60 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



THE WORK OF THE NATURALIST IN THE WORLD.* 



By Prof. CHARLES SEDGWICK MINOT. 



THERE can be no broader question, touching us all, than the 

 influence of our profession upon the world. With your per- 

 mission I will present a series of considerations in regard to our 

 professional careers which ought, in my opinion, to receive more 

 attention than hitherto. I am aware that in doing this I depart 

 very far from our custom, your previous presidents having each 

 dealt with some broad but specific problem of natural history in 

 their formal addresses. I must leave it to your judgment whether 

 or not I have done wisely in not following, in the present address, 

 the example of my distinguished predecessors. 



The object of the naturalist is to discover the truth about 

 Nature, and to record his discoveries in a form which will render 

 them available to others. Original research is the pivot of knowl- 

 edge. 



We will examine : 



First. The conditions of success in research. 



Second. The effect of the naturalist's career on his character. 



Third. The influence of the naturalist on mankind. 



I. The Conditions op Success in Research. That the 

 fundamental condition is the love of truth goes without saying. 

 It is an axiom which, before this audience, requires no proof. 

 But, though we all acknowledge Truth to be our sovereign, I fear 

 there is not one of us whose loyalty to her is perfect not one of 

 us who can say that his allegiance to the truth has never swerved 

 for the sake of competing influences. Yet Truth is the most ab- 

 solute of despots, and if any man adheres to Error instead, Truth 

 will triumph over him at last and rob him of all the honor which 

 he thought to win. The disloyal investigator may for a time win 

 honor, but in the end the falsity of his claims becomes known and 

 his reputation shrivels. In our own time we have seen the Ger- 

 man founder of brilliant embryological theories lose caste because 

 he did not have the discretion to wait to learn whether his ideas 

 were true. Certain great naturalists have suffered in reputation 

 from their inability to accept Darwinian theories, for, had it been 

 possible for them to join with Darwin, their greatness would be 

 to us still greater. A man may be of the highest ability, yet will 

 he rank low among naturalists unless he is quick and sure in his 

 recognition and inflexible in his devotion, to truth. 



Perfect truth is our ideal, but we encounter so many, many 



* Presidential address delivered before the American Society of Naturalists at the 

 annual meeting in Baltimore, December 27, 1S94. 



