258 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXII. No. 817 



their great discoveries, and I well knew a 

 college professor of thirty years ago whose 

 noteworthy researches in physics were per- 

 formed always with inexpensive apparatus, 

 almost wholly of his own construction. 

 Nor was his ease exceptional ; it was almost 

 the rule in our fathers' days. 



To-day, the refinement of methods is ren- 

 dering it impossible for the private investi- 

 gator to purchase or even to construct the 

 elaborate apparatus he requires. 



The independent self-reliant investigator 

 is vanishing, and his successor is becoming 

 dependent in ever-increasing measure upon 

 larger means than those of his own posses- 

 sion for the prosecution of research. Men 

 of science are becoming trustees, not pro- 

 prietors of the funds required for the ex- 

 penses of investigation, and thus it is that 

 our productive students are yearly becom- 

 ing more and more dependent upon the 

 university or the endowed institution, and 

 the attitude of these bodies toward research 

 is becoming of greater and greater impor- 

 tance to mankind, for the hope of civiliza- 

 tion lies in him who sees the light beyond 

 the confines of our knowledge of to-day. 



Too many of us still believe the fostering 

 of research to be a mere detail of secondarj^ 

 importance, but it is in fact of vital pri- 

 mary importance to each and every one of 

 us, and its utmost advancement is a neces- 

 sary and absolute duty for those who con- 

 trol the destinies of our colleges. 



I fear it will be all too apparent to those 

 who have the highest welfare of science 

 at heart that our colleges have not yet 

 awakened to a sufficient realization of the 

 importance of research or of their heavy 

 responsibility in the matter of its advance- 

 ment. President Eliot in his recently pub- 

 lished book upon "University Administra- 

 tion" presents in his masterlj' manner the 

 wisdom gained through a lifetime of ex- 

 perience, yet not in one paragraph does he 



deal with the special relation of the univer- 

 sity toward research. The American uni- 

 versity remains to-day the overgrown col- 

 lege, and conservation of the old rather 

 than the revelation of new truth Ls its ideal. 



But to return to the brighter side of the 

 picture; the growing dependence of the 

 individual investigator upon the university 

 is in itself a good thing, for his conscience 

 must awaken to a sense of increased per- 

 sonal responsibility. His position is be- 

 coming that of a highly trusted servant of 

 mankind, no longer the free follower of a 

 mere impulse to explore. Through this de- 

 pendence upon the college, the investigator 

 becomes most happily surrounded bj- .young 

 minds whose leading spirit he should be. 

 Intellectually nothing is more democratic 

 than the atmosphere of the research labora- 

 tory wherein the finely trained but rela- 

 tively inelastic mind of the master is com- 

 plemented by the fresher view and greater 

 daring of his pupils' thoughts. Of all col- 

 legiate aims, I would place next in impor- 

 tance to the strengthening of character the 

 fostering of that freedom of thought and 

 that masterly self-dependence which come 

 only through earnest devotion to research. 



Thus the new conditions are increasing 

 the personal responsibilities and deepening 

 the sphere of influence of the investigator, 

 and in like ratio do they add to the burden 

 of the responsibility of the university to- 

 ward him to grant the opportunity he may 

 use so well for the benefit of the world at 

 large. 



Our leading institutions have already be- 

 gun to awaken to a realization of their 

 duty toward research, but in many respects 

 the position of the investigator within the 

 college is still handicapped through the 

 lingering traditions and aims of an age 

 wherein his presence was but coldly wel- 

 comed. 



We should realize that there are, broadly 



