222 



NATURE 



[December 15, 1910 



this period of somnolescence at length became so striking, 

 not to say alarming, that in May of 1870 a Royal Com- 

 mission was appointed in England to make inquiry into 

 the whole matter. It may safely be said that no stronger 

 commission ever sat on a cognate subject, and that its 

 long series of reports are models of clear statement and 

 wise counsel which even to-day it would be difficult to 

 improve upon. 



" We have no doubt," one weighty report says, " that 

 for a professor the duty of teaching is indispensable, but 

 we agree that original research is a no less important part 

 of his functions. The object of a university is to promote 

 and to maintain learning and science, and scientific teach- 

 ing of the highest kind can only be successfully carried on 

 by persons who are themselves engaged in original re- 

 search. If once a teacher ceases to be a learner it is 

 difficult for him to maintain any freshness in the subject 

 which he has to teach ; and nothing is so likely to awaken 

 the love of scientific inquiry in the mind of the student 

 as the example of a teacher who shows his value for 

 knowledge by making the advancement of it the principal 

 business of his life." How far the great English universi- 

 ties then fell short of the ideal here indicated may be 

 gathered from the writings of the time. On the mon- 

 strously developed examination system much of the blame 

 had, of course, to be thrown. When it was asked what 

 the universities did with their endowments and equipment, 

 a voice from Cambridge said " they perform the func- 

 tions, for too many of their students, of first-grade schools 

 merely, and that in a manner about which opinions are 

 divided ; and superadded to these is an enormous examin- 

 ing engine, on the most approved Chinese model, always 

 at work." Another writer advised that in order to be 

 honest the university ought to put up a large brass plate 

 with the inscription " Examinations held here "; and there 

 were endless other well-deserved sarcasms from those who 

 knew the facts best. 



Of the agitation, the inquiry, and the plain speaking 

 much good came, and the English universities of to-day 

 show in consequence a very different character and spirit. 

 The difference may not be all that earnest reformers still 

 desire, but who in South Africa can with any conscience 

 throw a stone at the offenders? Even so late as 1901, 

 when numerous reforms had been effected in England, a 

 great educationist and chemist, in directing attention to 

 the function performed by universities on the continent of 

 Europe, wound up with the passionate cry : — " Their 

 universities have always been schools of research, of 

 inquiry; unless, and until, ours become such, and our 

 youth can be trained to advance, there can be no hope 

 for us. God help us to make the change before it is too 

 late ! " If this be the prayer considered suitable for 

 England when the present century began, what petition 

 will suffice to-day for South Africa, which, as regards uni- 

 versity research, stands well in the rear of the England of 

 forty years ago? Are we to be encouraged to hope that 

 one result of this year of union will be a serious effort 

 to uproot our low ideals of university work, and to sow- 

 in their place the seeds of true learning and research? 

 Fortunately, in one or two of the " colleges " a few 

 individual teachers have set an excellent example, striving 

 so far as their scant leisure permitted to advance the 

 boundaries of their subject. All honour to them, and mav 

 more and more of their students imbibe their spirit and 

 unite to press on the question of university reform and 

 the removal of a deeply engrained stigma. 



Coordinate in a sense with universities are public 

 museums and libraries, the link of connection being that, 

 besides intended for the promotion of research, thev have 

 other purposes to serve. All of them profess to aim at 

 the instruction of the people ; but in the case of museums 

 and libraries this instruction is avowed to be mainly of a 

 popular character, and in the case of museums it often 

 differs very little from that more or less elevated amuse- 

 ment called sight-seeing. 



