56 UNIVERSITIES : ACTUAL AND IDEAL. [LECT. 



have been proposed. It has been suggested, that 

 Laboratories for all branches of Physical Science, pro- 

 vided with every apparatus needed by the investi- 

 gator, shall be established by the State : and shall be 

 accessible, under due conditions and regulations, to 

 all properly qualified persons. I see no objection to 

 the principle of such a proposal. If it be legitimate 

 to spend great sums of money on public Libraries and 

 public collections of Painting and Sculpture, in aid of 

 the man of letters, or the Artist, or for the mere sake 

 of affording pleasure to the general public, I apprehend 

 that it cannot be illegitimate to do as much for the 

 promotion of scientific investigation. To take the 

 lowest ground, as a mere investment of money, the 

 latter is likely to be much more immediately profitable. 

 To my mind, the difficulty in the way of such schemes 

 is not theoretical, but practical. Given the labora- 

 tories, how are the investigators to be maintained ? 

 What career is open to those who have been thus 

 encouraged to leave bread-winning pursuits ? If they 

 are to be provided for by endowment, we come back 

 to the College Fellowship system, the results of which, 

 for Literature, have not been so brilliant that one 

 would wish to see it extended to Science ; unless some 

 much better securities, than at present exist, can be 

 taken that it will foster real work. You know that 

 among the Bees, it depends on the kind of cell in 

 which the egg is deposited, and the quantity and 

 quality of food which is supplied to the grub, whether 

 it shall turn out a busy little worker or a big idle 

 queen. And, in the human hive, the cells of the 



