602 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1087 



days. The order finally goes, but when the 

 material arrives the little stranger for whom 

 it was intended has been dead and buried 

 eight weeks and the discoverer A, whose 

 fame might have been noised abroad in this 

 connection, goes down to his grave un- 

 toasted, unlionored and unsung. 



Any system, however perfect, that fails 

 to provide for an emergency is worse than 

 no system at all. As soon as a research man 

 becomes tied down by arbitrary rules, 

 whether they be called systems, organiza- 

 tions or what not, that soon his creative 

 powers and effectiveness will be diminished. 

 In this connection I perhaps could do no 

 better in emphasizing my conviction than 

 to quote a paragraph or two from Professor 

 R. S. Lillie's Founder's Day Address at 

 Clark University last winter. 



When we look at our uniyersities we are im- 

 pressed with certain obvious peculiarities — their 

 size, their wealth, the variety and complexity of 

 their activities and of their organization. We 

 may agree that size and wealth with the resources 

 that they bring are all very well — in themselves 

 desirable — but complexity of organization, and 

 the practises and tendencies that go with it? Are 

 these conducive to the intellectual life? This, 

 in my opinion, is the critical question. So far 

 from our taking this for granted there is good 

 reason to believe that beyond a certain limit de- 

 pendence on system and organization in institu- 

 tions of learning is directly injurious to good 

 work, and this for the simple reason that it makes 

 for the stereotyping of activities, and hence inter- 

 feres with freedom and its expression, which is 

 originality. Such restriction, in fact, is the gen- 

 eral purpose of organization: it aims at diminish- 

 ing variation from an accepted norm. Now the 

 more stereotyped certain things are the better; 

 thus a railway service or a department store can 

 not be too regular and dependable; but if our aim 

 is not simply to repeat things that have already 

 been done, but to discover new truth, the condi- 

 tions that surround us, as well as our own temper 

 of mind, should so far as possible encourage in- 

 dependent activity, and not simply that carried 

 out in accordance with a program. In brief, 

 purely routine activities should be subordinated 

 in an institution of higher learning: all needless 



machinery should be disposed of, and the rest 

 should be relegated to its proper place. This is a 

 practical suggestion, and it is one of the first that 

 I should make. 



Lastly, I would like to consider a little 

 more in detail the status of the research 

 work in our agricultural experiment sta- 

 tions. Scientific work is sometimes very 

 incorrectly and superficially judged by 

 individuals or small groups of individuals. 

 A meritorious piece of work may not re- 

 ceive immediate recognition, but will hiber- 

 nate in the archives of some musty library 

 for decades before it bounces forth in its 

 full splendor. Nevertheless its status will 

 soon be known, after having received due 

 consideration by the scientists of the world. 



From time to time various attempts are 

 made to segregate and classify worthy and 

 illustrious individuals in science, and it 

 would be interesting to see what place the 

 experiment station worker occupies in such 

 segregations. From Professor Pickering's 

 tabulation of eminent scientists {The Popu- 

 lar Science Monthly, February, 1915), it 

 will be seen, that among the ten Americans 

 who have been accorded the distinction 

 of being elected foreign associates of two 

 or more of the leading scientific societies 

 of the world, there is no one who has been 

 connected with an agricultural experiment 

 station, but they are all research men who 

 have devoted little or no time to teaching. 

 It also appears that Norway and Sweden, 

 with a combined population of less than 

 eight million have produced nine scientists 

 of the same distinction. 



The Nobel Institute at Stockholm, 

 Sweden, awards five prizes each year, three 

 of which are for the most meritorious ac- 

 complishments in physics, chemistry and 

 medicine. Among the forty or more who 

 have received this recognition are two 

 Americans, eminent research men, but 

 neither of whom is a station man, and not 



