST OF LIVINGNESS Responsive movements being a test of life, we shall try to construct a scale with which the height of livingness may be measured. What is the difference between the living and the dead? The living answers to a shock from without; the most lively gives the most energetic, the torpid or dying the feeblest, and the dead no answer at all. Thus life may be tested by shocks from without, the size of the answer being the gauge of vitality. The answer of the strong will be violent and almost explosive in its intensity, while the weakling will barely protest. The responsive movements may be recorded by suitable apparatus. The successive responses to EFFECT OF WOUND There are three separate investigations that have been carried out on the effect of wound on plants: The first is the shock effect of wound on growth: this generally speaking retards or arrests growth. In the second series of investigations the change of spontaneous pulsation of the leaflet of the Telegraph plant was recorded. Death begins to spread from the cut end of the leaflet, and reaches the throbbing PARALYSIS OF SENSIBILITY Another series of investigations were carried out on the paralysing effect of severe wound. A leaf of Mimosa was cut off from the plant, and the subsequent histories of the wounded plant and the detached leaf are curiously different. The cutting of one of its leaves had caused a great shock to the parent plant, and an intense excitation spreads over to the distant organs. All the leaves remained depressed and irresponsive for several hours. From this state of paralysed sensibility, the plant gradually recovers and the leaves begin to show returning sensitiveness. The detached leaf, when placed in a nourishing solution soon recovers, and holds up its head with an attitude indicative of defiance, and the responses it gives are energetic. This lasts for twenty four hours, after which a curious change creeps in the vigour of its responses begins rapidly to wane. The leaf hitherto erect, falls over; death had at last asserted its mastery. —Amrita Bazar Patrika, 10-2-1919. |
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