6 CHEMICAL DISCOVERY AND INVENTION 



earth's surface facilitated to every traveller by modern means of 

 locomotion would be still unknown. These things are surely 

 of greater political, social, and moral importance to the human 

 race than even the modern valuable discoveries of new dyes, 

 new drugs, or new sources of light. The possession of such 

 knowledge distinguishes the civilised man from the barbarian 

 and the savage, and is the foundation of all the future hopes of 

 mankind so far as life on this earth is concerned. 1 



As already mentioned the number of chairs of Chemistry in 

 the universities is gradually increasing, and each one forms a 

 centre from which many chemical students pass into the outside 

 world and so help in the diffusion of knowledge which may, and 

 frequently does, become very valuable in a practical sense. The 

 university laboratories are also at the present day the source of 

 a good deal of positive knowledge derived directly from researches 

 carried on within their walls. It was not always so, and within 

 the last forty years many reproaches have been directed against 

 the British universities on account of the comparatively small 

 part formerly played by these schools in the production of new 

 chemical knowledge. The departure of so large a proportion of 

 the coal tar colour industry, which originated in this country, 

 to Germany, where the connection between the universities and 

 the chemical industries of that country has been more definite 

 and intimate, has been repeatedly attributed to the neglect of 

 organic chemistry by the universities and the want of mutual 

 respect between academic learning and industrial needs. This 

 want of co-ordination has doubtless something to do with the 

 neglect of science generally by the British Government. But 

 amid the many evils of the European war one good seems likely 

 to arise and that is the awakening of the authorities and the 

 public to the necessity of scientific principles in the work of the 

 Empire, and the utilisation of the knowledge and skill of trained 

 scientific men. Hitherto a large part of the intellect of the 

 country has been attracted into other callings and the career 

 open before a highly trained university or other student of 

 science has offered little temptation either in emoluments or 

 social position, 



As already explained there is now some considerable ground 

 for hope that this is going to be changed. 



1 See " Modern Scientific Research," a lecture by Sir W. A. Tilden. Nature, 

 Vol. LXXXV, Nov. 3rd, 1910. 



