282 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLV. No. 1160 



be undertaken as a profession: (1) At our 

 universities and colleges, in so far as these 

 recognize that research work is part of the 

 service for which instructors and professors 

 are paid; (2) under the federal govern- 

 ment, the states and" the municipalities, 

 when these regard the promotion and pay- 

 ment of research as a function of the state ; 

 (3) in endowed research institutions or in 

 charitable and public institutions in which 

 research is considered part of their objects, 

 and (4) in cases where work can be con- 

 ducted on an economic basis. For psychol- 

 ogy we have no endowed research labo- 

 ratory, the state does but little, our dis- 

 coveries are not patentable and our expert 

 knowledge is but rarely saleable. Nearly 

 all of us are employed by universities and 

 colleges, and we are in the main dependent 

 on them for the opportunity to do the work 

 that is done. Their attitude is on the whole 

 favorable and is improving. 



As secretary of a committee of the Amer- 

 ican Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, I have addressed inquiries to all 

 our institutions of higher education, asking 

 the extent to wliich research work and pro- 

 ductive scholarship are considered in ma- 

 king appointments and promotions and are 

 regarded as part of the work for which in- 

 structors and professors are paid. Nearly 

 all the replies emphasize the weight laid 

 on research. 



The president of Harvard University 

 writes : 



In the making of appointments and promotions 

 at Harvard University, greater weight, on the aver- 

 age, is given to scientific research and productive 

 scholarship than to any other single consideration. 

 Eesearch is a part of the work expected from in- 

 structors and professors. 



The president of Columbia Univereity: 



In making recommendations for appointments 

 and promotions in the faculties of Columbia Uni- 

 versity, the several departments concerned are ex- 

 pected to give predominant weight, and as matter 



of fact do give predominant weight, to capacity 

 for scientific research and to evidence of produc- 

 tive scholarship. 



The president of the University of Wis- 

 consin : 



Scholarly work or research is a part of the work 

 expected of instructors and professors. When pre- 

 senting statements to the legislature I have esti- 

 mated that upon the average from one third to 

 one fourth of the cost should be charged to in- 

 vestigation. 



The president of the University of Illi- 

 nois: 



The work of research is fundamentally a part 

 of the duty of the university, and this is especially 

 true of state universities. Necessary equipment 

 and necessary time should be allowed for every 

 member of the staff to be actively engaged in some 

 piece of- research work all the time. 



Letters such as these are full of encourage- 

 ment for the future ; but we must remember 

 that it is not on university presidents and 

 trustees but on us ourselves that the future 

 depends. 



To individual philanthropy we owe the 

 endowment of research and of institutions 

 expressly devoted to research. We have 

 long had endowed astronomical observa- 

 tories, and it is due to this circumstance 

 that America has done relatively better in 

 astronomy than in any other science. Mu- 

 seums, botanical gardens and similar insti- 

 tutions have more and more seriously added 

 scientific investigation to their other func- 

 tions. But it is only within recent years 

 that the Carnegie Institution of Washing- 

 ton and the Rockefeller Institute for Med- 

 ical Eesearch have been established, and 

 we see in them for the first time in history 

 research in pure science conducted as a pro- 

 fession. There is urgent need of an ade- 

 quately endowed Institute for Psycholog- 

 ical Research; but we can scarcely expect 

 one of our members to supply the needed 

 ten million dollars. 



Our federal government makes larger 



