62 



SCIENCE, 



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



subject, and by contributions of his own 

 winning, alter its limits and make a read- 

 justment of its generalizations possible and 

 necessary. The value of this investigating, 

 or find out for himself, method of learning 

 is too well established to need more than 

 mention at this time ; a value clearly con- 

 ceded by its almost universal usage. 

 Whether or not a student should be led 

 into the specialization necessary to make 

 discoveries, in his undergraduate days, is a 

 question which may be answered only in 

 the light of information as to his training, 

 his purposes, and his mental capacity. 

 The same may be said of the graduate stu- 

 dent, except that the value of investigation 

 for discovery is more immediate in his case 

 if his graduate work logically follows his 

 earlier training. 



"With the realization of the value of re- 

 search in the university, it maybe said that 

 no worker who is thoroughly in earnest will 

 fail to find means of attack upon some of 

 the problems pressing in upon him, and to 

 use this method in the presentation of his 

 subject, no matter under what straitened 

 circumstances he may find himself. The 

 investigator who does not show this adap- 

 tability will certainly encounter ample op- 

 portunities for unhappiness. 



With a devotion to research in its facul- 

 ties it needs but the expressed appreciation 

 of the administration to promote the ped- 

 agogical practice of investigation to a cred- 

 itable degree, even if the material facilities 

 are lacking. The extension of investiga- 

 tion to a point where it may actually con- 

 tribute to the development of a branch of 

 knowledge will depend very largely upon the 

 actual financial resources of the institution, 

 although the born investigator is not easily 

 turned from his path. In any case the 

 needs of a university for research facilities 

 are quite as elemental and quite as press- 

 ing as for libraries, chapels, memorial halls, 

 gymnasiums, or any other part of the in- 



stitution's mechanism, and should receive 

 corresponding attention from those in charge 

 of its organization and administration. 



The following statements may be made 

 in conclusion : 



1. Oae of the primal duties of the uni- 

 versity is the furtherance of research. 



2. The presentation of subjects by in- 

 structors not engaged in research will lack 

 originality of treatment and will not be 

 properly inductive. 



3. Investigation is itself a method of ad- 

 vanced teaching by which a student comes 

 to a full realization of the structural aspect 

 and relations of a subject, participates in 

 its development, strengthens his mental 

 grasp and broadens his powers of general- 

 ization ; a method by which the highest 

 form of culture and training is secured. 



4. Investigation is, therefore, not only 

 an obligation of the university to society 

 and to its students, but also one of its most 

 effective weapons. 



5. Any tendency to the restriction or 

 curtailment of the opportunities for research 

 is to be regarded as a most alarming retro- 

 grade movement, which may in time vastly 

 impair the usefulness of the institution com- 

 pelled to take this step, and is certainly in- 

 dicative of disabled function or evasion of 

 one of the plainest duties of the university. 



D. T. MacDougal. 



N. Y. Botanical Gardens. 



It is hardly necessary to emphasize here 

 the importance of investigation as a part 

 of the training of the university student. 



Training in research methods is chiefly 

 valuable in that it stimulates the percep- 

 tion and the imagination and increases the 

 power of self-guidance and immediate pro- 

 ductivity. As a means of instruction it is 

 slow and cumbersome and often fails to ac- 

 complish its object. 



With the rapid growth, in recent years, 



