34 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 967 



object of providing a degree upon easier 

 terms. Teaching and examining for de- 

 grees had long been separate functions in 

 London, and it is clear that the Royal Com- 

 mission deemed it of first importance that 

 these functions be united in a single body, 

 the university faculty. 



Now the final report, which is a bulky 

 volume, includes recommendations for the 

 organization of the University of London 

 with nine faculties. After discussing the 

 present organization of the university, the 

 essentials of a university in a great center 

 of population are considered. As to the 

 student, he should be young and should de- 

 vote his entire time to his studies. A con- 

 siderable amount of leisure is essential for 

 independent reading, for common life with 

 fellow students and teachers, and above all 

 for the reflective thought necessary to the 

 rather slow process of assimilation. Uni- 

 versity knowledge should be pursued not 

 merely for the sake of information to be 

 acquired, but for its own extension and 

 always with reference to the attainment of 

 truth. This alters the student's whole atti- 

 tude of mind. Scientific thought becomes 

 a habit, and almost incidentally intellectual 

 power is developed. 



The higher work of the university should 

 be closely connected with the undergradu- 

 ate work, on the one hand, and with re- 

 search, on the other. Teaching and re- 

 search should be combined; the university 

 teacher should be an investigator. The 

 greatest evil which results from the present 

 organization of the university is that now 

 this is not the case, and it is this which is 

 most important to remove in the interest 

 of higher education in London. The com- 

 mission does not think it possible to get the 

 best men as professors, if they are in any 

 way restricted from doing their highest 

 work, or are prevented from spreading 

 their net wide to catch the best students. 



Research should not be exploited in the 

 interest of individual capitalists, but should 

 be a part of a great university. 



The various independent schools in Lon- 

 don, University College, King's College, 

 technical schools, medical schools, etc., are 

 to be blended in the new University of 

 London, administered by various boards, 

 so that they may give automatic rule, as is 

 the case in Edinburgh, Oxford and Cam- 

 bridge. It is a complex organization, 

 much like that of our national government, 

 and decidedly different from that of our 

 American universities. 



The university is to have complete con- 

 trol of everything relating to its work — 

 property, organization, teaching and exam- 

 inations — as is the case at Harvard, Co- 

 lumbia or Chicago. In its organization the 

 constituent parts fall into faculties and de- 

 partments, and there will also be schools. 

 No institution should become a constituent 

 college in any faculty unless it is able to 

 provide a full course for the first and 

 higher degrees awarded by that faculty. 

 A university department deals with a single 

 subject or group of studies of less range 

 than a faculty. Its teachers would have 

 the same standing as other university 

 teachers of similar status, and its students 

 would rank with students of a constituent 

 college. Institutions which are independ- 

 ent but which are well equipped for the 

 work they undertake, with a suitable staff 

 of teachers, may become schools of the 

 university. 



In a university college or department, 

 the teachers must be of university rank,^ 

 that is, they must be actively engaged in 

 research and in teaching. This is the key 

 to the entire situation, and is referred to 

 again and again in the report. The teach- 

 ing should be suited for adults; it should 

 be scientific, detached and impartial in 

 character. It should not fill the minds of 



