WATORE 
317 
THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 1873 
THE REPORT OF THE SCIENCE COMMIS- 
SION ON THE OLD UNIVERSITIES 
I, 
O*E of the two Royal Commissions appointed to 
inquire into University matters has just issued its 
Report, and it comes in the very nick of time ; for while on 
the one hand the question of University reform is day by 
day attracting a larger share of public attention, on the 
other the Financial Commission may be expected to report 
shortly and make us acquainted with the actual resources 
available for fundamental reforms which all acknowledge 
must be made, though opinions differ as to the precise 
direction they shouid take. 
When we state that the Report to which we refer has 
been drawn up by a Commission, the Chairman of which 
—the Duke of Devonshire—is the Chancellor of Cam- 
bridge University, and that to it are appended the names 
of Stokes, H. J. S. Smith, Sharpey, Huxley, Lubbock, 
the Marquis of Lansdowne, and Mr. B. Samuelson as 
Commissioners, the importance of the document becomes 
manifest, Nor is it lessened by the way in which the 
Report at its outset refers to “all those parts of human 
knowledge and culture which are not usually regarded as 
having any scientific character ;” adding, “ Least of all 
should we wish to imply that there is any antagonism 
between the literary and scientific branches of education 
and research; it is rather our conviction that neither 
branch can be neglected without grave detriment to the 
other ; and that an University in which the Mathema- 
tician, the Experimental Philosopher, and the Biologist 
are actively engaged in the endeavour to advance human 
knowledge in their own provinces, is not on that account 
less likely to be productive of original labours in the fields 
of Literature and Learning.” 
The subjects are dealt with in the following order :— 
I, The Courses of Study and the Examinations. 
II. The Professoriate. 
III. The Scientific Institutions within the Universities, 
IV. The Colleges. 
V. The Relation of the Universities to Technical 
Education, and to Education for Scientific Pro- 
fessions. 
VI. The Duty of the Universities and the Colleges 
with regard to the Advancement of Science. 
Under the first head an examination on leaving school 
equivalent to the German aditurienten examen, to be 
controlled by the Universities, is proposed, “so that the 
scientific student who had shown the requisite literary 
proficiency in the ‘ Leaving Examination’ would find him- 
self absolutely free, except so far as the examination in 
Divinity is concerned, from the first moment of his 
entrance to the University, to devote his whole time and 
energy to his scientific studies.” The Commissioners 
adding their opinion that “any system which does not 
concede, from the first, this freedom to those students of 
Science who have given proofs of sufficient literary ac- 
quirements, involves an interference with their course of 
study which in many cases is prejudicial.” 
The opinion is also expressed that, in addition to the 
No, 199—VoL. vit. 
College Scholarships, University Scholarships in Natural 
Science should be founded at both Universities ; scholar- 
ships comparable to those which already exist for various 
branches of classical learning, and, at Oxford, of Mathe- 
matical Science. 
Under the heading of the Professoriate, lists of the Pro- 
fessorial and Collegiate teachers at Oxford and Cambridge 
are given and compared with similar lists for Berlin, with 
the remark that “it is impossible not to be impressed 
with the evidence which the list affords of the abundance 
and variety of the scientific teaching given in the Univer- 
sity of Berlin by professors of great eminence. We 
would particularly call attention to the fact that the list 
includes not merely general courses adapted to the re- 
quirements of those students who are interested in Science 
only as a part of a liberal education, but also special 
courses on subjects taken from some of the newest and 
most interesting fields of scientific inquiry ; so that in- 
struction of the kind most likely to develop a scientific 
spirit in the mind of the learner, and given by the most 
competent teachers, is put within the reach of every 
student.” 
With regard to the proposed additions to the 
Scientific Professoriate, without attempting to decide 
what should be the ultimate organisation of the 
Scientific Faculty in Oxford, the Commissioners are 
of opinion that arrangements should be made at 
the earliest possible opportunity for the establishment 
of two Professorships in Physics, and two in Che- 
mistry, in addition to those already existing ; for the 
redistribution of the biological subjects (exclusive of those 
assigned to the Faculty of Medicine) in such a manner as 
to secure their being represented by five independent 
professors ; and for the addition of two chairs, one in 
Pure Mathematics and one in Mathematical Physics, 
Lastly, they are disposed to recommend the establishment 
of a Chair of Applied Mechanics and Engineering. 
Somewhat similar additions are proposed in regard to 
Cambridge. 
So far we have dealt with professors of the first order, 
so to speak, but the appointment of adjoint professors, 
demonstrators, and assistants is also proposed in the 
following words :— 
“Although the witnesses have been unanimous as to 
the necessity of strengthening the professorial staff, they 
do not entirely agree as to the way in which this should 
be done. Mr. Pattison would increase the number of in- 
dependent Chairs of Science to twenty or even to thirty. 
On the other hand, there appears to be a feeling that the 
principal subjects should not be too much divided 
although it is admitted that at present they are too much 
grouped together. 
“Tt must not be forgotten that an increase in the num- 
ber of independent Chairs would render it necessary for 
the Universities to provide increased accommodation in 
laboratories, and additional apparatus. With the view of 
utilising to the utmost the existing appliances of this sort, 
some of the witnesses have suggested that the increase 
of the professoriate should, as far as possible, be pro- 
vided for by an abundant supply of skilled assistants, 
of demonstrators, and of assistant professors, rather than 
by increased numbers of independent lecturers. 
“The necessity for skilled assistants and for demon- 
s 
