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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI, No. 920 



been taken advantage of. It seems to me 

 that these cases in which important scien- 

 tific results have followed systematic in- 

 struction furnish conclusive evidence that 

 if the principles applied in these bureaus 

 were extended to other bureaus, the facili- 

 ties and opportunities would be taken 

 advantage of upon a considerable scale, 

 perhaps as great as their facilities permit. 



Therefore, if the opportunities for scien- 

 tific work at Washington were as definitely 

 described as are the courses in the cata- 

 logue of a university, if there was a central 

 place to which a man could go to register 

 and be guided to his work, if he could have 

 an opportunity to have his work correlated, 

 if he could have the assistance of the man 

 with whom he wished to work, then I confi- 

 dently believe that there would be a very 

 large number of students who would take 

 advantage of the unexampled collections 

 and libraries of Washington. 



To make these facilities still more avail- 

 able, it would be advantageous for the vari- 

 ous universities of the country to cooperate 

 with the Washington authorities. In the 

 catalogue of a university it might be well 

 to announce the particular lines of work 

 and the advanced courses which could be 

 advantageously taken at Washington best 

 to supplement the work done at the uni- 

 versity. Such cooperation would even 

 more clearly emphasize the fact that the 

 plan for a national university at Wash- 

 ington is not one to compete with existing 

 universities, but to supplement them. Of 

 course, no university could be compelled 

 to cooperate as suggested, but it can 

 scarcely be doubted that a large number 

 would enter into cooperation, since so 

 doing would be to the advantage of their 

 students. Thus it is believed that the pro- 

 posals made, if adopted, will result in a 

 great gain to science in the country and 



also be of direct advantage to existing 

 universities. 



It is to be noted that the plan outlined 

 does not include that of granting degrees. 

 The fundamental thing advocated is that 

 the country gain the advantage of the op- 

 portunities which exist at Washington, 

 which they may do with comparatively 

 little additional cost. To accomplish this 

 it is not necessary that the departments 

 undertake the task of examinations, the 

 approval of theses and the awarding of 

 degrees. 



If there be prejudice against calling the 

 institution above described a national uni- 

 versity, it may be given some other name, 

 since as a matter of fact the institution 

 proposed would be different from any exist- 

 ing university in that it would not pro- 

 fess to give a complete system of courses 

 regarding any subject, but would give such 

 specialized courses as the facilities at 

 Washington made advantageous; and also 

 it differs from a university in the respect 

 that it would not grant degrees. For 

 my own part I do not particularly care 

 whether or not the institution of which I 

 speak be called a national university; but 

 I am most anxious that the great oppor- 

 tunities at Washington, both in the way of 

 materials and men, shall be available as 

 instrumentalities for advanced research, 

 and that this shall be a national asset. 



PROPOSALS APPROVED BY STATE UNIVERSITIES 



The proposals made are in perfect har- 

 mony with the plan for the establishment 

 of a national university, approved by the 

 National Association of State Universities. 

 In the bill introduced into Congress with 

 the sanction of the association, it is pro- 

 posed that the essential idea of the national 

 university be opportunity for study, not 

 the granting of degrees. It is further pro- 

 posed that no student shall be permitted to 

 work in the various departments until he 



