690 REPORT — 1900. 



result ; and even after he liasljecome familiar with tlie simpler determinations be. 

 rarely attempts, and indeed has no time to attempt, anything of the nature of an 

 oricfinal investigation in qualitative or quantitative analysis. It indeed sometimes 

 happens that a t^tudent at the end of his second year has never prepared a pure 

 substance, and is often utterly ignorant of the methods employed in the separation 

 of suhstauces by crystallisation ; he has never conducted a distillation, and has no 

 idea how to investigate the nature and amounts of substances formed in chemical 

 reactions; practically all his time has been taken up with analysis. That this is 

 not the way to teach chemistry was certainly the opinion of Liebig, and in 

 support of this I quote a paragraph bearing on the subject which occurs in a very 

 interesting book on ' Justus von Liebig: his Life and Work,' written by W. A. 

 Shenstone (pp. 17-5, 176). 



' In his practical teaching Liebig laid great stress on the producing of chemical 

 preparations ; on the students preparing, that is to say, pure substances in good 

 quantity from crude materials. The importance of this was, even in Liebig's time, 

 often overlooked ; and it was, he tells us, more common to find a man who could 

 make a good analysis than to find one who could produce a pure preparation in 

 the most judicious way.' 



' There is no better way of making one's self acquainted with the properties of 

 a substance than by first producing it from the raw material, then converting it 

 into its compounds, and so becoming acquainted with them. By the study of 

 ordinary analysis one does not learn how to use the important methods of crys- 

 tallisation, fractional distillation, nor acquire any considerable e.xperience in the 

 proper use of solvents. In short, one does not, as Liebig said, become a 

 chemist.' 



One reason why the present system of training chemibts has persisted so long 

 is no doubt that it is a vei'y convenient system : it is easily taught, does not 

 require expensive apparatus, and, above all, it lends itself admirably for the purpose 

 of competitive examination. 



The system of examination which has been developed during the last twenty 

 years has done much harm, and is a source of great difficulty to any conscientious 

 teacher who is "possessed of originality, and is desirous, particularly in special 

 cases, of leaving the beaten track. 



In our colleges and universities most of the students work for some definite 

 examination — frequently for the Bachelor of Science degree — either at their own 

 University or at the University of London. 



For such degrees a perfectl}' definite course is prescribed and must be followed, 

 because the questions which the candidate will have to answer at his examination 

 are based on a syllabus which is either published or is known by precedent to be 

 required. The course which the teacher is obliged to teach is thus placed beyond 

 his individual power of alteration, except in minor details, and originality in the 

 teacher is thereby discouraged : he knows that all students must face the same 

 examination, and he must urge the backward man through exactly the same 

 course as his more talented neighbour. 



In almost all examinations salts' or mixtures of salts are given for qualitative 

 analysis. ' Determine the constituents of the simple salt A and of the mixture B'' 

 is a favourite examination formula ; and as some practical work of this sort is sure- 

 to be set, the teacher knows that he must contrive to get one and aU of his students 

 into a condition to enable them to answer such questions. 



If, then, one considers the great amount of work which is required from the 

 present-day student, it is not surprising that every aid to rapid preparation for 

 examination should be accepted with delight by the teacher ; and thus it comes 

 about that tables are elaborated in every detail, not only for qualitative analysis in 

 inorganic chemistry, but, what is far worse, for the detection of some arbitrary 

 selection of organic substances which may be set in the syllabus for the examina- 

 tion. I question whether any really competent teacher will be found to recommend 

 this system as one of educational value or calculated to bring out and train the 

 faculty of original thought in students. s 



If, then, the present system is so unsatisfactory, it will naturally be asked,. 



