4 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



use of the touchstone of gold that it pays. Again we must watch 

 that the order of endeavor is not reversed; for if we Hberally endow 

 applied science only, to the neglect of pure science, both in the end will 

 not prosper but must languish in spite of all. The encouragement and 

 support of pure science would be the very best kind of a national 

 investment; but no government can be expected to follow such a 

 policy with any ardor without the constant backing of the whole 

 scientific comm.unity. 



I do not wish here to lay too much stress on the difference 

 between so-called pure and applied science ; they are but two develop- 

 mental lines of a common purpose. Though their methods are the 

 same, their spirit and springs of action are distinct. We must cultivate 

 both, for only then are both most obviously essential. It is the 

 interaction of the ideal and the practical or utilitarian that spells 

 progress; each urges the other on to greater success and achievement. 

 Whether as purely academic men of science or as constructive 

 engineers, we must preach from two texts; 1st, cherish research for 

 its own sake in every laboratory that exists, whether in university or 

 industrial establishment; 2nd, instal a works and scientific laboratory 

 in connection with every industrial establishment — to perfect its prod- 

 ucts, to eliminate its waste, to utilize its by-products, to develop new 

 products, to devise new processes, to find new uses for its products, in 

 other words to apply science to the industry. New science will bring 

 new applications; new difficulties will evoke new science. 



As members of this Royal Society we are particularly interested in 

 the development of research in Canada, both research in pure science 

 and industrial research. The meagre facilities we possess for con- 

 ducting research, both in man-power and in laboratories, is a disgrace 

 to a country of the population and wealth of Canada. Compared with 

 countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium and 

 Portugal, which are of the same order of magnitude of population, 

 and which we do not like to place above ourselves in intelligence, 

 education and progressiveness, we find that Canada in research is a 

 very poor second. We have not a single university properly developed 

 for general research, and only a very few developed even in some 

 departments. We can give all sorts of excuses for this state of affairs, 

 but they are excuses, and the fact is not to our credit, as a people 

 aspiring to full nationhood, that we must go abroad beyond our own 

 borders to be educated. Any one of the countries I have named 

 could have had about as good an excuse, if all their advanced students 

 went to Germany. Within the last few years a few works laboratories 

 have been established in connection with some of our largest manu- 

 facturing concerns, but very little research is, as yet, being carried on 



