June 26, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



98c 



cation a man has, the better he is qualified 

 to enjoy his own life, and be of use to his 

 fellow men. As the beauties of nature, of 

 art and of literature, are better compre- 

 hended by him, his nature broadens, and 

 his life grows fuller and richer. Whatever 

 may be the ordinary grind of his daily ex- 

 istence, he moves on higher and ascending 

 planes, and has for his more or less inti- 

 mate companions the great of all ages. 

 He has at his disposal fountains of pleas- 

 ure and profit which the uneducated man 

 knows not of. 



As I said a while ago, life is a school in 

 which all may be educated by hard knocks 

 and experience. It is, however, not the 

 only school, and the man who boasts that 

 he is self-educated does not often have to 

 prove the assertion. It is generally self- 

 evident. I am aware that there are and 

 have been many men who without the ad- 

 vantages of college training have become 

 eminent in the fields of science and art and 

 even literature. But they never boast of 

 what they have accomplished under adverse 

 conditions, but rather repine because they 

 have been prevented from reaching far 

 higher levels which would have been at- 

 tainable if only they had been able to com- 

 mand a college education. The college, the 

 university, the engineering school need no 

 apologist. Their output of educated men 

 and women is their sufficient answer to any 

 heterodox critic who questions whether 

 they are worth what they have cost in lives 

 and means. 



In order, however, that the college edu- 

 cation may contribute all it shoiild to the 

 formation of the wisdom which we all seek, 

 and which has so much to do with the sat- 

 isfactory working out of practical affairs, 

 care must be taken that it shall not turn 

 out deformed men; that is men who are 

 over-developed on some sides, and under- 

 developed on others. We frequently hear 

 that this is an age of specialists, and suc- 



cess in any field depends largely on spe- 

 cializing in that field. There is a good 

 deal of truth in this, and yet it is not the 

 whole truth. Specialization should not be 

 carried to the point of deformity, if we 

 want to qualify a man to be a practical 

 success. I have known excellent engineers 

 who could not write an intelligible report 

 in good English, not because they did not 

 understand the subject, but because they 

 had not been taught to express themselves 

 properly. No scientific student should be 

 denied a thorough education in culture 

 studies. Neither should an arts course man 

 neglect chemistry, mathematics or the sci- 

 ences in general. The course should be 

 designed and arranged to turn out good all- 

 round scholars, while at the same time pay- 

 ing due attention to specialization. 



But however the course may be arranged, 

 or whatever may be its shortcomings, no 

 young man who has the chance should fail 

 to take it, whatever kind of practical af- 

 fairs he expects to engage in, unless, per- 

 haps, he intends to learn a trade. But 

 even in this case, a college course would be 

 a luxury if not a necessity, and make him 

 all the better artisan and citizen. We have 

 only got one life to live, and one brain and 

 body to carry us through it. Let us, there- 

 fore, do what in us lies — fit both brain and 

 body for their tasks. This is indeed the 

 beginning of wisdom. 



Professor Baskerville then introduced 

 the Honorable Herman A. Metz as follows : 



When the trustees of our educational 

 institutions tired of the theological fad, 

 they looked to the departments of chem- 

 istry for managers of the corporations for 

 which they were held responsible. In see- 

 ing some of the most distinguished of these 

 gentlemen before me, I hesitate to call the 

 roll, but realize how unfortunate it has 

 been for our science, but how fortunate for 

 those institutions that professors of chem- 



