THE PLACE OF RESEARCH IN EDUCATION. 347 



Recently I met a friend who has not only distinguished 

 himself by his intelligent criticism of a particular industry, 

 but has become so interested in it that, having: means 

 at his disposal, he has himself become a manufacturer, 

 affording a rare illustration of enterprise. I said : "I 

 trust you are going to work on German lines and en- 

 gage a good chemist to systematically study your 

 material, and so ascertain how its properties vary with 

 its composition ; for I have reason to think from direct ex- 

 perience that much is to be learnt in this way which will 

 make it possible to put the manufacture on a scientific basis". 

 His ready answer was : " Oh, I've got to make the business 

 a commercial success ! " Of course I understood what he 

 meant whilst I felt that he could not fathom my meaning — he 

 was too much an Englishman to do that. No doubt he will 

 place his business in the sole charge of a practical man, and 

 as long as it suffices to look only at the surface he will suc- 

 ceed ; but then, not improbably, the Japanese will come in 

 and beat him, for they have shown the world that they can 

 organise as well as appreciate scientific method. 



Or to give another example showing what may be ac- 

 complished under English conditions by adopting foreign 

 methods, let me refer to work done by Mr. Mond, so well 

 known in this country on account of the skill he has shown 

 in developing Solvay's ammonia-soda process. Mr. Mond 

 has long been engaged in seeking for a solution of the 

 problem — how to burn fuel electrically, in such a manner, 

 that is to f say, as to directly produce electricity instead of 

 heat. Having improved the gas battery devised in 1842 

 by the present Sir William Grove, in which hydrogen is 

 burnt electrically, he was anxious to obtain a method of 

 preparing hydrogen readily in large quantities. No good 

 method is known, but a mixture of hydrogen and carbonic 

 oxide is easily made, and even Mond found that on passing 

 this mixture over heated nickel the carbonic oxide was 

 converted partly into carbon and partly into carbondioxide, 

 and as the latter was easily removable he thus succeeded in 

 a measure in effecting his object. In studying the very 

 remarkable action which nickel had on carbonic oxide, it so 



