Lamplugh : Man as an Instrument of Research. 197 



the ideas as they are coined are stamped, as it were, with the 

 mint-mark of their originator ; his right in them is admitted ; 

 he is held responsible for their validity and is expected to defend 

 them against all challengers. 



We may learn from history that ever since man became 

 a thinker, it has been for the possession and dominance of his 

 personal ideas that he has most bitterly quarrelled and fought ; 

 and even in the rarefied atmosphere of scientific thought the 

 old leaven is not yet entirely eliminated. So we are pardonably 

 apt to appreciate brilliancy of invention above brilliancy of 

 observation. But let us never forget that the one faculty is- 

 incomplete without the other : and that the effectiveness of 

 research depends upon their proper combination. Moreover,, 

 if comparison be indulged in. it must be allowed that pains- 

 taking observation alone, such as is open to any of us, will 

 always be helpful to the growth of knowledge ; while the exer- 

 cise of the imagination alone, though productive in art, is rarely 

 of value in science, and may be absolutely detrimental to it. 



The service that can be rendered by temperamental 

 aptitude for expression, as an adjunct in research, is 

 manifest. But we must admit that, though potent, this quality 

 is not in itself a sufficient equipment. When predominant, it 

 finds its chief sphere of usefulness in the simplification and 

 transmission of knowledge already acquired. Our ordinary 

 methods of education, which consist entirely in the recapitula- 

 tion of the known, create a constant demand for such service ; 

 and the persons who are to become instruments of education 

 are trained systematically to this end. Of qualified teachers of 

 science there is no lack or likelihood of lack ; and they, like 

 the instruments of the college laboratory, are good auxiliaries- 

 of science, but are not necessarih', or in all cases, instruments 

 of research. 



It is outside the schools and the atmosphere of teaching that 

 the most vigorous growth of fresh knowledge is stimulated ;. 

 and our voluntary societies have a value beyond that of the 

 schools in fostering research. 



But my theme must be kept within limits : so let me con- 

 clude by summing up its main intention. It is to reiterate and 

 emphasize the fact that human consciousness is still in every 

 way incomplete, but can be immeasurably increased by 

 deliberate and sustained eflort. The tiegree to which we have 



1910 May I. 



