242 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



tion. But that is not always the case, as is shown by the history of 

 Spain during the period of intellectual activity which followed the geo- 

 graphical discoveries. Spain was an active country from the fourteenth 

 to the sixteenth centuries, but its activity was not sufficient to overcome 

 its intellectual conservatism ; and this seems to be the reason why Spain 

 took no part in the scientific progress of that period. 



Professor Ward thinks the most important stimulus to the develop- 

 ment of the mind has been the formation of the system of caste, because 

 it produced a leisure class. A caste system is certainly important in the 

 early stages of mental development, but such a society is likely to 

 become conservative in its attempt to safeguard the interests of the 

 leisure class. And when a caste system becomes rigid and traditional 

 its usefulness is gone. If the idle class is also a priestly class, it is 

 usually of service in preserving knowledge, but the very tenacity with 

 which it clings to old ideas prevents it from discovering or accepting 

 new ones. In the long run, therefore, a caste system has many dis- 

 advantages, and at no time is it so efficient in the advancement of knowl- 

 edge as the system of division of labor. 



Some of the conditions which help to stimulate science are also 

 favorable to the production of art and it may be thought that all 

 conditions favoring the two are sufficiently alike to cause science and 

 art to develop together. But such is not always the case. Art, litera- 

 ture, and science developed in much the same period in France, and the 

 same is also true of the Netherlands. Literature and science developed 

 together in England. In the Arabian civilization also architecture, 

 literature and science flourished simultaneously. In Italy, however, 

 scientific activity followed art by at least a generation and it was rela- 

 tively much less important. And in Spain science was almost dis- 

 regarded when art and letters were cultivated with brilliant results. 

 Furthermore, in Greece science developed at a considerably later period 

 than art, and again in modern times science has made wonderful 

 progress with only moderate achievements in art. The attainment of 

 wealth and leisure is desirable for the development of both art and 

 science and freedom from interference is essential for the best interests 

 of both; but other circumstances may determine whether the intellect 

 or the emotions will develop more fully. A society which is very rigid 

 in its intellectual beliefs may produce a high grade of art in giving 

 expression to those beliefs; or a society may encourage the fine arts 

 while it does not develop the useful arts and hence does not give a 

 special stimulus to the advancement of science. A wealthy luxurious 

 upper class which may patronize the fine arts is likely to be conservative 

 and intolerant of revolutionary discoveries. Scientific activity requires 

 an underlying seriousness in the social life ; and this was entirely lack- 

 ing in Spain, for example, in the seventeenth century. On the other 



