Sept. 13, 1888] 



NA TURE 



47i 



chemical schools in the colleges and "universities of the United 

 Kingdom have shown by their own activity in research that they 

 ire qualified tc- give instruction of the highest kind, and are 

 eady to train young chembts in the art as well as in the theory 

 )f their subject. 

 It is therefore no longer true that a student desiring to become 



I scientific chemist must needs choose between a single institu- 

 ion in London and another in Manchester, or must seek the 

 nstruction which he cannot get at home in the laboratory of a 

 oreign university. As an element in a liberal education the 

 msition of chemistry is also considerably in advance of what it 

 Iras twenty years ago. 



It is nevertheless true that increased opportunities for study, 



considerable supply of capable teachers, and an enormous body 



if students, have not produced such an amount of original 



nvestigation, or even of accurate analytical work, as might 



My be expected. A full and complete explanation of 



II the influences which contribute to this result would be 

 ifficult ; but I think the apparent inactivity of the chemical 

 chools in this country is not generally the fault of the pro- 

 essors, but is chargeable in the main to the ignorance, and 

 artly to the indifference, of the public. There exists as yet no 

 itelligent feeling in favour of learning, nor indeed in favour of 

 ny sort of education, unless there is expectation of direct 

 rturns in the form of obvious practical results. It is this 



Inch animates the present popular movement in favour of 

 3-called " technical " education. That part of the attention 

 f the nation which can be spared from the contemplation of 

 rish affairs is concentrated upon the problem of how to make 

 very little boy learn the rudiments of chemistry, whether he 

 kes it or not, whilst there are comparatively few people in- 

 vested in the question of how to provide means and instruction 

 >r those who are capable and desirous of attaining to a mastery 

 f the subject. Moreover, the public have not yet grasped this 

 nth, that, so far as chemistry is concerned, it is of very little 

 msequence to the great metallurgical and chemical industries 

 nether the workpeople do or do not know a little chemistry, 

 lough it is important that they should be intelligent enough to 

 bey orders. What is wanted is that every manufacturer and 

 lanager should himself be an accomplished engineer and 

 lemist, trained to observe, to reason, and to solve problems 

 »r himself. 



In the case of chemistry this absence of sentiment in favour of 

 mcentration and thoroughness, and the demand for super- 

 ciality, if only it can be had wholesale, tells in a variety of 

 ays. The governing bodies who control the various colleges 

 id universities, and the public generally, cannot understand 

 tat good and useful work is being done unless it can be shown 

 i the form of passes at examinations. Though T most firmly 

 dieve in the necessity for examinations, serious mischief begins 

 hen they are regarded as the end itself, and not as mere 

 cidents in the student's career towards the end, which should 

 ; knowledge. 



In respect to chemistry this is the disadvantage which attends 

 ie operation of such a system as that of the Science and Art 

 epartment, or of any system under which certificates in con- 

 :ction with individual subjects are granted on easy terms. 

 special objection I also feel to such expressions as " advanced," 

 ;ed in reference to a particular stage, so commonly misunder- 

 ood as they are by the student and his friends, and operating 

 ;ainst his further progress. 



Reflect also upon the fact that there are only two or three 

 illeges in this country which can boast of more than one 

 of chemistry. In nearly all cases one man is called 

 x>n to discharge the duty of teaching classes both elementary 

 id advanced, in pure and applied chemistry, inorganic and 

 ganic, theoretical ami practical. This is a kind of thing 

 hich kills specialism, and without specialists we can have 

 )t only no advance, but no efficient teaching of more than 

 diments. 



That teachers ought to engage in research at all is by no 

 cans clear to the public and to those representatives of the 

 iblic who are charged with the administration of these new 

 Stitutions. This was illustrated very painfully a few years 

 ;o by the conditions under which professors were engaged at a 

 rtain college founded, according to the declaration of its 

 ■omoters, "by the people for the people," wherein it was 

 mounced in round terms that original research was not 

 anted, as the college was " for the good of the many and not 

 r the advantage of the few." This example of ignorance is 



only remarkable by reason of its audacity. Probably many 

 people hold a similar view, though few are bold enough to 

 declare it. 



