10 



Objection may be raised that in concentrating- on scientific research 

 a tribute is being paid to. the success of German methods, for it is 

 doubtful if any country has benefited so much and in so many direc- 

 tions from the application of research methods as modern Germany 

 has done. Let me remind you of that old Latin proverb which 

 teaches us the wisdom of learning from the enemy. True wisdom 

 and foresight demand that not only shall we learn from our enemies, 

 but that by proper attention to organisation and detail we shall 

 surpass our opponents in the realisation of the national value of 

 science. In speaking of scientific research to an audience consisting 

 largely of laymen, I know that many among you will scarcely 

 understand what is meant by this expression ; let me therefore draw 

 your attention to a few concrete cases so that you may clearly 

 appreciate the utility and value of scientific research. 



And here I pray you not to confound utility with money-making 

 or money-producing. By utility I understand anything which makes 

 for good which makes life sweeter which develops an appreciation 

 of art, music, or literature, or which tends towards the raising of 

 public ideals. The value of all education must eventually be judged 

 ia terms of utility. Nearly all of you are interested in agriculture. 

 1 therefore mention first of all the work of Liebig, who devoted his 

 great chemical knowledge to researches on the ashes of plants and to 

 the chemistry of animal and plant nutrition, and thus laid the very 

 foundation of modern agricultural chemistry. It is true that many 

 of his conclusions were wrong, but he demonstrated beyond doubt the 

 value of potash and phosphoric acid as fertilisers ; and the continua- 

 tion of his work has undoubtedly revolutionised agriculture and been 

 of the greatest value in increasing the world's supply of foodstuffs. 

 Following closely on Liebig we have the epoch-making work of 

 Gilbert and Lawes, whose lives were practically devoted to the study 

 of the scientific aspects of wheat- growing. By their bequest the 

 estate at Rothamsted, on which for so many years the experiments 

 were carried out, is secured for the British people as an agricultural 

 experimental station. 



Let us turn to the oft-told tale of the coal tar industry. Owing 

 largely to the efforts of Prince Albert Victor, Lyon Playfair, and Sir 

 James Clarke, a lioyal College of Chemistry was established in London 

 in the late 'forties. In it were trained Mansfield, the first chemist 

 to prepare benzene and toluene on a commercial scale, and William 

 Henry Perkin, who, at the ago of seventeen, discovered mauve, the 

 first of the so-called aniline dyes. Hundreds, if not thousands, of 

 investigations have arisen upon the foundation laid by these dis- 

 coverers and by their teacher, Professor Hoffmann, and coal tar colours 

 have now almost replaced the vegetable dye stuffs. Many of 

 the substances obtained in these coal tar researches have proved to be 

 o" the greatest value in medical practice. I need only allude to such 

 products as carbolic acid, cresol, antipyrin, aspirin, and phenacetin. 



Upon the foundations well and truly laid, by Dav,y ar^l. Faraday 

 has been raised the magnificent edifice of modern electro-cnemistry. 



