February 21, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



303 



Reserve College m 1826, and refounded as 

 Adelbert College of Western Reserve Univer- 

 sity in 1882. The School of Medicine was 

 founded in 1843, the School of Pharmacy in 

 1882 and the College for Women in 1888. In 

 1892, the School of Law, the Graduate School 

 and the Dental School were founded. The 

 Library School was founded in 1904. 



The actual number of law schools in the 

 United States only increased from 102 to 118 

 in the decade from 1902 to 1912, according to 

 figures compiled at the U. S. Bureau of Educa- 

 tion, but the number of students studying 

 law in these schools increased from 13,912 to 

 20,760 in same period. There were 3,524 

 graduates of law schools in 1902 and 4,394 last 

 year. Law students, having a collegiate degree, 

 doubled in the ten years. Financially the law 

 schools show a remarkable advance. The en- 

 dowment funds increased from half a million 

 to nearly two million dollars; the grounds and 

 buildings tripled in value; and the total in- 

 come in 1912 was $1,368,000, as against $523,- 

 000 in 1902. The 387,000 volumes in the law- 

 school libraries of 1902 had grown to 936,000 

 in 1912. 



Dr. Frederic Lyman Wells, assistant in 

 pathological psychology at the McLean Hos- 

 pital, is conducting a course of lectures and 

 discussions on " Pathological Psychology " at 

 Harvard University. 



Dr. Frederick G. Donnan, F.E.S., has been 

 appointed to the chair of general chemistry at 

 University College, London, recently vacated 

 by Sir William Ramsay, F.R.S. 



Dr. William J. Dakin, F.R.S. , at present 

 assistant professor at London University, has 

 been appointed professor of biology at the 

 University of Western Australia, Perth. Dr. 

 Alexander D. Ross, of Scotland, has been ap- 

 pointed professor of mathematics and physics 

 in the same institution. 



DISCUSSION AND COSBESFONDENCE 

 a plan for the encouragement of medical 

 research 

 Judging by the number of bequests and en- 

 dowments directed toward that end, the 



furthering of medical research is an attractive 

 field for philanthropic endeavor if not for 

 public investment. As one of the rank and 

 file who are working toward the advancement 

 of medical science I would suggest that no 

 method of encouraging such research has 

 heretofore been wholly successful. The foun- 

 dation of institutes for this purpose is eilec- 

 tive in case of the favored few who happen to 

 be reached, but for most scientists (including 

 the clinical variety), who are engaged in 

 teaching in medical schools, who constitute 

 the great proportion of the working force, 

 such foundations are of little assistance. 



The most effective plan would seem to be 

 that by which actual accomplishment is re- 

 warded without unduly favoring any one. 

 Such a result could be achieved by the simple 

 expedient of endowing the periodicals de- 

 voted to the publication of research so that 

 contributed articles could be paid for accord- 

 ing to their merit. Such an arrangement 

 would obviate the most discouraging feature 

 of working in many institutions, the feeling 

 that unusual effort is, from a selfish point of 

 view, not merely futile but even detrimental, 

 in that leisure for reading, recreation and 

 family life is sacrificed without compensating 

 gain. 



The plan in operation would be simplicity 

 itself. Rewards would go automatically to 

 those who earned them. The chief difficulty 

 seemingly would be to secure editorial boards 

 fair minded enough to decide justly upon the 

 merits of each contribution, but that difficulty 

 would be by no means insurmountable. In 

 any case to assign a value to a given piece of 

 research would be much easier than to fore- 

 east which of a dozen men would be accom- 

 plishing the most efl^ective work ten years 

 later, a forecast which, as a matter of fact, has 

 to be made in each instance, before a desirable 

 research or teaching position can justly be as- 

 signed. 



It is recognized that the best endeavor can 

 not be bought, and that the best rewards of a 

 scientific career are not pecuniary — " but that 

 is another story ! " Whatever merit there is 

 in financial encouragement would seem best 



