374 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION B. 



tory which cannot be dispensed with, unless indeed he is prepared to go through 

 a course of study extending over many years. At the same time these evening 

 classes play a most important part, firstly in disseminating a knowledge of 

 chemistry throughout the country, and secondly in affording instruction of a 

 high order in special branches of applied chemistry. Finally, in a large and 

 increasing number of schools a more or less satisfactory introduction to the 

 science is given by well-qualified teachers. With our national habit of self- 

 depreciation we are apt to overlook the steady progress which has been made, 

 but at the same time I do not suggest that there is no room for improvement 

 of our .system of training chemists. Progress in every department of industrial 

 chemistry is ultimately dependent upon research, and therefore a sufficient supply 

 of chemists with practical knowledge and experience of the methods of research 

 is vital. This being so, it is an iinfortunate thing that so many students are 

 allowed to leave the universities in possession of a science degree but without 

 any experience in investigation. The training of the chemist, so far as that 

 training- can be given in a teaching institution, must be regarded as incomplete 

 unless it includes some research work, not, of course, because every student has 

 the mental gifts which characterise the born investigator, but rather because 

 of the inestimable value of the experience gained when he has to leave the beaten 

 track and to place more dependence upon his own initiative and resource. Con- 

 sequently one rejoices to learn that at the University of Oxford no candidate 

 can now obtain an Honours degree without having produced evidence that he 

 has taken part in original research, and that the General Board of Studies at 

 Cambridge has also made proposals which, if adopted, will have the effect of 

 encouraging systematic research work. Perhaps it is too much to expect that 

 practice in reseai'ch will be made an indispensable qualification for the ordinary 

 degree; failing this, and indeed in every case, promising students should be 

 encouraged, by the award of research scholarships, to continue their studies for 

 a period of at least two years after taking the B.Sc. degree, and to devote that 

 time to research work which would qualify for a higher degree. In this connec- 

 tion an excellent object-lesson is at hand, for the output of research work from 

 the Scottish Universities has very greatly increased since the scheme of the 

 Carnegie Trust for the institution of research scholarships has come into opera- 

 tion. Thanks to these scholarships, numbers of capable young graduates, who 

 otherwise for the most part would have had to seek paid employment as soon 

 as their degree courses were completed, have been enabled to .devote two or more 

 years to research work. Of course it must be recognised that not every chemist 

 has the capacity to initiate or inspire investigation, and that no amount of train- 

 ing, however thoro^igh and comprehensive, will make a man an inve.stigator 

 unless he has the natural gift. At the same time, whilst only the few are 

 able to originate really valuable research work, a large army of disciplined men 

 who have had training in the methods of research is required to carry out 

 experimentally the ideas of the master mind. Moreover, there is ample "scoiie 

 in industrial work for chemists who, although not gifted with initiative as 

 investigators, are suitably equipped to supervise and control the running of large- 

 scale processes, the designing of appropriate plant, the working out on the 

 manufacturing scale of new ^irocesses or the improvement of existing ones — 

 men of a thoroughly practical mind, who never lose sight of costs, output, and 

 efficiency, and who have a sufficient knowledge of engineering to make their 

 ideas and suggestions clear to the engineering expert. Further, there has to be 

 considered the necessity for the work of the skilled analyst in the examination 

 of raw materials and the testing of intermediate and finished products, although 

 much of the routine work of the industrial laboratory will advisedly be left in 

 the hands of apprentices working under the control of the chemist. Lastly, for 

 the buying and selling of materials there should be a demand for the chemist 

 with the commercial faculty highly developed. There is. indeed, in any large 

 industrial establishment room for chemists of several different types, but all of 

 these should have had the best possible training, and it must be the business 

 of our higher teaching institutions to see that this training is provided. 



On more than one occasion I have expressed the opinion that every chemist 

 who looks forward to an industrial post should receive in the course of his train- 

 ing a certain amount of instruction in chemical engineering, by means of lectures 



