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:iik1 also of practical work in laboratories fitted out for tlie purpose. The prac- 

 ticability of this has been proved in more than one teaching institution, and 

 experience has convinced me that chemists who have had such a course arc 

 "•encrally more valuable in a works— whether their ultimate destination is tlie 

 mdustrial research laboratory or the control of manufacturing operations— than 

 those who have not had their studies directed beyond the traditional boundaries 

 of pure chemistry. (I used the word ' traditional ' because to my mind there is no 

 boundary line between the domains of pure and of applied chemistry.) _ A course 

 in chemical engineering, preferably preceded by a short course in general 

 engineering and drawing, must, however, be introduced as a supphme7it to, and 

 not as a stil)stit}ite for, any part of the necessary work in pure chemistry, and 

 consequently the period of undergraduate study will be lengthened if such a 

 course is included ; this is no disadvantage, but quite the contrary. I am glad 

 to say that the University of Glasgow has recently instituted a degree in Applied 

 Chemistry, for which the curriculum includes chemical engineering in addition 

 to the usual courses in chejnistry, and I hope that a place will be found for this 

 subject by other universities. 



On the whole, there is not much fault to be found with the training for 

 chemists supplied by the universities and technical colleges, but there is still 

 room for improvements which could and would be carried out if it were not 

 that the scientific departments of these institutions are as a rule hampered by 

 lack of funds. The facilities for practical instruction with respect to accom- 

 modation and equipment are generally adequate, but, on the other hand, the 

 ■personnel could with advantage be largely increased, and at least the junior 

 members of the staffs are miserably underpaid. It would doubtless be regarded 

 as insanity to suggest that a scientific man, however eminent, should receive 

 more than a fraction of the salary to which a music-hall ' artiste ' or a lawyer 

 politician can aspire; but if the best brains in the country are to be attracted 

 towards science, as they ought to be, some greater inducement than a mere 

 living wage .should be held out. Hence no opportunity should be lost of im- 

 pressing upon the Government the necessity for increasing the grants to_ the 

 "scientific departments of our higher teaching Institutions, and for the provision 

 of research scholarships. Tt is much to be desired also that wealthy men in 

 this country should take an example from America and acquire more generally 

 the liabit of devoting some part of their means to the endowment of higher 

 education. The private donations for science and education made in the Unite<l 

 States during the last forty-three years amount to the magnificent sum of 

 117,000,000?., and recently the average annual benefactions for educational pur- 

 l)oses total nearly 6,000,000/. Of course there are few, if any, of the universi- 

 ties and colleges in this country which are not deeply indebted to the foresight 

 .ind generosity of private benefactors, but the lavish scale on which funds are. 

 provided in America leads to a certain feeling of admiring en\'y. 



After all, the chief difficulty which confronts those who are eager for progress 

 in educational matters is that so many of our most famous schools^ are still 

 conducted on medireval lines, in the sense that the ' education ' administered Is 

 almost wholly classical. Consequently, ' though science enters into every part 

 of modern life, and scientific method is necessary for success in all under- 

 takings, the affairs of the coujitry are in the hands of legislators wjio_ not 

 only have little or no acquaintance with the fundamental facts and principles 

 signified by these aspects of knowledge, but also do not understand how such 

 matters can be used to strengthen and develop the State. Our admhiistrativc 

 officials are also mostly under the same disabilities, on account of their wantof 

 a scientific training. They are educated at schools where science can receive 

 little encouragement, and they do not take up scientific subjects in the examina- 

 tions for the Civil Service, because marks can be much more easily obtained 

 by attention to Latin and Greek; and the result of it all is that science is 

 usually treated with indifference, often with contempt, and rarely with intelli- 

 gent appreciation by the statesmen and members of the public services whose 

 decisions and acts largely determine the country's welfare. The defects of a 

 system which places the chief power of an organisation which needs under- 

 standing of science in every department in the hands of people who have not 



