570 



NA TQIiE 



[October 6, ' 904 



THE OPENING OF THE ■ MEDICAL 

 SESSION. 

 T^HE beginning of October always sees tlie opening of 

 ■'■ the medical session, and introductory addresses have 

 been delivered at many of the, London and provincial schools. 

 At others, however, the session: opened without formality. 



At University College Prof.. Norman Collie, F.R.S., 

 delivered the introductory addres.s, taking for his subject 

 the relation of chemistry to njedicine. He said that it 

 is now more than ever imperative that medical men should 

 have a good grounding in chemistry, and he directed atten- 

 tion to the numerous instances in which chemistry has a 

 bearing on medicine. The question of the action of 

 ferments, of great importance; to . the medical man, must 

 ultimately be answered by the chemist. The physiological 

 action of toxines and antito.xines has, for some time largely 

 engaged the attention of medical science, but it will prob- 

 ably be the chemist, after he has. determined their molecular 

 structure, who will be able- to e.xplain how and why they 

 are produced. In the process, of the. assimilation of food 

 the changes that occur are purely chemical. The composi- 

 tion of the various secretions also can only be arrived at by 

 an analysis in a chemical laboratory. 



At King's College the session was opened with an 

 address by Dr. Thomas Buzzard, F.R..S.,, on the future 

 relation of King's College to its medical school and 

 hospital. After a few words of welcome to. new students, 

 and impressing on his audience the value of tfie degrees 

 of the University of London, he briefly sketched what will 

 be the position of college and, hospital when the latter has 

 been removed to Camberwell. It is, intended that the two 

 should be distinct, the preliminary and intermediate studies 

 being pursued at the college, the subsequent, more purely 

 medical studies at the hospital. At the same time the two 

 will be autonomous, and there .will be no obligation on a 

 student who completes his preliminary studies at the college 

 to pass on to King's College Hospital ; he w-ill be at liberty 

 to go where he pleases. In order to carry out this separ- 

 ation, composition fees will be abolished, and no member 

 of the hospital staff will be permitted to teach any pre- 

 liminary or intermediate subject at the college. 



Dr. A. E. Wright, in the opening address at .St. Mary's 

 Hospital, emphasised the importance of research and the 

 need for the provision of adequate salaries for scientific 

 workers. 



Dr. F. J. Wethered, in his address on practice and 

 theory in medical study at the Middlesex Hospital, also 

 spoke of the need for the endowment of chairs in the 

 University of London. He pointed out that medicine is not 

 only a science, it is a practical art, and no amount of 

 theoretical knowledge can replace study and observation in 

 the wards and out-patient room. 



At Charing Cross Hospital, the opportunity of the open- 

 ing of the session was taken for the delivery of the Hu.xley 

 lecture. The lecturer this year was .Sir William MacEwen, 

 who prefaced his remarks with some allusion to the life- 

 work of Hu.xley before passing on to his subject, " The 

 Recent Advances in Science and their Bearing on Medicine 

 and Surgery." 



Prof. Alex. Macalister, F.R.S., was the lecturer at St. 

 George's Hospital, and delivered an instructive address on 

 " The Evolution of the Medical Curriculum." 



At the London (Royal Free Hospital) School of Medicine 

 for Women, and at the Royal Veterinary College, the 

 sessions were opened by Miss Murdoch and by Prof. Brodie, 

 F.R.S., respectively. 



TI/j; EDUCATION OF A CHEMISTS 

 'T'HE education of a chemist (and the word " chemist," 

 of course, includes the qualification " technical 

 chemist ") must be conceived in the sense that it consists 

 in an effort to produce an attitude of mind, rather than to 

 instil definite knowledge. Of course the latter must not 

 be neglected ; the definite knowledge may be likened to the 

 bricks which the architect has at his disposal in erecting a 

 beautiful building ; he knows their shapes, their capacity 

 1 From an address delivered before the Society of Chemical Industry, at 

 New York, September 8, by the president, Sir Willi.am Ramsay, K.C.B., 



NO. 1823, VOL. 70] 



for resisting stresses, and, in short, what can be done with 

 them. But the conception of the design is, the result of 

 many attempts to create; just as the poet has to utilise 

 words, or the architect bricks, so the chemist has to know 

 the materials with which he is dealing. The training of 

 a bricklayer, however, will never make a man an architect ; 

 nor will the dry research of a grammarian train a poet. 

