Such a director would need at least two efficient permanent technical assistants, as for instance, one to deal with the problems of Organic Chemistry, and another competent to deal with the problems of Physical Chemistry. Other assistants might be necessary, but it would probably be desirable that the Institute should have the power of subsidising, for a longer or shorter period, men who would undertake special investigations in coördination with the general work, and who would thus be, as it were, temporary assistants. This would be quite apart from the general hospitality of the Laboratory offered by the Institute to other investigators.
Estimates for the Proposed Laboratory
| INITIAL OUTLAY | ||
|---|---|---|
| Director | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Permanent and Temporary Assistants | 7,500 | to 10,000 |
| Other General Maintenance | 5,000 | to 7,500 |
| $17,500 | $22,500 | |
With regard to the second item, the permanent assistants would be required at the outset, but the temporary assistants would be taken on as opportunity offered. Less than even the lower estimate might suffice at first.
Regarding the third item, also, the maximum might not be required in the beginning.
Suggestions as to Desirability of Location
The place fitted for the establishment of an International Institute should be one which can be reached with comparative facility by investigators of the different nationalities. It must be one free from the objections due to national susceptibilities. It should also be, if possible, a place agreeable to live in; a place where work can be carried on through the year; and a place where expenses, both the personal expenses of the investigators, and the general expenses of the Institute, are not excessive. Venice has been suggested as a place fulfilling the above requirements. It can be reached readily from all parts of Europe, and is as accessible to Americans as any other European city. Living is very cheap, and, indeed, all expenses are very moderate.
On sea level itself, Venice is within near distance of very high altitude, and hence offers facilities for the study of the effects of climatic influence on nutrition. It is also sufficiently near the Regina Margherita Laboratory, on Monte Rosa, to enable the observations made at the two places to be coördinated. Venice is, moreover, a cosmopolitan centre; and persons of many different nations and races might readily be obtained as subjects for observation and experiment.
On the other hand, it may be regarded as essential to the complete success of the proposed Institute that both the director and those engaged in investigation should have ample opportunities of ready and frequent intercourse with eminent men engaged in investigation in Physics, Chemistry, and the allied sciences. The help which is thus gained by intercourse with men at the very head of various scientific inquiry cannot be supplied in any other way. There is also an urgent reason for ready access to a most thoroughly equipped scientific library. It is also essential that the Institute should have facility of obtaining, or of getting constructed, with the least possible delay such apparatus as it might need. These essentials cannot be supplied otherwhere than in great centres of scientific activity. A small university cannot supply them. If they are insisted on, the Institute must be located in a place which has metropolitan distinction and holds not only a large but an active university. The choice of a situation, from this point of view, in Europe, is thus almost limited to such places as Paris, Berlin, Vienna, or London. Of these London probably best recommends itself for international purposes.
But, on the other hand, London is distinctly an expensive place to live in. Indeed, all expenses there are great, and the same may be said of any great metropolitan centre. Moreover, London cannot be reached from the countries of Europe without sea transit.