32 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 



3. The recommendation of promotions on the basis of research 

 achievement. 



4. The supervision of regulations governing higher degrees. 

 Among the more specific problems which confront this Board are 



the following : — 



1. The creation of Eesearch Libraries where reference works can 

 be consulted immediately. 



2. The provision of publication grants, so that where no periodical 

 lit-erature is available the work will not I'emain buried or obscure. 



3. The allocation of travelling grants to enable workers to visit 

 libraries, to inspect manufacturing processes, and to attend meetings 

 O'f the scientific societies. 



I have dealt merely with the fringe of the question, but would add 

 that there is one thing which a. Eesearch Board should avoid. 



It is, I am convinced, a mistake for a governing body to call for 

 an annual list of publications from research laboratories. Nothing 

 could be more injurious to the true atmosphere of research than the 

 feeling of pressure that papers must be published or the Department 

 will be discredited. 



What I have said so far may seem largely ai recital of new difficulties, 

 but they are not insurmountable, and to overcome them adds a zest 

 to life. It would have taken too long to go more fully into details and 

 I have tried to avoid making my address a research syllabus, merely 

 giving in general terms the impressions gained during the twenty years 

 in which the St. Andrews Eesearch Laboratories have been in existence. 



Save for the fact that I realise my audience is not confined to 

 university teachers I would have liked to speak on some such points 

 as these' : The choice of a research student, the selection of a research 

 subject, the writing of scientific papers. Each would demand a lengthy 

 discussion, as would also the painful situation created when a research 

 topic fails or a research worker proves disappointing. 



I have confined myself to the first stage in the research development 

 of the chemist. His future path may lead him either to the factory or 

 to the lecture-room, and in the end the exceptional man will be found 

 in the director's laboratory or in the professor's chair. However 

 difficult these roads may prove, I feel that with the financial aid now 

 available, supported by the self-sacrificing labours of those who devote 

 themselves to furthering this work, he has the opportunity to reach the 

 goal. It is the beginning of a new scientific age, and we may look 

 forward confidently to the time when there will be no lack of trained 

 scientific intellects to lead our policy and direct our effoits in all that 

 concerns the welfare of the country. 



