842 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 413. 



it has reached a finished state ready to be 

 dedicated for the great purpose for which 

 it was designed and constructed. 



It seems to me that no feature of our 

 modern university education is so strik- 

 ingly set forth in the last few years as that 

 one which seeks to adapt physical and ma- 

 terial means to educational purposes. We 

 are no longer satisfied with a mere en- 

 closure of four walls which keep out the 

 rain and water and which ofi:er no other 

 material advantages for study and re- 

 search. I am not forgetful of the fact that 

 some of the greatest accomplishments of the 

 human intellect, in the way of search after 

 truth and knowledge, have been secvired 

 under the most adverse circumstances. 

 Berzelius, one of the greatest of chemists, 

 pursued his simple researches in a labora- 

 tory established in a kitchen and with 

 appliances which a third-grade high school 

 would now reject as totally unfit for any 

 useful purpose. We should not forget, 

 however, that in the impartation of instruc- 

 tion, and in the conduct of research, we 

 have passed the stage of first settlement 

 and the opening of practically unknown 

 ways. The ground which is to be covered 

 is well mapped out. We know its physi- 

 ography and geography and we are warned 

 by conspicuous placards, which we see 

 everywhere, that this particular field is 

 preempted and already under culture. The 

 courtesy which we owe each other leads 

 us to respect the claims which those who 

 have gone before us have made, and to seek 

 for other fields of usefulness not yet 

 marked out. 



Thus the simple appliances and the vast 

 open fields of a hundred years ago are 

 now wanting, and we need the greatest re- 

 finement of every possible kind in order 

 to make becoming progress. We hail, 

 therefore, with delight every new founda- 

 tion embodying new modern improvements 

 devoted to the cause of science, and es- 



pecially that particular science, which to- 

 day we are permitted to speak of in detail, 

 chemistry. It is, perhaps, no more fortu- 

 nate than any of the others with which it 

 is associated in increasing the sum of hu- 

 man knowledge. There are, however, some 

 peculiar circumstances connected with the 

 foundation of an institution for chemical 

 instruction and research which differen- 

 tiate that science from its sisters and which 

 call for some special comment. 



As a factor in the education of our 

 youth, chemistry may be regarded from 

 many distinct points of view. In the first 

 place, the data which chemistry has estab- 

 lished are elements of a liberal education. 

 In modern times the whole tendency in 

 chemical work is towards specialization. 

 Unless a man knows some one thing more 

 intimately than anybody else in the world, 

 he has little prospect of becoming profes- 

 sionally useful and renowned. It is no 

 longer a case of knowing one whole sci- 

 ence better than any one else, because 

 almost every science has grown beyond the 

 understanding of any single individual, but 

 it is a question of knowing some particular 

 thing, some miniite branch of the science, 

 in a way in which no other one compre- 

 hends it. 



Specialization in science, however, should 

 never be allowed to interfere with the ele- 

 mentary education of the one who is to be 

 devoted to special work. More and more 

 as I study this problem, it seems to me that 

 a man Avho in his future life is to become 

 eminent as a specialist should, of all others, 

 lay broad and deep the foundation of his 

 training. Wliatever function a man may 

 perform in life, he should have a general 

 knowledge of the languages, mathematics, 

 literature and the sciences, and among 

 them chemistry. I would not like to say 

 especially of chemistry, because the mem- 

 bers of each profession may be justly ac- 

 cused of magnifying their own science so 



