Should discoverers be also teachers ? 203 



ing simply distributes it. The labours of a scientific 

 teacher or lecturer consist esssentially of a continued 

 series of repetitions of other men's discoveries. For 

 each single man who can discover, there exist many 

 who can teach. With teaching in addition to research, 

 all the usual educational machinery, lecture theatres 

 and apparatus, diagrams, audiences, pupils, regis- 

 tration of students, receipt of fees, examinations, 

 marking of papers, valuing of answers, attending 

 annual meetings, etc., would be brought into 

 requisition, and the result would probably be, as it is 

 at present, the duties of teaching would, in nearly all 

 cases, swallow up the time, and prevent the freedom 

 from interruption necessary for successful research 

 Under present circumstances, it is the testimony of 

 nearly every teacher and lecturer in science, that he 

 " has no time for research." If teaching is also carried 

 on, the Research laboratories will compete with edu- 

 cational institutions, established and carried on by 

 private enterprize, and place them at a disadvantage, 

 and thus discourage voluntary effort in the diffusion 

 of science ; but by limiting the functions of the pro- 

 fessors entirely to pure research, there will be no com- 

 petition with any private interests, because no persons 

 gain a livelihood entirely by means of such occupation. 

 That the practice of teaching is however of very 

 great use in preparing the mind of a scientific man for 

 research is quite certain, because it compels him to- 

 study all parts of his subject, and whilst doing so, 

 many questions for investigation occur to his mind. 



