172 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



pure science has been and is cultivated, and where the study of nature 

 is considered a noble pursuit. But such countries are rare, and those 

 who wish to pursue pure science in our own country must be prepared 

 to face public opinion in a manner which requires much moral courage. 

 They must be prepared to be looked down upon by every successful 

 inventor whose shallow mind imagines that the only pursuit of man- 

 kind is wealth, and that he who obtains most has best succeeded in 

 this world. Everybody can comprehend a million of money; but how 

 few can comprehend any advance in scientific theory, especially in its 

 more abstruse portions! And this, I believe, is one of the causes of the 

 smnll number of persons who have ever devoted themselves to work of 

 the higher order in any human pursuit. Man is a gregarious animal, 

 and depends very much, for his happiness, on the sympathy of those 

 around him; and it is rare to find one with the courage to pursue his 

 own ideals in spite of his surroundings. In times past, men were more 

 isolated than at present, and each came in contact with a fewer number 

 of people. Hence that time constitutes the period when the great 

 sculptures, paintings and poems were produced. Each man's mind was 

 comparatively free to follow its own ideals, and the results were the 

 great and unique works of the ancient masters. To-day the railroad 

 and the telegraph, the books and newspapers, have imited each indi- 

 vidual man with the rest of the world: instead of his mind being an 

 individual, a thing apart by itself, and unique, it has become so influ- 

 enced by the outer world, and so dependent upon it, that it has lost 

 its originality to a great extent. The man who in times past would 

 naturally have been in the lowest depths of poverty, mentally and phys- 

 ically, to-day measures tape behind a counter, and with lordly air 

 advises the naturally born genius how he may best bring his outward 

 appearance down to a level with his own. A new idea he never had, 

 but he can at least cover his mental nakedness with ideas imbibed 

 from others. So the genius of the past soon perceives that his higher 

 ideas are too high to be appreciated by the world: his mind is clipped 

 down to the standard form; every natural ofl'shoot upward is repressed, 

 until the man is no higher than his fellows. Hence the world, through 

 the abundance of its intercourse, is reduced to a level. What was 

 formerly a grand and magnificent landscape, with mountains ascending 

 above the clouds, and depths whose gloom we cannot now appreciate, 

 has become serene and peaceful. The depths have been filled, and 

 the heights levelled, and the wavy harvests and smoky factories cover 

 the landscape. 



As far as the average man is concerned, the change is for the better. 

 The. average life of man is far pleasantcr, and his mental condition 

 better than before. But we miss the vigor imparted by the mountains, 

 We are tired of mediocrity, the curse of our country. We are tired of 



