June 27, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



1007 



last decade certain beginnings have been 

 made which indicate a movement in that 

 direction. Canada, like the United States, 

 has derived its university ideals from Great 

 Britain. Some of the original faculties 

 of our universities were a transplantation, 

 so to speak, of groups of scholars from 

 Britain, who brought with them intact the 

 traditions in which they themselves had 

 been nurtured, so that we received by di- 

 rect importation scarcely more than fifty 

 years ago a system which in the United 

 States had been developing in its own way 

 since the founding of Harvard in 1636. I 

 cannot better illustrate the attitude towards 

 research of many of these academic pio- 

 neers than by quoting the remark made by 

 an English professor— himself a classical 

 scholar — on an occasion so comparatively 

 recent as the establishment of the physical 

 laboratory in the University of Toronto. 

 'Why go to the expense,' said he 'of pur- 

 chasing this elaborate equipment until the 

 physicists have made an end of making dis- 

 coveries ? ' 



In the interval the idea of research has 

 made gratifying progress among the well- 

 informed. Probably few scholars could 

 now be foimd in Canada who would put 

 their objections so naively as my classical 

 friend. This progress has come in part 

 from a natural process of evolution within 

 ourselves, and in part also from external 

 influences, notably that of Germany and 

 the United States. Many of our graduates 

 have pursued courses of study in Germany 

 and have brought back with them the Ger- 

 man ideal. Besides, such is the geograph- 

 ical position of Canada with regard to the 

 United States, and such the community of 

 social and intellectual life, that the uni- 

 versities of these two countries must in- 

 evitably develop along parallel lines; and 

 hence, if for no other reason, we may look 

 forward to the gradual extension here of 



the research movement which is already so 

 widespread in the neighboring republic. 



That a natural and healthy demand for 

 this kind of work already exists may, T 

 think, be inferred from the success which 

 has attached to the recent establishment of 

 the doctorate degrees in certain universi- 

 ties, but still more perhaps from the fact 

 that for some years it has been customary 

 in some cases to direct honor students in 

 the final year of the B.A. course to the 

 work of research. In illustration of what 

 has been accomplished in this way I may 

 state that some of the papers presented in 

 Section III. at the present meeting have 

 been prepared by uudergraduates in arts 

 in the University of Toronto. But what- 

 ever may be the ultimate outcome of the 

 research movement with us, permit me to 

 repeat what I have already said in another 

 connection, namely, that the Ph.D. should 

 not be given without the presentation of a 

 satisfactory thesis, and that such research 

 should be published before the degree is 

 awarded. 



I have confined my remarks up to this 

 point almost wholly to the historical as- 

 pect of the question, but it wiU perhaps 

 not be out of place for me to point out in 

 conclusion some of the advantages which 

 in my opinion are connected with the pur- 

 suit of university research. 



Let us consider first the stimulating 

 effect upon the individuals and institutions 

 concerned. Among those who are affected 

 by this stimulus should first be named the 

 professor. Dr. Samuel Johnson was wont 

 to compare accumulated knowledge to a 

 heap of ice lying exposed to the summer 

 sun, the bulk of which could not be main- 

 tained without constant replenishment. 

 Continuing the figure, we can readily im- 

 agine that the professor's fund of Imowl- 

 edge which is ample enough for the class- 

 room teaching of immature minds might 



