November 6, 1919] 



NATURE 



255 



many years afterwards serious students of 

 chemistry and some other branches of science 

 resorted to the German universities for the 

 instruction which they could not obtain in their 

 own country in the higher parts of their subjects 

 and in research, usually returning with the Ph.D. 

 degree. In London the only chemical laboratories 

 for the reception of students were at the Pharma- 

 ceutical Society (opened in 1844), at the Royal 

 College of Chemistry (opened in 1845), at 

 University College, at King's College, and at the 

 Royal School of Mines in Jermyn Street. But a 

 great step forward was taken when in i860 the 

 University of London founded for the first time in 

 England a Faculty of Science and began to hold 

 examinations for the degrees of Bachelor and 

 Doctor in that faculty. The effect was immediate 

 and extensive. The programme put forth 

 appeared formidable, but it provided at once a 

 stimulus and a guide to all the numerous casual 

 students scattered throughout the kingdom, some 

 attending classes of the Science and Art Depart- 

 ment or mechanics' institutes, some engaged 

 privately in evening study after business. As a 

 simple matter of autobiography, my case was one 

 of the latter kind. 1 was then a young 

 demonstrator in the laboratory of the Pharma- 

 ceutical Society, but I was fairly well up in the 

 physics and chemistry of that day. I also held a 

 Science and Art certificate as a teacher of botany. 

 The matriculation was the chief obstacle, as I had 

 practically learned no Greek at school. This, 

 however, diligence enabled me to surmount, and 

 by 1868 I got my B.Sc. with First Class Honours 

 in chemistry. 



My case must have been very similar to that of 

 dozens of young men at that time to whom came 

 the opportunity of getting a stamp or brand with- 

 out the necessity of throwing up the occupation by 

 which they were getting a living. Bjit it did 

 more than that, for the syllabus of subjects com- 

 prised the whole circle of the sciences, including, 

 besides the various departments of natural and 

 experimental science, logic and moral philosophy, 

 so that candidates were required to show at least 

 a rudimentary knowledge of the subject-matter of 

 various branches of human knowledge of which 

 they would otherwise have remained totally 

 ignorant. My own experience leads me to think 

 ^hat this "little knowledge," which, according to 

 pope's mistaken aphorism, is "a dangerous thing," 

 ts of great value even to the specialist. A Doctor 



of Science ought, and is supposed, to be an 

 expert in some direction or other, but not long ago 

 I met a London D.Sc. wlio had never heard of 

 Bishop Berkeley. This curious fact revealed a 

 state of ignorance of all philosophy and much 

 more which he would have escaped had the old 

 regulations been retained. This is, of course, now 

 past praying for, and research, which implies 

 speciaHsm, is the order of the day. It is only con- 

 solatory to reflect that anything which induces 

 concentrated thought has an educative effect on 

 the young mind. 



One of the greatest movements for the promo- 

 tion of education in general, and conspicuously in 

 the encouragement given to scientific teaching 

 and research, was the foundation of the university- 

 colleges and new universities distributed over the 

 country. In Manchester the college which became 

 the nucleus of the present Victoria University had 

 been founded by John Owens in 185 1, while in 

 London University College (the original University 

 of London), King's College, and Bedford College 

 were already in existence. But in 1871 the first 



i step was taken towards the extension of similar 

 benefits to other parts of the country. In the first 

 instance these institutions subsisted on endow- 

 ments provided by private benefactors, supple- 

 mented by aid from local subscribers or such 

 bodies as the Guilds of London. But in a very 

 few years these were found to be insufficient, and 

 serious financial embarrassment had to be faced. 

 After repeated applications to the Government for 

 assistance, and a long struggle, the battle was 



i won, and in 1889 State aid was granted in the 

 form of the very modest amount of 15,000/. per 

 annum, to be divided among the English colleges. 

 Sir William Ramsay was one of the most active 

 promoters of the movement, and the full story is 

 recorded in his " Life " (Macmillan). 



As to the future of scientific discovery, who can 

 tell? The wonders which have been successively 

 revealed during the last fifty years should teach 

 us not to be surprised at anything. Co-operation 

 among workers and organisation may do some- 

 thing in the way of gathering up knowledge of 

 Nature, but whatever is done by Governments, 

 institutions, or individuals, one consideration 

 shoiild ever be kept in view, and that is that 

 genius will find its own way, and it would be 

 worse than useless to prescribe subjects, or 

 methods, or opportunities to the man who has 

 been gifted by the gods. 



ASPECTS OF SCIENCE AT UNIVERSITIES. 



Bv Dr. Alex Hill. 



P\OUBTLESS the provision made by the 

 ^-^ universities of the United Kingdom for the 

 teaching of science and for research is still in- 

 adequate. It always will be. The occupation of 

 the field and its extension is a single process, not 

 a process and its result; since the farther man 

 explores, the wider is his vision of the unexplored. 

 NO. 2610, VOL. 104] 



The improvement which has marked the past fifty 

 years is roughly proportionate to the growth of 

 knowledge and to the investigator's success in 

 utilising it for the meeting of human needs. 



Oxford, Cambridge, the four Scottish universi- 

 ties, Trinity College, Dublin, Durham (with no 

 Newcastle College of Science), and London were 



