6 
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
in the educational system of the country whereby the number of pupils in 
secondary schools and the number of university-trained students would be 
increased. They indicate clearly the steps that ought to be taken to induce 
able boys to continue at secondary schools from the age of 16 to 18, and 
thereafter enter the universities or technical colleges. They recommend 
adequate remuneration in industrial posts for students who have had four 
or five years’ scientific training ; maintenance allowances for secondary 
school pupils who have passed a test examination ; entrance scholarships 
at the universities sufficient to cover the cost of education. Finally, they 
point out that if the universities are to discharge their responsibilities 
towards the science students who are coming, and to maintain their position 
as homes of scientific learning and research, they must receive a measure of 
financial support much more considerable than any they have received 
hitherto. This report is a severe but just exposure of the defects of the 
present educational system of this country, of the lack of appreciation 
of the value of higher education by the great body of the people, of 
the apathy of the Government and the moneyed classes in providing- 
adequate endowments for research. With the aid of the Allies it has 
taken this country more than four years to defeat the Central Powers in 
war ; a generation may pass before this country recovers lost ground in 
her educational domain. 
After having read these reports, it occurred to me to ascertain if the 
scheme of the Carnegie Trust for the encouragement of post-graduate 
study and research in the Scottish universities furnishes trained research 
workers with the qualifications required by the Advisory Council. I have 
had an opportunity of reading the reports published by the Trust extending 
over a period from 1903 to 1913, and I have looked at the List of Publica- 
tions, not yet published, covering the period from 1913 to 1918. It appears 
that the fellows and scholars in chemistry outnumber the total. fellows 
and scholars in all the other branches of the mathematical and physical 
sciences. Sir James Dobbie suggests that this may be accounted for to 
some extent by the fact that the comparatively fresh field of physical 
chemistry offers certain attractions to students who formerly would have 
devoted themselves to purely physical research. It may also be partly 
accounted for on the ground that this branch of study is a stepping-stone 
to industrial posts. The examination of the reports further shows that a 
larger number of Carnegie Trust fellows and scholars in chemistry belong 
to St Andrews University than to any other educational centre in Scotland. 
On inquiry, I find that several factors have been instrumental in achieving 
this result: — (1) a well-equipped and well-endowed research laboratory; 
