October 30, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



589 



entifie organization of these foreign firms 

 will nevertheless enable them to command 

 our home market with the goods made 

 here. 



The conclusion which thus seems forced 

 upon us is that, although the new Patent 

 Act will prove to be of great value in 

 many respects, it will do little to foster 

 British chemical trade and the develop- 

 ments of British chemistry; it places us 

 on an equality with other countries as re- 

 gards patent rights, and thus remedies an 

 outstanding grievance; but unless we have 

 something to patent, this equality will be 

 valueless and our chemical industries will 

 continue to decline, possibly more rapidly 

 than heretofore. 



Among the other causes which have been 

 suggested as contributory to our failure 

 are: (1) The unsatisfactory condition of 

 secondary education; (2) the nature of the 

 training which is given to chemists in our 

 universities and other institutions; (3) the 

 insufficiency of the time and money de- 

 voted to research in the manufacturing in- 

 dustries; (4) the lack of cooperation be- 

 tween manufacturers and men of science. 

 There are some of us who believe that the 

 first of these is the primary. . . . 



In a presidential address to the Chemical 

 Society last year Professor Meldola dis- 

 cussed the position and prospects of chem- 

 ical research in Great Britain, and in view 

 of the importance of the subject and the 

 able manner in which it had been treated, 

 the Council of the Society ordered the pub- 

 lication of five thousand copies of his ad- 

 dress for distribution among the members 

 of various public bodies. We were told in 

 this address that many of our universities 

 are distinct failures as centers of chemical 

 research, and that the output of original 

 work from our colleges, polytechnics and 

 similar institutions is emphatically not 

 representative of the productive power of 

 the teachers there employed. The causes 



of the failure of our universities were only 

 lightly touched upon, and I propose to 

 refer to them later ; but in the case of our 

 other institutions they were more fully dis- 

 cussed. May I venture to draw attention 

 to one cause, which I believe is by far the 

 most effective drag on research in the vast 

 majority of such institutions not of uni- 

 versity rank? It is simply the lack of 

 those more advanced students who, while 

 gaining valuable experience in the methods 

 of research, would also render useful assist- 

 ance to their teacher. The governing 

 body of the institution may not realize the 

 importance of research; the principal, as, 

 alas ! is sometimes the case, may throw cold 

 water on such work; the teacher may be 

 overburdened with routine duties, and he 

 may be most inadequately remunerated; 

 if, however, the research spirit is strong 

 within him, he would overcome all these 

 difficulties were there any prospect what- 

 soever of success; but what chance has he 

 when he must do everything himself, even 

 to washing out his own test-tubes? Pro- 

 vide him with a few advanced students, 

 and he would doubtless find time to under- 

 take the necessary pioneer research work, 

 which would then be extended and de- 

 veloped with their assistance. 



It might be suggested that an efficient 

 and enthusiastic man would soon attract a 

 number of research students. This, no 

 doubt, is true as regards the universities, 

 but it must be remembered that a poly- 

 technic or other institution which does not 

 grant degrees can hardly expect to com- 

 pete with a university as a center for re- 

 search; all those students who intend to 

 undergo a so-called "complete" course of 

 study— that is to say, all who are likely to 

 become capable of undertaking research 

 work— naturally proceed to one of the de- 

 gree-giving universities. There are not 

 enough students to go round, to satisfy the 

 research requirements of the teachers, and 



