56 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 263. 



example for the elementary woi-kers in the 

 science. Who can measure the influence 

 for good which emanates from such a labora- 

 tory ? Does not the university derive, both 

 directly and indirectly, an inestimable ad- 

 vantage from such surroundings, and may 

 we not justly claim that the university by 

 such encouragement of research adds di- 

 rectly to its own power and strength, while 

 at the same time aiding in the advance- 

 ment of the science? Its scope of useful- 

 ness is thereby greatly enlarged ; advanced 

 workers in the science are attracted to the 

 university, and even the routine instruc- 

 tion given to the various classes, both gradu- 

 ate and undergraduate, is influenced by the 

 atmosphere of earnest endeavor which per- 

 meates the laboi'atory. The tone of the 

 institution is raised, while both student and 

 instructor feel the stimulating effects of 

 that environment which permits the carry- 

 ing out of successful scientific work. 



Granting all this, the question may be 

 asked, how Jar is it allowable for the uni- 

 versity to extend aid in the encouragement 

 of research ? It seems to me that the answer 

 to this question must depend upon the re- 

 sources of the individual institutions. The 

 university must be true to the primary ob- 

 ject of its existence. It cannot overlook the 

 fact that it was created for a specific pur- 

 pose, and the fulfillment of that purpose 

 must be its first care. All higher institu- 

 tions of learning, however, are bound to 

 recognize the necessity of providing means 

 for the carrying on of original investigations 

 in the various branches of science. I be- 

 lieve, as a rule, it is better for our scientific 

 workers to be connected with the univer- 

 sity, than to carry on their work in con- 

 nection with a special research labora- 

 tory, with complete freedom from aca- 

 demic duties. I think higher education 

 would suffer if research work was limited 

 to special research laboratories, and the ad- 

 vancement of science would not be as rapid 



as under existing conditions, where the re- 

 search worker must spend a portion of his 

 time in careful retrospect. Just as work in 

 investigation helps to make a better teacher, 

 so, in my judgment, the necessity of giving 

 instruction to a body of young workers 

 helps to make a better investigator. It 

 should be the duty of the university, how- 

 ever, so far as possible, to allow time and 

 provide means for investigation, and by the 

 aid of scholarships and fellowships, judi- 

 ciously awarded, offer inducements for the 

 younger workers to spend a portion of their 

 time in scientific research. 



Do not the results which have been ob- 

 tained by scientific workers in connection 

 with our own and foreign universities afford 

 ample proof of the value of this method of 

 encouraging investigation and advancing 

 scientific knowledge? Consider, if you will, 

 the results which have been attained dur- 

 ing the last twenty years in physiology ; 

 the advancement made along so many lines 

 and in so many different directions, and 

 then glance at the names of the men who 

 have carried out these investigations and 

 note their positions in life. They are 

 practically all university men ; men who 

 have carried on research work in connec- 

 tion with their academic duties, in some 

 cases unaided, but frequentlj' with the co- 

 operation of younger workers, assistants, 

 fellows, etc., to whom they have taught in 

 this way the methods of scientific investi- 

 gation. I have just received the Jahres- 

 bericht fiir Thierchemie for 1898, contain- 

 ing the record of investigation for that year 

 in physiological chemistrJ^ The book con- 

 tains 850 pages filled with brief abstracts 

 of the researches in this somewhat narrow 

 field of investigation. Does not this record 

 indicate that investigation is being en- 

 couraged ? That the universities and other 

 institutions of learning are consciously or 

 unconsciously taking a position of helpful- 

 ness toward scientific research ? I believe 



