262 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 765 



thusiastic about it, developed very consid- 

 erable mathematical ability, and, though he 

 had already vrasted two out of his three 

 years at college, took a good place in the 

 mathematical tripos. 



It is possible to read books, to pass exam- 

 inations without the higher qualities of the 

 mind being called into play. Indeed, I 

 doubt if there is any process in which the 

 mind is more quiescent than in reading 

 without interest. I might appeal to the 

 widespread habit of reading in bed as a 

 prevention of insomnia as a proof of this. 

 But it is not possble for a boy to make a 

 boat or for a girl to cook a dinner without 

 using their brains. With practical things 

 the diiificulties have to be surmounted, the 

 boat must be made watertight, the dinner 

 must be cooked, while in reading there is 

 always the hope that the diiSculties which 

 have been slurred over will not be set in 

 the examination. 



I think it was Helmholtz who said that 

 often in the course of a research more 

 thought and energy were spent in reducing 

 a refractory piece of brass to order than 

 in devising the method or planning the 

 scheme of campaign. This constant need 

 for thought and action gives to original 

 research in any branch of experimental 

 science great educational value even for 

 those who will not become professional men 

 of science. I have had considerable ex- 

 perience with students beginning research 

 in experimental physics, and I have always 

 been struck by the quite remarkable im- 

 provement in judgment, independence of 

 thought and maturity produced by a 

 year's research. Research develops quali- 

 ties which are apt to atrophy when the 

 student is preparing for examinations, and, 

 quite apart from the addition of new 

 knowledge to our store, is of the greatest 

 importance as a means of education. 



It is the practise in many universities to 



make special provision for the reception of 

 students from other universities who wish 

 to do original research or to study the more 

 advanced parts of their subject, and con- 

 siderable numbers of such students migrate 

 from one university to another. I think 

 it would be a good thing if this practise 

 were to extend to students at an earlier 

 stage in their career; especially should I 

 like to see a considerable interchange of 

 students between the universities in the 

 mother country and those in the colonies. 



I am quite sure that many of our English 

 students, especially those destined for pub- 

 lic life, could have no more valuable ex- 

 perience than to spend a year in one or 

 other of your universities, and I hope some 

 of your students might profit by a visit to 

 ours. 



I can think of nothing more likely to 

 lead to a better understanding of the feel- 

 ings, the sympathies, and, what is not less 

 important, the prejudices, of one country 

 by another, than by the youths of those 

 countries spending a part of their student 

 life together. Undergraduates as a rule 

 do not wear a mask either of politeness or 

 any other material, and have probably a 

 better knowledge of each other's opinions 

 and points of view — in fact, know each 

 other better than do people of riper age. 

 To bring this communion of students about 

 there must be cooperation between the uni- 

 versities throughout the empire ; there must 

 be recognition of each other's examina- 

 tions, residence and degrees. Before this 

 can be accomplished there must, as my 

 friend Mr. E. B. Sargant pointed out in a 

 lecture given at the McGill University, be 

 cooperation and recognition between the 

 universities in each part of the empire. I 

 do not mean for a moment that all univer- 

 sities in a country should be under one 

 government. I am a strong believer in the 

 individuality of universities, but I do not 



