The great need of extended facilities for the study of classical archaeology at its source had been long felt by classical students. No steps had been taken for their provision, however, until Jebb went to Athens in 1878, primarily to study the schools of archaeology established there by other countries. He came home convinced that England lagged far behind France and Germany in appreciation of the study of ancient life and art in its bearing on classical scholarship. In other departments of archaeology the English were by no means negligent. English historians highly valued its discoveries within their own borders and largely availed themselves of its results; and museums of local antiquities are to be found in almost every town. Bible students appreciated the assistance given to their studies by explorations in Palestine and found money and men without stint for the excavations carried on in Bible countries. But in regard to the study of ancient Greek and Roman life as revealed in contemporary monuments there had been a singular apathy. Jebb was determined to do his utmost to remove this reproach, but the day he got back to England from Greece the illness declared itself which laid him aside for three months. This could not damp his enthusiasm, but it materially shortened the time at his disposal before work began in Glasgow. The only steps he could take, he took.