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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 391. 



for concrete research in mechanical inven- 

 tion and an ability for commercial and 

 industrial enterprise which have been an 

 object of wonder, and latterly of anxiety 

 to other nations. During the first htm- 

 dred years of national existence the uni- 

 versity of the gymnasium type which has 

 been inherited from England continued to 

 develop and expand in the United States. 

 Suddenly, however, almost exactly twenty- 

 five years ago, a remarkable modification 

 was introduced. The year 1877 marks an 

 epoch in the establishment of the Johns 

 Hopkins University, with research courses 

 leading to the degree of Ph.D. as an addi- 

 tion to the usual undergraduate work; in 

 other words, a grafting of the German 

 university system upon the original stock. 

 It is proper to state that even before that 

 date research work had been prosecuted 

 incidentally in some of the older existing 

 universities. On consideration of the cir- 

 cumstances it is not difficult to account for 

 this new departure. The movement was 

 undoubtedly due to the influence of Ameri- 

 can students who had gone to Germany 

 for special studies. This migration to and 

 fro had been going on for some time before 

 the founding of Johns Hopkins and still 

 continues, the number of such students 

 gradually increasing from 77 in 1860 to 

 an average of about 400 annually during 

 the last decade. The new university ex- 

 periment was a success from the firet. The 

 scheme was carried out on such a high 

 plane that large numbers of able and zeal- 

 ous students were attracted from all parts 

 of the continent by the facilities for higher 

 study and by the scholarships and fellow- 

 ships which formed part of the scheme. 

 Tlie appointment of graduates of Johns 

 Hopkins to positions in other universities 

 and their success as teachers and investi- 

 gators have led to a widespread demand 

 for professors who have proved their 

 capacity for original work. 



Since 1877 many other universities, in- 

 cluding the best of those already in opera- 

 tion, as well as new foundations, have 

 added a graduate department leading to 

 the Ph.D. degree, although none of these, 

 with the exception of Clark University, has 

 made the prosecution of research the sole 

 biisiness of the university. Some idea of 

 the rapid progress of this movement may 

 be gathered from the fact that the numbers 

 pursuing graduate studies in the univer- 

 sities of the United States have increased 

 from eight, in 1850, to 399 in 1875, and to 

 about 6,000 in 1902. We must conclude 

 from these figures, I think, either that the 

 national mind discerns some ultimate ad- 

 vantage in the cultivation of abstract 

 science, or that, for once, it has been mys- 

 teriously diverted from the pursuit of the 

 'main chance.' It is surely significant 

 that a practical philanthropist like Mr. 

 Carnegie has recently bestowed the mag- 

 nificent endowment of $10,000,000 for the 

 establishment of an institution to be de- 

 voted solely to the promotion of research. 



As to the ultimate scientific value of 

 what has already been accomplished in the 

 way of research under the influence of this 

 recent movement, there is room for a quali- 

 fying remark. It must be remembered 

 that much of the graduate work referred 

 to does not mean actual research, the 

 course for the Ph.D. in many cases being 

 no higher than the honor B.A. course with 

 tis. What is required to remedy this un- 

 satisfactory condition is that the Ph.D. be 

 given only on the German plan, and that 

 the main test therefor, a research, be pub- 

 lished. When this condition becomes 

 absolute there will be material for the 

 world's judgment as to the amount and 

 quality of the contribution to the advance- 

 ment of knowledge. 



Organized research in Canadian uni- 

 versities, as a deflnite system, can scarcely 

 be said to exist as yet, although within the 