 In short, it is the inventive faculty which must be cultivated. 



Now how can this be brought about? The answer is 

 perfectly simple : by offering examples. Every teacher 

 in the laboratory, from senior professor to junior assistant, 

 must be engaged in research, and, most important of all. 

 they must not be reticent, but willing to converse freely on 

 their problems. It is that which creates a " chemical 

 atmosphere." 



The qualities tested by such examinations as have been 

 customary for the past forty years in England are the last 

 which one would wish to have in a student of science — 

 readiness of memory, to the exclusion of deliberate judg 

 ment ; the faculty of spreading knowledge thin, and making 

 a veneer of scientific facts instead of the power to correlate 

 them and increase their value ; and the skill to gauge the 

 capacity of and hoodwink the examiner, instead of the 

 power to incite enthusiasm in others. They are ideal quali- 

 ties for a successful barrister, because they pay in his pro- 

 fession ; but their reward has been the bane of science. .\ 

 sound judgment, though it may be a slow one; persistence 

 in struggling against obstacles ; the knowledge where to 

 get information when required, and to use it when found ; 

 and the inventive faculty — these are the' qualities required, 

 and they can be gauged only after long-continued observ- 

 ation. Moreover, the pernicious system of competitive 

 scholarships and fellowships, instead of eleemosynary sup- 

 port given to the necessitous and deserving youth, has also 

 contributed much to the debasement of the scientific spirit ; 

 .for it has early implanted in the young mind the idea that 

 to outrun his fellows, and to work solely for a money reward, 

 are the ends to be aimed at, instead of the joy of the exercise 

 of a divine gift, and the using that gift for the benefit of 

 man. 



The ideal plan of education for technical chemists would 

 be some system analogous to the apprenticeship of engineers, 

 after they have been educated in the science ; that is, after 

 the correct habit of mind has been largely formed. But it 

 is difficult to see how this can be brought about. The 

 obstacles in the way appear to me to be insurmountable. 

 The chemical manufacturer is not willing to throw open his 

 works to students, nor would he do so even if very consider- 

 able premiums were paid. Indeed, in England, it is not 

 uncommon for the "chemist," so-called, to be refused 

 adinission to the works, and to be confined to the laboratory. 

 In the larger German works, where many chemists are 

 employed, it is possible for a young man to gain the requisite 

 experience. I have been informed by the managing director 

 of a chemical works in Germany where seventy chemists are 

 employed that nature has divided the young men into three 

 large classes, the members of which are fairly easily dis- 

 tinguished and do not greatly overlap. There is first the 

 routine chemist, the j'oung man who declines responsibility, 

 but who is hardworking and trustworthy ; he finds his place 

 as an analyst, testing raw materials and analysing the pro- 

 ducts at various stages, including the finished products. 

 Second, there is the young man to whom the management 

 of some department may be entrusted ; one with a firm will, 

 plenty of energy, and the quality of governing men. And 

 third, there is the research chemist, who delights in new 

 problems, whether suggested by others or conceived by him- 

 self. All three classes are utilised ; and after serving as 

 analysts for some time, the young men naturally 

 range themselves in one or other department, where their 

 natural tendencies find scope. But even in Germany the 

 number of works which employ seventy chemists is not 

 great, and with a small number it is more difficult to effect 

 the division of labour so satisfactorily. 



In conclusion, let me make one more remark. It is that 

 the scientific curiosity of to-day often becomes the trade 

 necessity of to-morrow. A scientific friend of mine once 

 directed my attention to the fact that most of the changes 

 which have been introduced in industry have had their origin 

 in the universities. Why? Because the investigator is un- 



