242 



NATURE 



[May 8, 19 13 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

 [The Editor does not hold himself responsible jor 

 opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 

 can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 

 the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 

 this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 

 taken of anonymous communications.] 



The Proposed Tropical University. 



The proposal to create a tropical university which 

 has been put forward in the columns of Nature and 

 elsewhere is one which requires careful scrutiny and 

 calls for a clear appreciation of the real issues 

 involved. 



It seems at least open to question whether the 

 advocates of the scheme really contemplate a new 

 university, or whether they are not rather thinking 

 of a college or institute of university rank, the work 

 of which should be somewhat intimately associated 

 with the promotion of the material prosperity of the 

 great agricultural interests that are growing up in 

 the tropics. Such a college, in addition to the func- 

 tion of inducting men into the various branches of 

 tropical agriculture, should serve, if properly staffed 

 and organised, as a centre for the dissemination of 

 current information on matters pertaining to the in- 

 dustrial needs of the community, in so far as agri- 

 cultural problems are concerned. For this purpose 

 it is essential that facilities for field and other experi- 

 ments should be fully provided, and if the site were 

 suitably chosen the college would prove an invaluable 

 training ground, not only for the population resident 

 within its immediate geographical area, but for others 

 also, and especially perhaps for Europeans, about to 

 engage in agriculture in any part of the tropics. Vari- 

 ous places have been suggested as possible sites, and 

 there is much to be said in favour of the West Indian 

 proposal. Easy access from Europe, as well as the 

 variety of soil, ciimate, vegetable products, &c, are 

 all points in its favour, whilst the fact that no British 

 institution of the kind desired exists in that region 

 is a defect which would thus be repaired. Further- 

 more, the possibility of securing a considerable range 

 of advantages within a relatively small geographical 

 area is of itself a distinct gain, for it could be more 

 economically worked than a similar institute in a 

 large continental area, where things are on a larger 

 scale, quite apart from limitations imposed by a con- 

 tinental climate, which cannot be ignored. 



Accepting for the moment the desirability of found- 

 ing a college of the kind indicated, the danger that 

 lurks in the scheme would almost certainly be found, 

 in practice, to consist in a desire to see immediate 

 results which would be convertible into a cash value 

 bv the planters. In order to ensure success, it is 

 absolutely essential that a wise and far-sighted policy 

 should guide the destiny of the institute. Agricul- 

 tural problems, and especially tropical problems, are 

 seldom simple, and while immediate practical objects 

 need not, and should not, be lost sight of, the college 

 would fail to justify its creation if it were to exist 

 for these purposes alone. It must, while not neglect- 

 ing' the practical training of students in tropical agri- 

 culture, also include within itself, as a vitally essential 

 part, a body of first-rate scientific investigators and 

 teachers, who will be able to seize upon problems and 

 work them out. There must be no attempt to limit 

 their work to the economic questions of the moment, 

 for in cramping the spirit of investigation lies the 

 way of throttling material progress. 



Such a staff would, of course, cost money, and 

 often the return might seem to be slow in coming, 

 but it is impossible to over-estimate its importance. 

 Indeed, unless a proper staff can be provided, the 



NO. 2271, VOL. gi] 



scheme is not worth pursuing, for the most that could 

 then be hoped for would be a mere technical institute 

 — a sort of edition in parvo of current planting prac- 

 tice, veneered over by a fallacious appearance of 

 scientific equipment. 



Now an institute such as is here foreshadowed 

 would greatly gain by connection with leading insti- 

 tutions in this country. Science is growing apace, 

 and particularly those branches of it which especially 

 touch on agriculture. And, however able the staft, 

 it could not hope to escape from the disadvantages 

 inherent in a separation from the main clearing- 

 houses of scientific thought. Some sort of associa- 

 tion, then, with home institutions, such as the 

 University of Cambridge and the Imperial College 

 of Science and Technology, for example, could not 

 fail to be of advantage to all concerned. An associa- 

 tion of this kind ought to be a real and not a merely 

 nominal one, for only in this sense could it .serve any 

 useful purpose and provide for an interchange of 

 knowledge and for the stimulation of ideas. Ar- 

 rangements might perhaps be made for enabling suit- 

 able students of the college to visit this country and 

 be received for a time in the home institutions, and 

 vice versd. 



Such a college, conceived and maintained on 

 generous lines, would develop into a valuable asset 

 to the Empire, and would exert a powerful influence 

 in furthering the interests and objects of tropical 

 agriculture within it. 



But the question of an insular tropical university 

 is a very different one. There are perhaps already 

 more than enough universities, and it is difficult to 

 see how it would be possible to justify the foundation 

 of another in the manner that has been suggested, 

 — quite apart from the very considerable outlay that 

 would be necessarily involved. 



Moreover, a centre of real university learning, and 

 still less of culture, can scarcely be created by the 

 stroke of an administrative pen, and it would, in any 

 event, be compelled to seek its justification in the 

 existence of a population large enough and able 

 in other respects to utilise the advantages the univer- 

 sity ought to be in a position to confer. And it seems 

 open to inquire whether a mere fraction of the finan- 

 cial resources which would be needed for the more 

 ambitious project might not amply suffice to enable 

 everyone of marked ability to enter an existing uni- 

 versity elsewhere, if he (or she) were otherwise unable 

 to do so. There would be many disadvantages in- 

 separable from a small insular university, and it is 

 scarcely necessary to dwell on them here. For the 

 present it may suffice to remark that a second-rate 

 university is not worth its upkeep, whilst a properly 

 staffed and equipped one would demand very con- 

 siderable funds, and not only so, but other claims, 

 difficult to meet, would also have to be satisfied. 



The further one reflects on the matter the weaker 

 does the case for the establishment of the university, 

 and the stronger the claims for the foundation of an 

 agricultural college, appear. Almost all the argu- 

 ments which can be urged against the first proposi- 

 tion can be used in support of the latter. But it may 

 be that after all a substantial agreement already pre- 

 vails amongst the majority of those who are advocat- 

 ing the scheme, and that an agricultural college of 

 university rank is really what is desired. 



J. B. F. 



The Mountains and their Roots. 



In Nature of February 27, p. 703, you honoured 

 me with a review of my recent paper on the origin 

 of the Himalaya Mountains. During thirty years of 

 residence in these mountains I have continually been 