Without going far into the discussion of the general question, 

 which is a large one, I may perhaps be allowed to offer a few 

 remarks for the consideration of any of my audience who may 

 perchance incline towards that opinion. 



It is only when a teacher occupies himself with research that 

 the most complete guarantee is given that he is interested in his 

 subject and that he is a learner. A popular mistake consists in 

 regarding a professor as a living embodiment of science — 

 complete, infallible, mysterious ; whereas in truth he is, or 

 ought to be, only a senior student who devotes the greater part 

 of his time to extending and consolidating his own knowledge 

 for the benefit of those who come to learn of him, not only what 

 lies within the boundaries of the known, but how to penetrate 

 into the far greater region of the unknown. Moreover, the 

 man who has no intellectual independence, and simply accepts 

 other people's views without challenge, is pretty certain to make 

 the stock of knowledge with which he sets out in life do service 

 to the end. That one may be fitted to form a sound judgment 

 concerning new theories he must be familiar with the methods 

 by which progress is accomplished. The work of investigation 

 then reacts beneficially upon the work of teaching ; that is why 

 teachers should be encouraged, nay even required, to investigate, 

 and not because their discoveries may haply prove to be 

 practically useful. 



Of course it may be said that there have been distinguished 

 investigators who could not teach, but the converse is not true ; 

 every teacher who has attained to eminence as a teacher, who 

 has drawn men after him, who has founded a school of thought, 

 and has left his mark upon his generation, has been an industrious 

 worker in research of some kind. All teachers cannot be ex- 

 pected to reach the same high standard, but this is the ideal 

 after which all must strive, or fail utterly. 



The fact that there is as yet little demand among school- 

 masters for high attainments in chemistry is another reason why 

 so little is accomplished in the chemical schools. Here, again, 

 the public is really to blame. It is disgraceful that in all classes 

 of schools, even where chemistry is supposed to be taught, there 

 are but few places where serious employment is found for the 

 well-trained chemist. I could point to several schools which 

 claim the position of first-rate, where chemistry is taught by 

 masters who have never studied the subject at all, but who are, 

 I suppose, allowed the traditional " ten minutes' start" with the 

 book. Would the head masters of such places dare to employ a 

 person to teach mathematics who did not know the four first 

 rules of arithmetic, or another to teach Latin who had not even 

 got through the accidence? I fancy not. This, however, is 

 without exaggeration the exact parallel of the position in which 

 chemistry is placed in the majority of schools. I have heard the 

 excuse that there is a lack of competent teachers. Of course 

 the demand and the supply will react upon each other. When 

 you offer a reasonable stipend, reasonable accommodation for 

 teaching effectively, reasonaob leisure for the master's own 

 studies, and a position on the staff not inferior to that of the 

 classical and mathematical masters, I believe that then, but not 

 till then, there will be as many good school teachers of chemistry 

 as there are of other subjects. 



I could point to other prominent schools where the chemistry 

 and other branches of science are taught by a peripatetic South 

 Kensington teacher, who arrives weekly with his box of tricks. 

 Not long ago I was invited to distribute the prizes given in 

 connection with the evening classes in a town not far from Birm- 

 ingham, and I took the opportunity of advising the teachers 

 present on the occasion to read. One of them said to me after- 

 wards, " When do you suppose I can read ? I am engaged in 

 going round to my schools from nine in the morning till ten at 

 night." People of this kind do the greater part of the so-called 

 science teaching sustained by the Science and Art Department, 

 and the worthy town councillors and committees who employ 

 them think that these are the people who are going to help the 

 British manufacturer in his struggle against foreign competition 

 under the guidance of the highly-trained chemists from the 

 German universities. This would be ludicrous if it were not so 

 very serious. 



There is an opportunity at the present time of correcting some 

 of these mistakes, but no advantage is being taken of it. I refer 

 now to the "technical schools" which arc springing up every- 

 where. There may be a few competent teachers of chemistry 



