226 UNIVERSITIES: ACTUAL AND IDEAL vm 



In the meanwhile, there is one step in the direc- 

 tion of the endowment of research which is free 

 from such objections. It is possible to place the 

 scientific enquirer in a position in which he shall 

 have ample leisure and opportunity for original 

 work, and yet shall give a fair and tangible equiva- 

 lent for those privileges. The establishment of a 

 Faculty of Science in every University, implies that 

 of a corresponding number of Professorial chairs, 

 the incumbents of which need not be so burdened 

 with teaching as to deprive them of ample leisure 

 for original work. I do not think that it is any 

 impediment to an original investigator to have to 

 devote a moderate portion of his time to lecturing, 

 or superintending practical instruction. On the 

 contrary, I think it may be, and often is, a benefit 

 to be obliged to take a comprehensive survey of 

 your subject; or to bring your results to a point, 

 and give them, as it were, a tangible objective 

 existence. The besetting sins of the investigator 

 are two : the one is the desire to put aside a sub- 

 ject, the general bearings of which he has mastered 

 himself, and pass on to something which has the 

 attraction of novelty ; and the other, the desire for 

 too much perfection, which leads him to 



' ' Add and alter many times, 

 Till all be ripe and rotten ; " 



to spend the energies which should be reserved for 

 action in whitening the decks and polishing the 

 guns. 



