2IO 



NATURE 



[November 14, 19 1 8 



universities of the world. ["he members of the 



mission will make themselves acquainted with the 

 resources ol the universities of America, and 

 procalhj the) will endeavour to make known 

 in America the opportunities for advanced study 

 and research which our own universities afford. 

 The eighteenth-century conception of a university 

 as a glorified public school is to give way i<> the 

 earlier and sounder view that it is a centre for the 

 creation of knowledge. Made famous by great 

 teachers, one university is especially distinguished 

 in litis branch of learning, another in that. A 

 lad is not "finished" as soon as he has been 

 admitted to a degree, whether in Manchester or 

 in Manitoba. He is but fitted to begin to prepare 



himself to be a leader in his chosen subject. It is 

 scarcely necessarj to hint at the encouragemenl 

 in teaching and stimulus to effort which an enthu- 

 siastic worker would derive from the knowledge 

 that it rests with him to lay the foundations of a 

 school which will not merely, as at present, bring 

 undergraduates in increasing' numbers to the 

 university which he serves, but will also attract to 

 its walls students from other universities both 

 shortly before and immediately after graduation. 



Nor is it necessary to point out that if such 

 opportunities for higher work are to be developed, 

 the universities will need to be supported more 

 generously than they are at present. It is abso- 

 lutely necessary that departments which show 

 capacity for specialised work should not be limited, 

 or even hampered, by lack of funds. The con- 

 ception of a university as a place in which all 

 subjects are taught and the claims of all depart- 

 ments equally balanced must give way to the 

 conception that, whereas in everv university 

 students are equipped with such elements oi 

 education as lit them to tackle their chosen subject 

 with success, each must endeavour to gain a 

 reputation for very special distinction in the 

 subjects which its local situation marks out as its 

 own peculiarly appropriate sphere. 



On the other side of the Atlantic migration for 

 purposes of advanced study is already an estab- 

 lished habit. Canadian graduates pass to the 

 universities of the United States, and before the 

 war graduates of the United States migrated in 

 large numbers to Europe with the view of study- 

 ing for two or three years in countries in which 

 the methods of teaching and research, and even 

 the language, are different from their own. A 

 deg He which justifies the prefix "Dr." is re- 

 garded in America as an indispensable qualifica- 

 tion for .1 higher teaching- office. It is looked 

 upon as ilu recognised symbol of successful post- 

 graduate work. Its title is of little moment. We 

 may not like " Ph.D." The origin of this so-called 

 degree is obscure and almost certainly disrepu- 

 table, but it has an accepted value. An American 

 who has studied for two or three vears after 

 graduation and has done some original work asks 

 for this distinctive land. There is little doubt 

 that British universities will have to concede a 

 similar recognition to their advanced students, 

 whether native or from overseas. Agreement upon 

 NO. 2559, VOL. I02] 



the title ol the degree' is, however, but a detail in 

 the great movement which is now on foot for the 

 fostering of mature and strenuous work. It is 

 obvious lb. it the ablest students must be en- 



couraged to persevere with their studies until they 

 are qualified to undertake work which will make 

 for thi advancement of knowledge and its applica- 

 tion to human activities of every kind. 



If the universities are to be enabled to produce 

 sin 11 fruit, their growth needs to be stimulated 

 and strengthened both in material and in person- 

 nel. Financially they must be placed in a position 

 to keep their equipment in a condition of excel- 

 lence somewhat in advance ol the calls which the' 

 moment make's upon them. Their teachers must 

 be encouraged by a sense ol opportunity. In 

 whatever part of the kingdom their universitj 



home may be, it must be open to them to do some- 

 thing more' than earn their pay not that their pay 

 is as a ride- more than adequate remuneration for 

 the routine instruction which they are called upon 

 to give. In the higher work, which naturally 

 interests them most, it is not sufficient that they 

 should leave the satisfaction ol sec tiring so-and-SO 

 many "passed with honours," comforting as seuh 

 SUCCeSS is and always should be. Nothing would 

 contribute- more directly to vitalise their own 

 studies and to stimulate to research than the 

 presence in their classrooms and laboratories of 

 students attracted thither from other universities 

 and especially from universities overseas. 



LT.-COL. E. F. HARRISON, R.E., C.M.G. 



rHE death of Col. Harrison on November 4 

 deprives the nation of an officer who ren- 

 dered most magnificent service to the British Army 

 and the Armies of our Allies. The loss is deeply 

 deplored now, closing as it does, at the early 

 period of forty-seven years, a career that gave 

 sure promise of continued high achievement in 

 the coming days of peace. Had it occurred earlier 

 it„ would have been a calamity to the cause of the 

 Allies that one shrinks from contemplating. But, 

 happily, his great war task was accomplished; 

 his true worth was acknowledged ; he had been 

 appointed Controller of Chemical Warfare, and in 

 a few days it would have been known that the 

 quiet, inconspicuous consulting chemist had 

 passed by the force of merit through all the grades 

 from private to Brigadier-General in the £ rmy. 

 Many have helped in the task suddenly imposed 

 upon the Allies by the perfidy of the enemy in 

 inaugurating gas warfare, but it max safely be 

 said that no name should stand out more con- 

 spicuously for gratitude and renown than that of 

 Col. Harrison. 



Edward Frank Harrison was educated at the 

 LThited Westminster Schools, and in 1884 was 

 apprenticed to a pharmaceutical chemist in North 

 London. In 1890 he gained the Bell scholarship 

 of the Pharmaceutical Society, and proceeded to 

 its school in Bloomsbury Square. There he was 

 awarded medals and certificates in chemistry, 

 botany, and materia medic a, and after passing the- 



