January i, 1903] 



NA TURE 



195 



study of (he phenomena of nerves— in which of late years many 

 discoveries have been made. The electrical concomiians of 

 nervous action have been found very helpful in elucidating the 

 processes and determining their true relations, even if they do 

 not turn out to be themselves an essential part of the process ; 

 and accordingly the science demands extensive and expensive 

 equipment. 



From the side of the brain and nervous system it is related to 

 the analysis of mental functions in Psychology. 



Physics. — Of the science of Physics I dare hardly trust 

 myself to speak : suffice it to say that it is the chief part of 

 Natural Philosophy, the science which covers everything except 

 the treatment of life and mind, and it underlies every other 

 science. It seeks to explain the phenomena of Chemistry and 

 of Physiology, so far as can be done without trenching on 

 the domain of Biology. It is closely allied to Astronomy, it 

 measures sizes and distances, and the chemical constituents of 

 the heavenly bodies. It is concerned with all exact measure- 

 ments, with weighings and gaugings and surveyings, all geodetic 

 operations, and a great part of Navigation. It includes 

 Meteorology, which is the physics of the atmosphere ; it deals 

 with Heat and Light, and Sound, including the theory of 

 Music, with Magnetism and Electricity, with waves and vortices, 

 with the flow of fluids, with the elasticity of solids, with the 

 theory of gases ; and it is the foundation of Engineering. 



On its practical side it has blossomed in every direction : 

 witness the pump, the barometer, the telescope, the microscope, 

 the photographic camera, the steam engine, the telegraph, the 

 electric motor, the electric light, the X-rays ; less obviously in 

 a multitude of other directions. 



On its theoretical side it is the most advanced and extensive 

 of the whole of the family of sciences ; and a much larger staff 

 is necessary if we are to occupy its territory in even a moderately 

 respectable manner. 



In the department of exact measurement and mathematical 

 electrical theory our present Professor of Physics has made for 

 himself a world-wide reputation ; and the limits of discovery in 

 a science like this are controlled more by the lack of time and 

 of material equipment than by almost anything else. 



Philology' : — the scientific treatment of language : a com- 

 prehensive subject which ranges from a competent understand- 

 ing of the derivation of words to an interpretation of Hiero- 

 glyphics and of Cuneiform inscriptions, to Palaeography — or the 

 study of Ancient Manuscripts. It is thus allied on one side to 

 History, Sociology and Folklore, on another side to Ethnology 

 and Archaeology. It welds languages into families, and traces 

 their relationships, and on its practical side is a necessary 

 element in the thorough study of any modern language. It is a 

 subject in various departments of which our Professor of Classics 

 and Lecturer in Latin are experts. 



Psychology': — maybe regarded as the highest of all the 

 biological sciences, being the theory of mind and of mental 

 operations in general ; in another aspect it constitutes the 

 fundamental substratum of knowledge, being the study of the 

 processes by which we recognise the external world, and all the 

 facts dealt with by other sciences : it is a study which on its 

 practical side is closely allied with Education, which so far as it 

 is scientifically based must rest upon it. In recent times ex- 

 perimental methods have been applied to the simpler mental 

 operations, thus giving to the subject increasing definiteness and 

 precision ; and a large extension of knowledge is being fore- 

 shadowed in this direction by the labours of a few, as yet 

 hardly recognised, pioneers. 



Moral and Political Philosophy. — On the theoretic side 

 Psychology lies at the base of any sound treatment of the 

 phenomena of will and conduct, the relation of the individual 

 to his social and political environment, the meaning and bearing 

 upon human life of legal and State organisation. The treat- 

 ment of these subjects has attracted the best minds at the 

 highest stages of social development, both in ancient and 

 modern times, from Plato and Aristotle to John Stuart Mill and 

 Henry Sidgwick. 



Logic and Metaphysics. — On still another side Psychology is 

 an introduction to Logic, the science which seeks to analyse 

 the processes followed by the reason alike in ordinary affairs 

 and in the more familiar kinds of scientific investigation, and 

 while offering a practical discipline in logical method and the 

 conduct of the understanding leads in turn to Metaphysics 

 or General Philosophy ; which may be defined as the examin- 

 ation of the relation of the forms under which we know the 



no. 1 73 1, VOL. 67] 



world around us — matter, motion, life, intelligence, art, science, 

 religion — to one another, to reality in general, and (under the 

 name Theology) to the Divine Mind. 



