PRIvSIDKN riAL ADDRKSS SECTION 1!. ^T, 



of Student we would recommend the Honours Degree courses in 

 pure science, rather than the agricultural degree course, as the 

 normal avenue of approach to specialisation, with the addition 

 of a post-graduate course in agricultural science. The agricul- 

 tural degree course may be made to serve as preliminary training 

 for specialisation, though not as satisfactorily, if supplemented 

 for this purpose by a full post-graduate course of Honours' 

 standard in pure science. One year's practical training on a 

 farm is a most desirable part of the education of such a 

 specialist." 



It may be added that for general agriculturalists, such as 

 county advisers, non-specialised teachers, and those following 

 general agriculture as a profession, the reverse mode of educa- 

 tion is regarded as satisfactory ; a general diploma or degreie 

 course, embodying the general applications of the sciences. 



This emphasis on " pure science first." for the research 

 worker, is a hopeful sign for education ; is presumably made 

 with the idea of inculcating the method and principles of science 

 before allowing the student mind to be fuddled in the cloud of 

 empiricism, which of dire necessity is associated with practice ; 

 the specific object in view being to ensure a " scientific " rather 

 than a " professional " cast of thought. Each man to his trade. 

 In the past, the progress of research has suffered much from 

 the methods of the Jacks of all Sciences, whose work too often 

 was not sufficiently fundamental to stand the test of time. 



Agricultural chemistry is itself rapidly undergoing fission 

 into specialised sections connected dominantly with some one or 

 other branch of agriculture. 



In regard to the science of Physiology the points of con- 

 tact with chemistry, more particularly with physical chemistry, 

 are so numerous that one can hardly venture to begin upon them. 

 All the methods for the study of vital processes are either phy- 

 sical or chemical at bottom, and indeed Huxley defined the posi- 

 tion of Physiological Science as " midway between the 

 physico-chemical and the social sciences." Physiologv itself 

 divides naturally into two sections, " general " and " compara- 

 tive." The latter is largely a descriptive science, dealing with 

 the mechanism of living structures, and merges into morphology 

 and anatomy. General Physiology is much more fundamental, 

 and deals with the way the mechanism works ; deals more with 

 the underlying interpretation of physiological phenomena, than 

 \\ ith the simple description of functions. It is therefore the 

 side upon which Chemistry most naturally joins forces. The 

 borderline science of " Physiological Chemistry " has been singu- 

 larly fruitful in recent years, and though its independent status 

 is but recently acquired it now carries its own de_partment, and 

 usually its own professorship, in progressive universities. The 

 somewhat wider term " Biochemistry " is usually used as synony- 

 mous with " Physiological Chemistry," but as the term signifies the 

 chemistry of life" its scope is so wide that still further fissiqn j Q i">s, 



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