' AvuGUST 7, 1902] 
midst of such an atmosphere it is not surprising that the develop- 
ment of a true Renaissance spirit has been somewhat tardy. 
But the British nation is on the eve ofan awakening, an awaken- 
ing which hasalready taken placeamong certain leaders of thought. 
The fact is dawning upon the British mind that some vital con- 
nection really does exist between national progress and scientific 
discovery, and that the latter should be fostered in connection 
with the higher institutions of learning. Under the conviction 
that British commercial supremacy will be seriously threatened 
unless foreign, and especially German, scientific methods are 
adopted, universities of a more modern type than Oxford and 
Cambridge, and also technical colleges, have been established. 
Such institutions no doubt fill a long-felt want, but they do not 
go to the root of the matter. On the academic side they are 
but a modification of the older type ; on the technical side they 
contemplate, not the discovery of new truth, but the application 
of what is already known. The spirit of research is lacking, 
and without it no expenditure of money, no raising of examina- 
tion standards for mere acquirement, will actually increase the 
capital account of national knowledge. 
The policy of the universities of the United States regarding 
this matter is in marked contrast with the indecision and con- 
servatism which prevail in the mother country. The type of 
mind which has been developed in the century and a quarter of 
separate national existence is one of great vigour and originality ; 
but these qualities have for the most part been turned aside by 
the circumstances of a new country from abstract investigations. 
Research after the almighty dollar by the nearest short-cut has 
been, and perhaps still is, regarded as the chief national 
characteristic of our American cousins, and in this pursuit they 
have displayed a genius for concrete research in mechanical 
invention and an ability for commercial and industrial enterprise 
which have been an object of wonder, and latterly of anxiety, to 
other nations. During the first hundred years of national 
existence the university of the gymnasium type which had been 
inherited from England continued to develop and expand in the 
United States. Suddenly, however, almost exactly twenty-five 
years ago, a remarkable modification was introduced. 
Since 1877 many universities, including the best of those 
already in operation, as well as new foundations, have added a 
graduate department leading to the Ph.D. degree, although none 
of these, with the exception of Clark University, has made the 
prosecution of research the sole business of the university. Some 
idea of the rapid progress of this movement may be gathered 
from the fact that the numbers pursuing graduate studies in the 
universities of the United States have increased from 8 in 1850 
to 399 in 1875, and to about 6000 in 1go2. 
I have confined my remarks up to this point almost wholly to 
the historical aspect of the question, but it will perhaps not be 
out of place for me to point out in conclusion some of the 
advantages which in my opinion are connected with the pursuit 
of university research. 
Let us consider first the stimulating effect upon the individuals 
and institutions concerned. Among those who are affected by 
this stimulus should first be named the professor. Dr. Samuel 
Johnson was wont to compare accumulated knowledge to a heap 
of ice lying exposed to the summer sun, the bulk of which could 
not be maintained without constant replenishment. Continuing 
the figure, we can readily imagine that the professor’s fund of 
knowledge which is ample enough for the class-room teaching of 
immature minds might shrink and trickle away until little is left 
but the sawdust which we usually associate with the preservation 
of that commodity. Under the stimulus of research this is 
impossible, for research into the new implies a full and minute 
mastery of that branch of knowledge in which the research is 
being conducted Hence if no other advantage resulted a good 
case might be made out along this line of argument. 
This stimulus to the professor would react with increased 
force upon the student. It was a favourite saying of a certain 
celebrated artist that those who follow after others rarely outstrip 
them. To hold up before the student either by theory or 
practice solely the ideal of acquiring what has already been 
learned is medizevalism pure and simple; it is to teach him to 
creep where he might walk upright and alone ; itis to rob him in 
part of that intellectual birthright of independent thought which 
is the inheritance of every man, at least since the Renaissance. 
It is sometimes objected that the results attained by research 
students are often trivial or futile. I am disposed, however, to 
agree with a remark made by one of George Eliot’s characters :— 
“* Failure after long perseverance is much grander (and I would 
“NO. I710, VOL. 66] 
NATURE 359 
re) 
say parenthetically more useful) than never to have a striving 
good enough to be called a failure.’’ It is sometimes also urged 
that research in the immature student leads to superficiality and 
conceit. I cannot but think this fear ill-grounded. It has been 
proved, on the contrary, that nothing will so quickly ripen and 
enlarge preliminary knowledge and so effectually extinguish 
presumption as the hand-to-hand struggle with some special 
problem in the department of study in which the student is 
already proficient. 
