June 27, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



1003 



Florence in 1657, and the Royal Society 

 of London dates from 1660 or earlier. 

 Organized research in universities was of 

 slower growth. In them the medifeval 

 spirit was tenacious of life, and it was 

 only in the nineteenth century, in Ger- 

 many, at the close of the Napoleonic wars, 

 that research, not only in natural philos- 

 ophy, but in the whole field of knowledge, 

 became the basis of the German educational 

 system, and I might remark, without going 

 into details, that the university systems of 

 France and the other principal countries 

 of Europe, with the exception of Great 

 Britain, are in the main parallel with that 

 of Germany, although not so consistently 

 elaborated. To understand then what or- 

 ganized university research means in the 

 fullest development which it has hitherto 

 attained, let us turn our attention a little 

 to Germany, of the educational system of 

 which it forms an essential part. 



We are so subject to the authority of 

 words that it is difficult for us to realize 

 that the organization called a university in 

 Germany is almost entirely different in 

 scope and object from the institution 

 which we so designate in this country. 

 Hitherto, at least in England and Canada, 

 the function of the university has mainly 

 been to impart a general and liberal educa- 

 tion, continuing and completing the begin- 

 ning already made in the secondary school. 

 Speaking generally, I may say that under 

 the German system the work of our second- 

 ary schools and imiversities combined is 

 performed by the gymnasium, the nine or 

 ten years' training of which leaves the 

 young man of nineteen or twenty years of 

 age with a much better liberal education 

 than that possessed by the average grad- 

 uate in arts of an English, Canadian or 

 American university. How this is accom- 

 plished it is not my purpose here to ex- 

 plain. There is no doubt, however, as to 

 the fact, which is substantiated both by the 



nature of the curriculum of the gymnasium 

 and by the testimony of those familiar with 

 both systems. In this connection I recall 

 the observation made to me on one occasion 

 by a professor here, himself a wrangler of 

 high standing in Cambridge, who remarked 

 that it was always a mystery to him how the 

 German gymnasimns attained such extraor- 

 dinary results, results which, he added, it 

 would be hopeless to expect in England, 

 while on the other hand I have more than 

 once heard German professors express sur- 

 prise at the meager equipment of university 

 graduates from America. 



It is upon this substantial preliminary 

 training that the work of the German uni- 

 versity proper is based. Up to this point 

 the young man has been a 'learner'; on 

 entering the imiversity he becomes a 'stu- 

 dent.' This distinction, expressed by the 

 German words 'lernen' and 'studieren,' 

 marks the difference between gymnasium 

 and imiversity— the acquisition of knowl- 

 edge under the teacher in one, the inde- 

 pendent research under the guidance of 

 the professor in the other. 



The typical German university possesses 

 the four faculties of theology, law, medicine 

 and philosophy. The scope of the first 

 three is evident from their designation, and 

 with them we are not at present immedi- 

 ately concerned. The faculty of philos- 

 ophy embraces the subjects which we in- 

 clude as university studies, imder the head 

 of arts and science. It is the most impor- 

 tant of the four, the professors in it some- 

 times outnumbering those of all other 

 faculties combined. The ultimate object 

 of both professors and students is the 

 advancement of Imowledge and the inde- 

 pendence with which research is conducted 

 is well expressed by the two words 'Lehr- 

 freiheit' and 'Lernfreiheit'— the freedom 

 of the professor as to what he teaches and 

 the freedom of the student to select his 

 special line of research. Some idea of the 



