PROFESSORS AND PRACTICAL MEN 31 



At the head of our educational system stand the universities. 

 A university is (or should be), in essence, a mine and a mart 

 for the highest learning. It was in its origin an adjunct 

 to those callings which made the greatest demand upon the 

 powers of thought. You may put it more picturesquely, no 

 doubt, but it suits my purpose best to use homely terms ; for 

 I believe too little stress has been placed upon the real 

 beginning, and the original purpose, of universities, as 

 institutions standing in direct relationship to definite callings. 

 It is, I believe, because our university system has not kept 

 pace with the great changes that have taken place in the 

 character of human occupations that universities have failed 

 to secure, or to retain, the sympathy of a large section of 

 the community. The great delay in the development of 

 research and of instruction in Natural Science in the univer- 

 sities led to a corresponding delay in the dissemination of 

 elementary scientific knowledge through our schools; and, in 

 consequence, we find to-da)' in the older generation of our 

 more educated citizens to say nothing of the less educated 

 ones a whole legion of men whose knowledge of science would 

 not correspond in terms of their grammar to knowing the 

 difference between a noun and an adjective, in their geography 

 the difference between latitude and longitude, and in their 

 Latin to that between Cicero and Caesar. Now I lay great 

 stress upon this lack of the general dissemination of scientific 

 knowledge, because people sometimes say to me that, after 

 all, we have surely had many distinguished men of science 

 in our universities for generations past. It is true. But they 

 were not preparing a market for their wares ; they were 

 elaborating in their seclusion something which was utterly 

 mysterious to the average man. Even to-day people come 

 occasionally into my laboratory with the air of men entering 

 a hall of mystery or a chamber of horrors, fearful of what 

 may befall them. Again, people say to me, surely the 