Apart from the professor and student, the first effect of the 
inauguration of research work in our universities, if of the 
genuine stamp, will be felt upon the teaching profession of the 
country as a whole. Assuming an educated and interested public 
cpinion, the premium so long placed upon memorised knowledge 
will disappear, and a change in the principle of selection of 
teachers both in universities and secondary schools will result. 
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 
AFTER consultation with Mr. Astor, and in accordance with 
his wish, the council of University College, London, has 
resolved to endow the chair of pure mathematics and to name 
it the ‘‘ Astor chair.” The staff of the reorganised department 
of chemistry of the College will be as follows :—General and 
inorganic chemistry : professor, Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., 
F.R.S.; assistant professors: Dr. F. G. Donnan, Dr. Morris 
Traversand Mr. E. C. C. Baly. Organic chemistry : professor, 
Dr. J. Norman Collie, F.R.S. ; assistant professor, Dr. S. Smiles. 
THE Royal Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 have 
made the following appointments to science research scholar- 
ships for the year 1902, on the recommendation of the authorities 
of the several universities and colleges :—University of Edin- 
burgh, J. K. H. Inglis; University of Glasgow, A. Wood; 
University of St. Andrews, W. Wallace; University of Aber- 
deen, A. C. Michie; University of Birmingham, J. A. Lloyd; 
Yorkshire College, Leeds, H. D. Dakin ; University College, 
Liverpool, F. Rogers ; University College, London, E. P. 
Harrison; Owens College, Manchester, G. C. Simpson; Dur- 
ham College of Science, Newcastle-on-Tyne, C. R. Dow; 
University College, Sheffield, G. B. Waterhouse ; Queen’s Col- 
lege, Galway, W. Goodwin; University of Toronto, W. C. 
Bray ; Dalhousie College, Halifax, Nova Scotia, T. C. Hebb ; 
University of Melbourne, R. Hosking; University of Adelaide, 
W. T. Cooke; University of New Zealand, M. A. Hunter. 
The following scholars nominated in 1901 have had their 
scholarships continued for a second year on receipt of a satis- 
factory report of work done during the first year:—F. Horton, 
A. Slator, R. B. Denison, G. Owen, G. Senter, F. W. Rixon, 
T. Baker, S. C. Laws, Alice E. Smith, J. Hawthorne, R. K. 
McClung, C. W. Dickson, G. Harker. The following scholars 
nominated in 1900 have had their scholarships exceptionally 
renewed for a third year :—Dr. W. M. Varley, Dr. S. Smiles, 
J. A. Cunningham, W. S. Mills, J. Patterson, J. Barnes. 
THe Cambridge summer meeting organised by the Local 
Examinations and Lectures Syndicate was opened on Friday last 
with an address by the vice-chancellor, Dr. A. W. Ward, 
master of Peterhouse. Many men of distinction are taking part 
in the meeting, and the lectures cover a very wide range. The 
general subject of the meeting is ‘‘Some Aspects of Life and 
Thought in Europe and America in the Nineteenth Century.” In 
the section. of physical and natural sciences, the following 
lectures will be delivered during the meeting, which is divided 
into two parts, and ends on August 26:—‘‘Some Modern 
Astronomical Speculations,” Prof. G. H. Darwin, F.R.S. 5 
“* Sidereal Astronomy,” Mr. Arthur Berry; ‘‘ Meteorology in 
the Nineteenth Century,” Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S. ; ‘* Pasteur 
and his Work,” Prof. Sims Woodhead; ‘‘An Aspect of the 
Influence of America on Geology,” Dr. R. D. Roberts; ‘* Pro- 
gress of Geology in the Nineteenth Century as illustrated by 
modern views on (1) The Structure of the Earth’s Crust, (2) 
The Evolution of the Configuration of the Surface,” Mr. J. E. 
Marr,F.R.S_ ; ‘* Advances of Botany,” Prof. H. Marshall Ward, 
F.R.S.; ‘fA Great Botanist : Sachs,”’ Prof. W. B. Bottomley ; 
**Colour Photography,” Mr. T. B. Wood; ‘‘The Rise and 
Development of Electro-Chemistry,” Mr. D. J. Carnegie. 
Among the subjects in the section of education are :— 
** Hygiene as a Factor in National Education,” Miss A. Raven- 
hill ; ** Nature-Study ” (Six Lectures), Prof. Patrick Geddes; 
