August 15, 1907] 



NA TURE 



405 



inmgination. The surgeon to whom an ignorant crowd 

 should impute cruelty would fail to serve the cause of 

 humanity by the technical descriptions to them of the 

 operations he is required to perform. 



There are two great principles involved in the welfare 

 of any applied science — in the welfare indeed of any living 

 thing — the conservative principle and the progressive 

 principle. 



Any organised living mass — let it be an animal or an 

 organised body of men — by virtue of the conservative 

 principle <"' heredity, of repetition of like by like, of 

 imitation < action that has proved to be successful, works 

 more ecoi lically than it could have done if each in- 

 dividual mass had perforce to work out its own salvation, 

 evolve for itself its own suitability to and temporary 

 ma^tership of surrounding circumstances. 



But the child that can only imitate and repeat the actions 

 of its ancestors brings no positive addition to the excel- 

 lence of the race the upward progress of which requires to 

 be fed by the costly process of initiative efforts, by the 

 sports of talent and of genius, by the cumulative effect 

 of innumerable hits among innumerable misses of 

 mnumerable multitudes of individuals. 



Transfer this thought to education — to medical education 

 m particular. An educated person — a competent physician 

 or surgeon — must in the first place learn at the feet of 

 his masters, believe and learn what he is told, imitate 

 what he sees done by his instructors, be the apprentice and 

 follower of the experienced craftsman who shows him 

 tri«-d and approved ways of working. 



But the apprentice who is to contribute to the common- 

 wealth of knowledge and power has to be something more 

 than the faithful imitator of his teacher; he must initiate, 

 aiui he must make a hit among, it may be, his many 

 nii~^p~. He will then have contributed to the advance- 

 mint of knowledge and power. 



lii all provinces of human activity we may distinguish 

 the result of our two complementary principles — imitation, 

 the conservative principle ; initiation, the progressive prin- 

 ciple. But while in all provinces the conservative factor, 

 being, so to speak, the means of wholesale economy, bulks 

 the larger, the progressive factor, as the means ol retail 

 eronnmy, is relatively insignificant. 



Between the two extremes — imitation on the one hand, 

 initiation oh the other — there is room for numberless 

 variations ; and, by reason of the vastness ol area of even 

 The minutest province of human activity, the aim of educa- 

 tion, even the most technical, is perforce more and more 

 directed to teach the pupil to use his own mind in presence 

 of the task set him rather than to copy minutely and to 

 reproduce perfectly the model facts shown or described 

 to him by the master. 



But in every province, and in particular in that of 

 education, the power of imitation is easier to exert and 

 easier to develop than the power of initiation, which is a 

 rare and costly ingredient, since at any given juncture 

 the odds must be heavily in favour of the success of the 

 time-honoured fact or method as compared with its yet 

 untried competitor. 



There are of necessity many misses and few hits among 

 the novelties that come to trial. 



The genius of our nation is admittedly a practical genius 

 that looks upon the conservative way as the better way, 

 and makes its changes by as small steps as can be from 

 precedent to precedent. This is the safe and easy way, 

 the way of nature ; and to this predominance of fact 

 copied over fancy realised may fairly be ascribed our own 

 prolonged constitutional prosperity. We have found by 

 long experience that it is very long odds indeed against 

 any dark horse without a good pedigree of precedents, 

 so we prefer to back the field ; old methods are the safe 

 thing and the good thing. 



But one may have too much of a good thing, and in 

 education I think we have had too much of the old 

 methods, in which the keynote is imitation and examin- 

 ation of copy, and too little of that expensive and dangerous 

 ingredient — so dangerous that to some authorities it 

 appears in the light of a poison — initiative and originality 

 of thought. I admit all the danger ; I grant to the rid 

 authorities that there is a good deal of trash current under 



the label of original research. But 1 do not think we can 

 have wheat without chaff, and I am convinced that the 

 adherents of original research, as against the clientele of 

 the e.xaminer and of the crammer, bring to the educational 

 commonwealth the scanty and much needed ingredient of 

 initiative. We want education still further urged in the 

 direction of teaching the pupil to use his own mind upon 

 unseen translation of new facts into effective conduct, and 

 one of the best ways of obtaining that the teacher shall 

 guide his pupils to use their own minds is that he should 

 himself use his own mind, and not suffer himself to drop 

 into the jog-trot of routine. We want our teachers to be 

 learned men, but we also want them to continue to be 

 learning men ; and that is why, in spite of its defects, I 

 want to urge that greater encouragement be given to 

 original research. 



I hope I shall not have taxed your patience too far if 

 I bring these considerations to their natural conclusion by 

 telling you as briefly as may be of an effort that is now 

 being niade in the University of London to strengthen and 

 organise that spirit of initiative which is, I am convinced, 

 of capital importance in all teaching, the most elementary 

 no less than the most advanced. We have formed our- 

 selves into a school of physiology, including every teacher 

 of phvsiology in London, each of whom undertakes to 

 give at the 'headquarters of the University lectures upon 

 those portions of the science with which his own previous 

 study has rendered him specially conversant. The teach- 

 ing offered is of an advanced character, and is addressed 

 more especially to post-graduate and to Honours students; 

 and, in pursuance of the principle that such teaching is 

 the immediate consequence of learning, the University has 

 provided a research laboratory in which teachers and other 

 post-graduate students find the necessary facilities for 

 work. We believe that the experience of the last five 

 years has sufficiently proved that a " college of learning" 

 "thus constituted renders valuable assistance to the teachers 

 and students of the schools of London, and that it is 

 helping to draw to a focus resources and efforts that are 

 I at present scattered and wasted among the several schools. 

 j I cannot do better in this connection than quote the words 

 ! of the Chancellor of the University (Lord Rosebery) :— 

 " We hope to make this laboratory the central spot for 

 medical research in London ... an institute of studies 

 ancillarv to medicine, which may develop and complete 

 the work of the University in that direction." .And I 

 think that you will agree with me that any movement 

 that contributes to the good health of the University of 

 London contributes to the good health of every university 

 in the Empire, and of every school the teachers of which 

 are animated bv the university spirit — the Icve of learning 

 for its own sake as well as for the sake of the mental 

 and material power that is required of us. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



C.AMBRinGE.— The mastership of Downing College has 

 been offered to Prof. Howard .^L^rsh, who has, it is under- 

 stood, given a favourable reply, but the election cannot 

 take place until October. 



Mr. Augustine Henry has been appointed reader m 

 fcrestrv for five years. 



.\ university lectureship in botany will be vacant at 

 Michaelmas in consequence of the resignation of Mr. 

 Hill. The annual value of the post is lool. Applica- 

 tions for the lectureship, accompanied by testimonials, 

 should be sent to the Vice-Chancellor on or before 

 October ii. 



London.— Dr. E. A. Westermarck has been appointed 

 to one of the two professorships of sociology founded by 

 Mr. Martin White— the one for five years; the appoint- 

 ment to the permanent professorship has not yet been 

 made. 



Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., has been appomted university 

 lecturer in ethnology for the session iqoy-S under the 

 Martin White benefaction. The teaching in these sub- 



NO. 1972. vnr.. 76] 



