August 3, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



141 



others the man, the state of his department, and 

 the stage of his researches, an important work 

 that is nearing completion being more worthy of 

 concessions than one just beginning. 



The making of conditions for research is but 

 a just acknowledgment of the debt the univer- 

 sities awe the world of knowledge, and is the 

 first step towards its repayment. 



Another says: 



Assuming the command of adequate resources, 

 it seems to me that the extent to which professors 

 engaged in research should be relieved from in- 

 struction is essentially an individual question, 

 the answer to which is dependent on the relative 

 values of the professor's work in research and in 

 instruction. If the research is of exceptional 

 value, the instruction should be limited to that 

 which relates to the field of research or is tribu- 

 tary to it. Thus much is usually helpful to the 

 research. If on the other hand the instructional 

 work has markedly the higher order of merit, the 

 research work may well be limited to that which 

 is helpful and tributary to the instruction, as a 

 certain amount is assumed always to be. The 

 intermediate cases may well be subjects of special 

 adjustment on lines intermediate between these 

 two, precedence being given to research when it is 

 really productive. 



Another says: 



Men differ in regard to the relation between 

 research and instruction. The true investigator 

 is born, not made, and will work whether he must 

 teach or not, but the quality and quantity of his 

 work will be directly proportional to the time 

 at his disposal. On the other hand, the investiga- 

 tor who is the product of educational methods is 

 likely to accomplish less as the time at his dis- 

 posal increases. 



The character of the work differs in different 

 cases. Some lines of work require longer ab- 

 sences or longer uninterrupted periods than others. 



A man who has demonstrated his ability for 

 research should be able to command a larger pro- 

 portion of his time for this purpose as he ap- 

 proaches mental maturity. 



A distinction should be made between elenientary 

 and advanced instruction. Class work with ad- 

 vanced students along lines in which the instruct- 

 or is personally interested as an investigator is 

 often a great aid to research because it permits 

 contact with other minds, discussion, and the 

 statement in words of thoughts. The mental 



stimulus involved in this relation between in- 

 structor and student is often of great value. 



On the other hand, the routine of general or 

 elementary courses, largely attended, where the 

 element of personal contact is mostly absent, often 

 interferes seriously with research. 



As the investigator develops he should be more 

 and more free from the routine work connected 

 with instruction. 



To sum up : The point of greatest importance 

 is that the investigator should have extended 

 periods of time free from other duties. These 

 should be regarded not as vacation, but as a part 

 of his work. Certain hours in the day or cer- 

 tain days in the week do not meet the needs of 

 the investigator. 



Another says : 



My experience has convinced me that under the 

 system commonly followed in our universities either 

 the students suffer for lack of attention or re- 

 search is neglected; and the more eminent the 

 teacher the more surely is this the case. For as 

 a teacher's reputation grows, so does the number 

 of his students increase; and the eminent investi- 

 gator is forced to either lock himself into his 

 study and neglect his students or devote his days 

 to instruction and restrict his researches to 

 nights, Sundays and vacations, when mind and 

 body are worn out. In no field is it more true 

 than in this that a man can not serve two 

 masters. 



I believe that what may be termed the in- 

 tensive system gives promise of affording relief to 

 what is obviously a very undesirable situation^ 

 If the teacher will devote all of his energies for 

 one half of the year to imparting instruction and 

 directing the researches of his advanced students, 

 the students will probably gain more, in most 

 cases, than they do under the present system. 

 And the conscientious teacher will be able to de- 

 vote the other half year to research without being 

 constantly oppressed with the feeling that he is 

 neglecting students who have sacrificed much in 

 order to gain the opportunity to study with him. 



Under the intensive system it would doubtless 

 require a somewhat larger corps of teachers to 

 care for the students than under the present sys- 

 tem, where nominally every teacher is available 

 for instruction all of the time. But a professor 

 working under the intensive system would do 

 very much more than half the amount of instruc- 

 tion that he does under the present sj'^stem; hence 

 the necessary increase in teachers would be less 

 than might appear at first sight. 