As regards " museums," especially local museums, we 

 have to note that, in the first place, very seldom have 

 their founders had the purposes of real research in their 

 minds. _ Usually, indeed, the original object has been the 

 formation of a collection of animals, plants, and mere 

 curiosities, with the result that if anything profited thereby 

 it was natural history and archaeology alone. Further, a 

 NO. 2146, VOL. 85] 



fresh museum has almost uniformly been started witho\ii 

 any intention of supplementing or cooperating with th»> 

 already in existence; much loss in effectiveness has thi. 

 been sustained. How best to remedy these initial defects 

 has been a long-standing problem with scientific men, and 

 it is now fairly well agreed (i) that the museums of a 

 country should for purposes of coordination and coopera- '. 

 tion be under some common control ; (2) that while in local 

 museums appropriate specialisation should be encouraged, 

 no science should be wholly neglected ; (3) that both of 

 the main purposes, instruction and research, should recei\ 

 adequate attention in all museums ; (4) that in the d 

 of the central museum the purpose of research should b" 

 paramount, all the chief officers being chosen because of 

 their ability to advance the knowledge of their own sub- j 

 jects. We in Cape Town have in the South African > 

 Museum, with its annals, a scientific agency of great ' 

 national value and of immense promise for the futui' 

 Sad it is to think that, while its collections have bi . 

 rapidly growing in magnitude and importance, i'; 

 accommodation for exhibiting them remains as it \\ . 

 fifteen years ago. 



As regards libraries, the state of matters is not grea; 

 dissimilar. There are more of them it is true; but if ;! 

 list be arranged in order of merit we have not got far 

 down it when we find that we have parted company with ■ 

 scientific research. Indeed, the libraries that cater for 

 anyone else than the so-called " general reader " are 

 exceedingly few in number ; cooperation is thus at least as 

 necessary as in the case of museums. This is especially \ 

 true in regard to scientific journals and the publications J 

 of scientific societies. The number of these is nowadays j 

 so great that a long purse is necessary for the mainten- ; 

 ance of a complete collection ; but by neglecting coopera- ■ 

 tion we make matters worse than they need be. Here ' 

 in Cape Town, for example, we have four or five libraries 

 that purchase scientific serials, and, though the libraries 

 are within short distance of one another, duplicate and 

 triplicate copies of some journals are to be found on their 

 tables, while other journals equally impwrtant are neglected 

 by them all. The time surely cannot be far distant when 

 this will be rectified, when the importance of such refer- 

 ence libraries will be better appreciated by the State, and 

 when the South African Public Library, having its special 

 annual grant for reference books restored to it, will take 

 the lead in a scheme of cooperation calculated to meet the 

 wants of all engaged in scientific or literary research. 



When thus dealing with the functions of universities, 

 museums, and libraries, I have been in a manner viewing 

 the State as an educationist. I now wish, in the same 

 way, to invite your attention to the State as a landlord. 

 With an extensive and varied property calling for develop- 

 ment, one of the first and most urgent duties is to have it 

 surveyed and inventoried under every needful heading. 

 In the first place it must be accurately mapped ; in the 

 second place its surface constituents and rock formations 

 must be ascertained and registered; in the third place the 

 animal life of every district must be put on record ; in the 

 fourth place the same must be done with its plant life ; 

 and, lastly, its water supply, rainfall, and other climatic 

 factors must be observed and tabulated. There thus arise 

 as necessary scientific departments of the State's work — 

 the topographical, geological, zoological, botanical, and 

 meteorological. The fact that some of these subjects are 

 incidentally dealt with by college lecturers and private 

 students is no satisfactory reason for negligence on the 

 part of the State. All such outside aid, it must be re- 

 membered, is subject to the uncertainties of personal 

 liking, fashion, and caprice, and, consequently, is in its 

 nature fitful and untrustworthy in an emergency. Besides, 

 much of the work wanted to be done requires continuous 

 attention over long periods, so that efficiency can only be 

 secured by the existence of a permanent staff. 



Attention has next to be directed to the State's dutv in 

 a third capacity, namely, as general health guardian. 

 Fortunately this, though involving consideration of a 

 number of sciences (entomology, bacteriology, mycology, 

 &c.), need not be enlarged upon, it being self-evident that 

 the bodily and mental fitness of the people is all-important 

 in the life struggle of nations, and that it is almost equally 

 momentous that animals and plants useful to man should 

 be protected from the ravages of disease. Further, ther^ 



