222 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1024 



contents of the drag-net. No more fruit- 

 less or thankless task could be assigned to 

 an expert investigator than that of detect- 

 ing the relatively microscopic quantity of 

 truth to be found in the vast volume of 

 error with which undisciplined minds 

 would eagerly occupy his attention. 



But the need of clear ideas on the sub- 

 ject of research is not limited to the 

 majorities of our fellow men who are natu- 

 rally preoccupied with other affairs. There 

 are vexatious variations of opinion as to 

 what research is, and great diversities of 

 view as to how it may be effectively carried 

 on, held even by its devotees and more 

 especially by its nearest allies in the fields 

 of education. Thus, adventure, explora- 

 tion, the collection and naming of speci- 

 mens and the tabulation of bibliographies, 

 any or all of which may be incident to, are 

 not infrequently mistaken for research by 

 those engaged therein or seeking to con- 

 tribute thereto. Similarly, it is often 

 assumed that research is a harmless and a 

 fruitless diversion in the business of edu- 

 cation, and that it requires but a pox'tion 

 of the leisure time of those chiefly occupied 

 with duties of instruction and administra- 

 tion in colleges and universities. On the 

 other hand, some eminent minds maintain 

 that serious and fruitful research can be 

 advantageously pursued only in connection 

 with work of instruction, while a few 

 enthusiasts go so far as to suggest that the 

 mental and the bodily vigor of an investi- 

 gator can be conserved only in the stimu- 

 lating presence of immature minds, other- 

 wise known as students or candidates for 

 higher academic degrees. Such eminent 

 minds and enthusiasts entertain grave 

 doubts as to the propriety of the existence 

 independently of colleges and universities 

 of research establishments. It is darkly 

 hinted, indeed, that the latter may work 

 harm, if not ruin, to the former by enticing 



the effective teacher away from his students 

 and by checking the diffusion in order to 

 promote the advancement of knowledge. 

 Thus it has happened that sinister predic- 

 tions and panicky sentiments have attended 

 the development of a few research estab- 

 lishments in our own country and abroad 

 during the past decade. "We seem to have 

 undergone a sort of intellectual flutter 

 similar in many respects to that more pro- 

 found emotional disturbance which followed 

 the publication of the ideas of Darwin, 

 Wallace and Spencer, a half century ago, 

 and presaged the extraordinary develop- 

 ment of biological science as we know it 

 to-day. 



Happily, the untoward features of this 

 more recent agitation, features leading to 

 numerous unrealizable ideals and to numer- 

 ous necessary disappointments, are now 

 subsiding; and the sense of humor and the 

 sense of proportion so essential to the dis- 

 sipation of mental aberrations are now 

 regaining the ascendancy. Indeed, after 

 a decade of wild conjecture and extrava- 

 gant expectation on the part of many men 

 of science and many educators, we may now 

 venture, perhaps, to look squarely at the 

 facts which confront us and to apply the 

 rules of elementary arithmetic with some 

 hope of adequately visualizing the relations 

 which should exist between educational 

 establishments, on the one hand, and re- 

 search organization, on the other. 



Conflning attention to our own country, 

 some of the salient facts and figures we 

 need to contrast and to contemplate are 

 the following: 



The number of higher, or degree-giving, 

 establishments in the United States is now 

 upwards of six hundred; the aggregate 

 annual income of these is upwards of one 

 hundred millions of dollars; and the num- 

 ber of officials connected with them is up- 

 wards of thirty thousand. 



