GG8 report— 1884. 



tries are so different that it is by do means clear that we should follow the same 

 lines. Indeed our national characteristics forbid us to do so, and it may be that 

 the bent of the Germanic lies in the assiduous collection of facts, whilst their sub- 

 sequent elaboration and connection is the natural work of our own race. 



As regards the publication of so-called original work by students, and speak- 

 ing now only for myself as the director of an English chemical laboratoiy, I 

 feel I am doing the best for the young men who, wishing to become either 

 scientific or industrial chemists, are placed under my charge, in giving them as 

 sound and extensive a foundation in the theory and practice of chemical science as 

 their time and abilities will allow, rather than forcing them prematurely into the 

 preparation of a new series of homologous compounds, or the investigation of some 

 special reaction, or of some possible new colouring matter, though such work 

 might doubtless lead to publication. My aim has been to prepare a young man, 

 by a careful and fairly complete general training, to fill with intelligence and 

 success a post either as teacher or industrial chemist, rather than to turn out mere 

 specialists who, placed under other conditions than those to which they have been 

 accustomed, are unable to get out of the narrow groove in which they have been 

 trained. And this seems a reasonable course, for whilst the market for the pure 

 specialist, as the colour chemist, for example, may easily be overstocked, the man 

 of all-round intelligence will always find opportunity for the exercise of his 

 powers. Far, however, from underrating the educational advantages of working at 

 original subjects, I consider this sort of training to be of the highest and best kind, 

 but only useful when founded upon a sound and general basis. 



The difficulty which the English teacher of chemistry — and in this I may in- 

 clude Canada and the United States — has to contend against is, that whilst in 

 Germany the value of this high and thorough training is generally admitted, in 

 England a belief in its efficacy is as yet not generally entertained. ' The English- 

 man,' to quote from the recent Report of the Royal Commission on Technical 

 Instruction, ' is accustomed to seek for an immediate return, and has yet to learn 

 that an extended and systematic education, up to and including the methods of 

 original research, is now a necessary preliminary to the fullest development of 

 industry, and it is to the gradual but sure growth of public opinion in this direc- 

 tion that we must look for the means of securing to this country in the future, 

 as in the past, the highest position as an industrial nation.' 



If, in the second place, we consider the influence which Englishmen have 

 exerted on the teaching of our science, we shall feel reason for satisfaction ; many 

 of our text-books are translated into every European language and largely used 

 abroad ; often to the exclusion of those written by continental chemists. 



Again, science teaching, both practical and theoretical, in our elementary and 

 many secondary schools is certainly not inferior to that in schools of similar grade 

 abroad, and the interest in and desire for scientific training is rapidly spreading 

 throughout our working population, and is even now as great as, if not greater than, 

 abroad. The universities and higher colleges are also moving to take their share of 

 the work which has hitherto been far less completely done in our country than on 

 the continent of Europe, especially in Germany, where the healthful spirit of com- 

 petition, fostered by the numerous State-supported institutions, is much more 

 common than with us, and, being of equal value in educational as in professional or 

 ■commercial matters, has had its due effect. 



Turning lastly to the practical applications of our science, in what department 

 ■does England not excel ? and in which has she not made the most important new 

 departures ? Even in colour chemistry, concerning which we have heard, with 

 truth, much of German supremacy, we must remember that the industry is origin- 

 ally an English one, as the names of Perkin and of Maule, Simpson and Nicholson 

 testify ; and if we have hitherto been beaten hollow in the development of this 

 branch, signs are not wanting that this may not always be the case. But take any 

 other branch of applied chemistry, the alkali trade, for instance, what names but 

 English, with the two great exceptions of Leblanc and Solvay, do we find in con- 

 nection with real discoveries ? In the application of chemistry to metallurgical 

 processes, too, the names of Darby, Cort, Neilson, and Bell in iron, of Bessemer 



