1 86 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



nica/' I find but two references in which the word " research " appears 

 — one to the exploring vessel, the Research, and the other to " re- 

 search degrees/' Turning to the page on which the latter occurs, we 

 find this interesting statement referring to Oxford University : 



New degrees for the encouragement of research, the B.Lit. and B.Sc. 

 (founded in 1895, and completed in 1900 by the institution of research doctor- 

 ates), have attracted graduates from the universities of other countries. In 

 1899 a geographical department was opened, which is jointly supported by the 

 University and by the Royal Geographical Society. 



Now comes the interesting statement which I beg to emphasize : 



Of more hearing on practical life are the Day Training College Delegacy} 

 {1892) and the diploma in education (1896). Under the former elementary 

 school teachers are enabled to take their training course at Oxford, and do so in 

 growing numbers, etc. 



We thus see what the writer of this article thinks of the relative 

 value in practical life, of research foundations and normal school foun- 

 dations! Yet we all know that this view is not typical of that held 

 in a country having such productive research organizations as the Eoyal 

 Society or the Royal Institution. Sir Norman Lockyer, in his luminous 

 inaugural address before the British Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, in 1903, on the "Influence of Brain-power on History," says: 

 " A country's research is as important in the long run as its battleships." 

 Why, then, does not the standard encyclopedia of that country make 

 space for a representative article on " research" ? 



Under " investigation " there also appears absolutely nothing. 

 However, we have the ship, " Investigator," Investigator Shoal, In- 

 vestigator Group, etc., but not a word about the general methods em- 

 ployed by " scientific investigators." And so it is with the word " dis- 

 covery " — there is no reference whatsoever to an article on the general 

 principles leading up to discoveries. Likewise with the word " obser- 

 vation " ; though there are many references to observations of various 

 kinds, there is no one article for setting forth the general principles of 

 " observations " or the part they play in the discovery of fundamental 

 facts. The same experience is had with regard to the word " experi- 

 ment." 



Now let us turn to an encyclopedia I invariably read with pleasure 

 and profit; it frequently has supplied me with references to earlier 

 work not to be obtained elsewhere. We shall find it instructive to 

 us to-night, though the articles to which I beg to invite your kind 

 attention were written three fourths of a century ago. I refer to the 

 classic Gehler's " Physikalisches Worterbuch " — the revised edition by 

 the noted investigators Brandes, Gmelin, Horner, Littrow, Muncke 

 and Pfaff, in 20 volumes and published in Leipzig, 1825-1845. A 

 veritable fund of information is found under the headings " Beobach- 



