66 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



that lie used Delafield's heematoxyline solution, of which he gives 

 the formula ; that he began making his sections with a Thoma 

 microtome, but later used a Schanze, as Prof. X needed the 

 Thoma ; the author's work was interrupted because he was called 

 home on account of his father's illness ; his father lived in Meyer- 

 stadt or Smithville. What have these and thousands of similar 

 items to do with the plane of the first cleavage of the ovum, the 

 origin of the centrosome, or the development of the notochord, or 

 any other problem of embryology ? I have not invented my 

 illustrations ; on the contrary, I have taken them from some of 

 the best of recent embryological articles. Similar illustrations 

 can be collected from recent literature of any branch of natural- 

 history research. 



So far as embryological literature is concerned, the French 

 standard is certainly the lowest. Their verbosity is infinite,. and 

 one must read page after page for a single fact. Many of the 

 French memoirs I have read are literally ten times too long for 

 the matter. Next to the French come the Germans and ourselves 

 Americans who, in the biological sciences, are disciples of the 

 Germans. The best-written memoirs are the English, owing, I 

 think, to Huxley's influence. Huxley has carried scientific writ- 

 ing to unsurpassed excellence, combining clearness and brevity in 

 a marvelous way, and his pupils, Francis Balfour and Michael 

 Foster, have invariably sustained a high literary standard. Their 

 example has been all the more telling because literary art holds 

 the same position in England that music holds in Germany and 

 painting in France. 



No doubt the ark of science will traverse the deluge of publi- 

 cation safely and land us on the Ararat of natural law, but I fear 

 our Ararat will not appear until the deluge subsides. 



But I must hasten to the second part of my address. 



II. The Effect of the Naturalist's Career on his Char- 

 acter. The occasion does not permit me to refer to more than 

 two or three professional traits. 



The best that we gain from the pursuit of research is, I be- 

 lieve, our characteristic optimism. We are engaged in achieving 

 results, and results of the most permanent and enduring quality. 

 A business man may achieve a fortune ; but time will dissipate it. 

 A statesman may be the savior of a nation ; but how long do na- 

 tions live ? Knowledge has no country, belongs to no class, but 

 is the might of mankind, and it is mightier for what each of us 

 has done. We have brought our stones, and they are built into 

 the edifice and into its grandeur. My stone is a small one. It 

 will certainly be forgotten that it is mine, nevertheless it will re- 

 main in place. 



How different is the pessimism toward which literary men are 



