APPENDIX III. 
Suggestions for Research. 
I have been asked by the writers of the Report to suggest a 
general “ Scheme of Research” which might constitute a suitable 
programme for the work of a Lac Laboratory. It should be under¬ 
stood that the enquiries outlined below are merely the suggestions of a 
biologist who has devoted some attention to the study of insects ; and 
indeed it is never possible for any one man, however gifted or pre¬ 
sumptuous, to foresee the lines along which other men with original 
ideas may best advance our scientific knowledge of a subject, or to 
lay down the law as to the precise manner in which they should 
attack its problems. 
Many people forget, or do not know, that what is officially known 
in this country as “ Research ” should really be considered as two 
practically distinct types of enquiry. One type of “ researcher " must 
be born, while the other may be made. The first is the man with 
an original mind seeking new discoveries ; he looks for unknown 
relations between things, invents ways of explaining known relations 
in some new way, or devises some fresh method of technique which 
shall reveal unsuspected facts and relations. Originality of method, 
thought, or outlook is the characteristic of his work. Work of the 
second type, on the other hand, does not require and is not character¬ 
ized by originality, though it may demand technical skill and accuracy 
of observation. It consists mainly in description, in the collection 
of data, and the application of familiar laws and methods to parti¬ 
cular cases. 
Of these two types the first may be the more valuable, but the 
second is the more common, and is the only one that is amenable to 
direction and control. Only one man can direct or control original 
research, and he is the researcher himself; so that in “ schemes of 
research ” to be carried out under direction, we can hardly legislate 
for him, since he will work according to his own ideas and not 
according to ours ; and in making a scheme, all that can be done (and 
all that is here attempted) is to select certain points where enquiry 
seems most likely to lead to practically useful results, and where it 
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