Zoology' : — The study of animal life, from the lowest amoeba 

 to the highest mammal. On the practical side Zoologists are 

 sent out by the Colonial Office to Ceylon to renovate the 

 Oyster and Pearl Fishery there ; by County Councils to study 

 and improve the conditions of the sea-fishing industry round our 

 coasts. The science has an important bearing on many of the 

 operations of farmers, beekeepers, pigeon fanciers and veterinary 

 surgeons ; and in the United States a knowledge -of many 

 zoological facts, relating to sheep and cattle, as well as to 

 blight, the Colorado beetle, potato-bug, and such like pests, is 

 disseminated among farmers by a series of pamphlets issued by 

 the United States Department of Agriculture. Zoologists are 

 beginning to take their part also with the botanists and patho- 

 logists in the extermination of malarial and tropical disease, in 

 which a knowledge of the life-history of the mosquito and such 

 like insects is so important ; and already it is coming to be more 

 than suspected, especially in the light of South African enteric 

 experience, that flies and other household insects are specifically 

 dangerous, too. 



A knowledge of Elementary Zoology, or at least of Com- 

 parative Anatomy and Physiology, is insisted on in every 

 medical school. 



The science of Zoology is sometimes sneered at as having to 

 do with grubs, and butterflies, and snails ; and so it has ; but, 

 though it has made no adequate beginning as yet, the greatest 

 of problems lies before it— or before it and Physiology together 

 — in the future, viz. the elaboration of a theory of the nature 

 of life and death. 



Concluding Explanation. 



In venturing to name earlier in this pamphlet (see p. 193) 

 such a sum as five millions, I have had in view certain consider- 

 ations which it may be well to set forth. 



First it has been found that the Carnegie donation to Scottish 

 Universities is insufficient to attain its objects, and already it 

 appears likely that it may have to be doubled. 



Next it is well known, and indeed painfully familiar to all 

 who have to do with administration, that every new department 

 started, and every new building erected, means an increase of 

 current expenditure and a drain upon resources. Expenditure 

 is called for on behalf of rates, portering and cleaning, heating 

 and lighting, maintenance, depreciation and supersession of 

 equipment, and materials for experiments and processes. There 

 are also annual grants to be made to the Library, to the various 

 Laboratories and Museums, and to departmental Libraries. 

 Then there is a large disbursement for salaries of demonstrators 

 and curators and assistants and technical instructors. All these 

 expenses come out of revenue, and are probably best 

 provided for by the income derived from fees, and from 

 the contemporary support of County and other bodies 

 so as to preserve dependence on the interest of the 

 living generation. But it is highly desirable to keep 

 fees low — not by any means to abolish them, but to keep 

 them low — so as to bring higher education within reach of all 

 who are able to make use of it : a number which, with the im- 

 provement of schools, will probably be rapidly increasing. 

 Hence it is probable that the above-mentioned items of annual 

 expenditure will absorb the whole of the ordinary annual in- 

 come and leave nothing for the payment of the chief Professors 

 and Lecturers. Everywhere it has been found essential that 

 chairs shall be endowed, so as to put them on a permanent and 

 substantial basis ; moreover, it is vitally important to be able to 

 attract the best men, wherever they are to be found. At the 

 present time it is not usually possible to compete with other 

 places for the best men unless we can offer a sum comparable to 

 1000/. a year, and in some subjects more. 



An invested million will therefore on the average relieve the 

 annual income of the stipends for 30 principal chairs. There 

 must be a large number of Lectureships, or subsidiary and 

 supplemental chairs, and 60 of these at 500/. each could be 

 provided with the second million. 



The buildings already in progress on the new site are to cost 

 mere than a quarter of a million, and the remainder of what 

 has been sketched out and actually contemplated will cost the 

 other three-quarters. Another half million at least will be 

 needed to equip them properly. 



