UNIVERSITIES: ACTUAL AND IDEAL. 65 



In the meanwhile, there is one step in the direction 

 of the endowment of research which is free from, such 

 objections. It is possible to place the scientific inquirer 

 in a position in which he shall have ample leisure and 

 opportunity for original work, and yet shall give a fair 

 and tangible equivalent for those privileges. The estab- 

 lishment of a Faculty of Science in every University, 

 implies that of a corresponding number of Professorial 

 chairs, the incumbents of which need not be so burdened 

 with teaching as to deprive them of ample leisure for 

 original work. I do not think that it is any impedi- 

 ment to an original investigator to have to devote a 

 moderate portion of his time to lecturing, or superin- 

 tending practical instruction. On the contrary, I think 

 it may be, and often is, a benefit to be obliged to take 

 a comprehensive survey of your subject; or to bring 

 your results to a point, and give them, as it were, a 

 tangible objective existence. The besetting sins of the 

 investigator are two : the one is the desire to put aside 

 a subject, the general bearings of which he has mastered 

 himself, and pass on to something which has the at- 

 traction of novelty; and the other, the desire for too 

 much perfection, which leads him to 



" Add and alter many times, 

 Till all be ripe and rotten ; " 



to spend the energies which should be reserved for ac- 

 tion, in whitening the decks and polishing the guns. 

 The obligation to produce results for the instruction 



