INDIAN NATIONAL LIFE™ gt 
among the first to admire the men who have pursued truth 
as the hermit pursues piety, I say it should not be forgotten 
that science applied to the practical problems that call for 
solution yields an abundant fruit of pure truth. And I go 
further than that and I say, speaking of a country like this, 
that the first claim on high science is for research directed 
to real and urgent national problems. When I landed in 
this country and took the long journey from Bombay to Lahore, 
two things were constantly coming to my mind—I am now 
speaking as a chemist—agriculture and public health. Are 
not those the two great scientific interests of this country? 
When you think of the death-rate and the scourges to which 
the land is subjected, when you think that they are largely 
preventable, you will surely admit that the first claim upon 
science is that it should be directed to the amelioration of 
such things as these. When you realize that in India nine 
out of ten are engaged in agriculture,.when you see how 
much of the agriculture of this country is primitive, then 
surely also one of the first claims made upon science by this 
country will be the improvement of agriculture. Research 
will not necessarily create industry. That is a great mistake. 
It will not do so. It will add to industries already existing. 
It will give them new life. It will give them expansion and 
development, but research pure and simple will not immedi- 
ately create industries, will not call into life occupations that 
are not already being pursued in some primitive way. 
The only point on which I may touch very briefly, before 
I conclude, is this I have had to ask myself since I have 
been in India what is the value of science teaching that is 
going on. There is a very great deal of it. Is it. the best 
that could be done? Is it the right thing? Is there some- 
thing else worth doing? Is there any ‘other direction to 
which the effort might be turned? I do not want to say 
too much. I hope when I get home to prepare some state- 
