206 SIR WILLIAM RAMSAY 



He then proceeds to give an account of the founding 

 of the college and of the business of the several faculties. 



" We see then that a university, as it at present exists, pro- 

 vides, or may provide, technical instruction for theologians, for 

 lawyers, for medical men and for engineers. It is in fact an 

 advanced technical school for these subjects. 



But it is more, and I believe its chief function lies in the kind 

 of work which I shall attempt now to describe. 



The German universities possess what they term a ' Philoso- 

 phical Faculty ' ; and this phrase is to be accepted in the deriva- 

 tional meaning of the word a faculty which loves wisdom or 

 learning. The watchword of the members of this faculty is 

 Research ; the searching out the secrets of Nature, to use a 

 current phrase, or the attempt to create new knowledge. The 

 whole machinery of the Philosophical Faculty is devised to 

 achieve this end ; the selection of the teachers, the equipment 

 of the laboratories and libraries, the awarding of the degrees. 



There are two views regarding the advantage of research. 

 The first of these may be termed the utilitarian view. You 

 all know the tale of the man of science who was asked the use 

 of research, and who parried with the question What is the 

 use of a baby ? Well, I imagine that one school of political 

 economists would oppose the practice of child-murder on the 

 ground that potentially valuable property was being destroyed. 

 These persons would probably not be those who stood to the 

 baby in a parental relation. Nor are the most successful investi- 

 gators those who pursue their enquiries with the hope of profit, 

 but for the love of them. It is, however, a good thing, I believe, 

 that the profanum vulgus should hold the view that research is 

 remunerative to the public, as some forms of it undoubtedly are. 



'The second view may be called the philosophical one. It is 

 one held by lovers of wisdom in all its various forms. It explains 



