Mat 3, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



691 



in the institution, and with business in- 

 stincts that enable him to meet men of af- 

 fairs on grounds of mutual interest and 

 understanding, must of necessity be more 

 efficient than that of the dean who is inter- 

 ested in his department as one element of a 

 great university, not wholly independent in 

 applying his convictions nor untrammeled 

 by other considerations incident to his de- 

 partment. It is no doubt true that the 

 conditions affecting the school of science in 

 its relations to the business world are essen- 

 tially different from those of law and medi- 

 cine, as integral elements of the university. 



With reference to a combination in re- 

 sources which is the chief source of 

 strength in the great modern business cor- 

 poration and its application along similar 

 lines in the university, the successful ele- 

 ment in the manufacturing corporation is 

 the elimination of manual labor with its 

 uncertainties and imperfections, and its 

 more general displacement by machinery 

 that is invariable in its operation. It is 

 admitted that without the larger substitu- 

 tion of labor by machinery, the same effi- 

 ciency and economy are not secured in 

 manufacturing plants in which details are 

 altogether in the hands of salaried em- 

 ployees, as was possible in the earlier period 

 when smaller branches of business were 

 under the direct personal supervision of 

 the owners. On the other hand, in the 

 educational field, mind is the immediate 

 controlling and directing power in every 

 detail, with no intervention of mechanical 

 appliances. The teacher can not direct his 

 students and carry on his instruction from 

 a distant city, or from another continent. 



The essential principle of combination in 

 business, that modern conditions demand 

 great accumulations of capital and re- 

 sources for control in competition and com- 

 merieal fluctuations, does not apply in a 

 similar degree to any successful educa- 



tional institution, for there is a far greater 

 demand for graduates than can be sup- 

 plied, and there is little difficulty in se- 

 curing necessary funds for carrying on 

 fundamental lines of educational work. If 

 it be true, as has been stated, that the Ger- 

 man universities are much overcrowded 

 with respect to employment after gradua- 

 tion, and that strenuous efforts are put 

 forth through German residents in this 

 country to place their graduates here, the 

 element of competition is not wanting, or 

 may not be in the immediate future. Such 

 competition may even be a stimulating ad- 

 vantage, inciting the workers here to great- 

 er effort. Already we have cause for con- 

 gratulation in the standing of our research 

 laboratories, especially in physical chem- 

 istry. It is an indication of a leading posi- 

 tion in research and the advancement of 

 knowledge to which the devoted labors of 

 the numerous able investigators in this 

 country during the last thirty years have 

 contributed. A powerful aid, which it is 

 all too soon to appreciate in its desirable 

 results, is the immense funds for research 

 recently established. Although primarily 

 these grants are made in furtherance of 

 work in pure science, evidently applied sci- 

 ence and professional chemists will be 

 greatly benefited. Perhaps the wisest grant 

 of all is the Carnegie foundation for the 

 retirement of teachers, for in a measure it 

 relieves the teacher during his earlier years 

 from the anxiety of later need, and gives 

 him courage to devote his residual energy 

 in some efforts for the advancement of 

 knowledge. Every institution named in 

 this grant is benefited in its standing, for 

 it may insist that applicants for positions 

 have adequate training for research, and 

 that their ambition lie in that direction. 



In the changes in business management 

 during the last decade, and the transfer of 

 business control from private ownership to 



