LATEE YEAES 175 



and hospitality, will feel his remark justified, when in 

 a letter he wrote, " I had a very hard time, amusing 

 enough, but at it from dawn till midnight, and often 

 two speeches a day of the after-dinner type to the same 

 audience for the most part. It was difficult to keep 

 cheerful and lively under the circumstances." 



The subject of his address to the Society was the 

 " Education of a Chemist, and on some suggestions as to 

 methods and practices by which science and scientific 

 men may be made more serviceable to industry." With 

 regard to the training which should be provided for 

 young men who propose to become scientific or technical 

 chemists, he believed that what he called the inventive 

 spirit can be developed in most of them. That is to 

 say, the training in methods of research and the culti- 

 vation of this attitude of mind is best effected by example. 

 With this end in view every teacher from the senior 

 professor to the youngest assistant must be occupied in 

 research. Beginners, however, should be taught by 

 themselves and should not begin research practically 

 till after a preliminary year spent in analysis in making 

 preparations and in physical operations. Above all 

 there must not be too much teaching. The essence of 

 scientific progress is the well-worn method of trial and 

 failure. A little time is no doubt lost at first, but the 

 ultimate rate of progress is much more rapid. The 

 junior staff in a school or college ought to be encouraged 

 to do research, and their duties should be so arranged 

 as to afford time and facilities for such work. These 



