Mabch 17, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



411 



tain a family. Further, it is surely the 

 cause or the result of second-rate qualifi- 

 cations as a college teacher to attempt to 

 carry on another business with no bearing 

 upon his professional pursuits for the sake 

 of the increased income. Scarcely less val- 

 uable is the semi-professional routine of 

 tutoring, commercial analysis, and even the 

 preparation of uninspired text-books, for 

 the same reason. These things do not give 

 the best preparation for and naturally do 

 not lead to the highest university positions, 

 though they do bring immediate financial 

 reward ; better far devote the time to some 

 research if there is any in the teacher, and 

 qualify for advancement in the college or 

 university world. In education as in 

 business, both the teacher and the institu- 

 tion may expect to get what has been paid 

 for; if the teacher gives less than his best 

 efforts he may look for less than a full re- 

 ward, and the institution that seeks bar- 

 gains in teachers will probably get some- 

 thing cheap — and nasty ; if first-rate results 

 are to be achieved the price of first-rate 

 ability must be paid, allowing for a long 

 and expensive preparation. 



The bearing of this upon the question of 

 research is evident ; to cultivate the vitality 

 of the intellect it must be free — free from 

 anxieties as to the necessities of life, free 

 to proceed in broad and deep channels, 

 with all the incentives of intercourse with 

 things intellectual and esthetic. 



The story is told of a college teacher, who 

 was conspicuous at prayer meetings, that it 

 was his custom in closing a lengthy peti- 

 tion covering a large amount of detail to 

 say, "And now, Lord, to recapitulate," 

 and so on. 



Permit me, then, in conclusion to sum- 

 marize the points I have tried to present. 

 In undergraduate schools research has a 

 very important place as a stimulator and 

 vitalizer of the teaching; it is, however, a 



secondary calling and should not be al- 

 lowed to interfere with the main function 

 of the undergraduate teacher, namely, in- 

 struction. The selection of men for such 

 positions should be based primarily on their 

 qualifications as teachers, and research 

 should not be undertaken untU a broad and 

 deep foundation has been laid. The value 

 of research, however, makes it most im- 

 portant that men capable of doing it 

 should be helped in their efforts by the 

 most favorable environment possible. 



Peect Norton Evans 



PUEDUE UNIVEESITY, 



Latayette, Indiana 



A FLEA FOB OEGANIZED BESEAECH IN 

 THE TBOFICS 



As science progresses we begin to look for 

 new fields of research, for an increased sphere 

 of investigation, for a greater and more varied 

 amount of facts upon which to base our gen- 

 eralizations and our conclusions. As modern 

 development generally becomes more pro- 

 nounced we begin to reach out for opportuni- 

 ties in new regions, in those parts of the 

 world where civilization has not yet gained a 

 final foothold. To-day the tropical countries 

 are still comparatively unknown, forming a 

 terra incognita which contains many secrets 

 for the explorer, many problems to be solved 

 by the scientist, many riches to be gathered by 

 the pioneers, always ready to exploit the re- 

 sources of new regions. 



With the striking diversity in their natural 

 productions, their variety of geological struc- 

 ture, and their extreme conditions of climate, 

 the tropics offer, in most branches of natural 

 science, exceptional opportunities and wide 

 fields for investigation and research. 



Scientific research in the tropics has been 

 carried on in a more or less perfunctory man- 

 ner. Tropical research generally has not been 

 conducted in a really scientific way. There is 

 no organized and systematic investigation of 

 tropical conditions, with the exception of a 

 few years' work in this direction in Java and 

 the Philippines. 



