March 20, 1902] 



NATURE 



Ml 



universities. The records show that in 1S35 there were 4 

 American students in the philosophical faculties of German 

 universities; in i860 there were 77: in 18S0, 173; in iSgi, 

 446 : in 1892, 383 ; in 1S95, 422 ; and in 1898, 397. 



These figures show clearly that the increase in the attendance 

 at American universities is not accounted for by a falling off in 

 attendance at German universities. On the other, hand, they do 

 show that for the last ten years at least there has been no in- 

 crease in the attendance at German universities, but rather a 

 slight decrease. 



Six thousand students are, then, to-day pursuing advanced 

 courses in American universities, while not longer ago than 

 1875 the number was only about 400. In this connection it 

 must further be borne in mind that during this period the 

 colleges have not relaxed in their requirements. The tendency 

 has been in the opposite direction. So that it means to-day 

 more rather than less than it did in 1875 to be a graduate 

 student. That there is an increasing demand for university 

 work is clear, and it seems to be destined to play a more and 

 more important part in the development of educational methods. 



University work is not something apart, independent of other 

 kinds of educational work. It is a necessary part of the whole 

 system. It affects not only the colleges, but schools of all 

 grades, and must, therefore, have a profound influence upon 

 the intellectual condition of the whole country. 



But the universities are also doing another kind of work of 

 importance to the country. Through their specially prepared 

 men they are doing something to enlarge the bounds of know- 

 ledge. To be sure, such work is also being done to some 

 extent in colleges and elsewhere, but the true home of the 

 investigator is the university. This work of investigation is as 

 important as the work of training men. What does it mean? 

 All persons with healthy minds appear to agree that the world is 

 advancing and improving. We see evidences of this on every 

 side. Those results that appeal most strongly to mankind are, 

 perhaps, the practical discoveries that contribute so much to 

 the health and comfort of mankind. These are so familiar that 

 they need not be recounted here. If great advances are being 

 made in the field of electricity, in the field of medicine, in the 

 field of applied chemistry, it is well to remember that the work 

 that lies at the foundation of these advances has been done 

 almost exclusively in the universities. It would be interesting 

 to trace the history of some of these advances. We should find 

 that in nearly every case the beginning can be found in some 

 university workshop where an enthusiastic professor has spent 

 his time prying into the secrets of nature. Rarely does the 

 discoverer reap the tangible reward of his work — that is to say, 

 he does not get rich — but what of it ? He has his reward, and 

 it is at least a fair question whether his reward is not higher 

 than any that could be computed in dollars and cents. 



The material value to the world of the work carried on in the 

 university laboratories cannot be over-estimated. New indus- 

 tries are constantly springing up on the basis of such work. A 

 direct connection has been shown to exist between the industrial 

 condition of a country and the attitude of the country towards 

 university work. It is generally accepted that the principal 

 reason why Germany occupies such a high position in certain 

 branches of industry, especially those founded upon chemistry, 

 is that the universities of Germany have fostered the work of 

 investigation more than those of any other country. That great 

 thinker and investigator, Liebig, succeeded during the last 

 century in impressing upon the minds of his countrymen the 

 importance of encouraging investigations in the universities, and 

 since that time the German laboratories of chemistry have been 

 the leaders of the world. In Germany the chemical industries 

 have grown to immense, almost inconceivable, proportions. 

 Meanwhile the corresponding industries of Great Britain have 

 steadily declined. 



What I want to make clear is that universities are not 

 luxuries, to be enjoyed or not, as we may please. They are 

 necessities. Their work lies at the very foundation of national 

 well-being. 



The best thing we can do for our students is to give them 

 good professors. Sumptuous laboratories, large collections of 

 books and apparatus, extensive museums are well enough. They 

 are necessary, no doubt. But I fear they are too much empha- 

 sised before the public. A university is, or ought to be, a body 

 of well-trained, intelligent, industrious, productive teachers of 

 high character provided with the means of doing their best work 

 for their students, and therefore for the world. 



NO. 1690, VOL. 65] 



NOTES. 



Prof. Winoor.\dsky, of St. Petersburg, has been elected a 

 correspondant of the Paris Academy of Sciences, in the Section 

 of Rural Economy. 



The seventy-fourth meeting of the German Association of 

 Naturalists and Physicians is this year to be held on Austrian 

 soil, Carlsbad being the town selected, and the date September 

 21 to 27. The arrangements will be generally the same as 

 those introduced at Hamburg last year, but it has been decided 

 to add a new division to the medical group — the history of 

 medicine — so that the scientific side will be represented by 

 eleven divisions, as before, and the medical by seventeen. 



The following are among the lecture arrangements at the 

 Royal Institution, after Easter : — Dr. Allan Macfadyen, three 

 lectures on recent methods and results in biological inquiry ; 

 Prof. Karl Pearson, three lectures on the laws of heredity, with 

 special reference to man ; Prof. Dewar, three lectures on the 

 o.xygen group of elements ; and Dr. A. Smith Woodward, 

 three lectures on recent geological discoveries. The Friday 

 evening meetings will commence on April 11, when Prof. 

 Dewar will deliver a discourse on problems of the atmosphere. 

 Succeeding Friday evening discourses will be delivered by Dr. 

 J. Mackenzie Davidson, Sir Robert Ball, Sir Benjamin Biker, 

 Mr. A. E. Tutton, and other gentlemen. 



We regret to see the announcement of the death of Sir Richard 

 Temple, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., whose personality was well known 

 in scientific and educational circles. He was vice-chairman of the 

 School Board of London for three years from 1885 and after- 

 wards chairman of the finance committee of the Board. He 

 was also president of the Social Science Congress held at 

 Iluddersfield, and the author of several works on Indian and 

 Eastern topics. 



The death is announced of Mr. Robert Pendlebury, fellow of 

 St. John's College, Cambridge, and well known by his mathe- 

 matical work. Mr. Pendlebury graduated in the mathematical 

 tripos of 1870 as senior wrangler. He also graduated at the 

 University of London, obtaining the senior University scholar- 

 ship for mathematics and natural philosophy. He was in due 

 course elected to a fellowship at St. John's, and for many 

 years was one of the college lecturers in mathematics. He was 

 also University lecturer in mathematics, but recently resigned 

 all his appointments. He had been an examiner for the mathe- 

 matical tripos on several occasions, and for some time a 

 member of the Special Board for Mathematics. 



We learn from the Victorian Naturalist that the Central 

 Australian expedition under the leadership of Prof. Baldwin 

 Spencer and Mr. F. J. Gillen reached the Macarthur River, 

 Northern Territory, but was detained at Borroloola, a small 

 township about 50 miles from the mouth of the river, owing to 

 the foundering of the steamer which should have taken them on 

 to Port Darwin as previously arranged. The matter of affording 

 the expedition some relief was brought before the Common- 

 wealth Parliament without result. However, the Premier of 

 Victoria (Hon. A. J. Peacock) placed himself in communication 

 with the Queensland Government, and it was arranged to send 

 a small steamer from Normanton and bring the party on to that 

 port, from whence there is frequent communication with 

 eastern Australia. 



It is announced in the Times that the two Royal medals of 

 the Royal Geographical Society have been awarded to Sir 

 F. D. Lugard, foi his African explorations and surveys, and to 

 Major Molesworth Sykes, for his journeys in Persia, extending 

 over nine years, and his valuable studies of the geography of 

 the country. The other awards of the society have been made 



