196 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



answer come out ? " Do we not at times attempt to put wrong pre- 

 mises into nature's machinery and then expect correct answers? 



"We can not close this section better than by quoting the following 

 passage from the address of the first president of this society, Joseph 

 Henry, given on November 24, 1877 : 



The general mental qualification necessary for scientific advancement is 

 that which is usually denominated ' common sense,' though, added to this, 

 imagination, induction, and trained logic, either of common language or of 

 mathematics, are important adjuncts. Nor are the objects of scientific culture 

 difficult of attainment. It has been truly said that the " seeds of great dis- 

 coveries are constantly floating around us, but they only take root in minds 

 well prepared to receive them." 



Henry's insistence on the application in our scientific work of 

 " common sense " reminds one of Clifford's apt definition of science as 

 being " organized common sense." 



Publication of Eesults of Eeseaech Work 



We come next to the question of publication of the results of 

 research. I think it may be taken as almost axiomatic that what- 

 ever is worthy of investigation should be made known in some effective 

 manner, so as to reach without question those concerned. The multi- 

 plicity of literature on any one subject or even on any small portion 

 thereof is nowadays such that the worker finds it utterly impossible to 

 keep abreast of publications, even those in his own field, to say noth- 

 ing of kindred ones. 



He is forced more and more to rely on abstracts — at least in so 

 far as to direct him to that which he unquestionably must consult 

 in the original, if possible. In my own particular line of work I 

 rarely find that an abstract supplies all that is needed, and I almost 

 invariably prefer to work directly with the original. I have heard 

 similar statements from workers in other fields. 



If it be true, then, that the investigator usually finds it necessary 

 to consult the original publications, the next conclusion to be drawn 

 is that the publication of any research work should, in general, be of 

 such form and size as to permit the widest distribution possible, not 

 only among the libraries and the principal seats of learning, but also 

 among the workers and institutions immediately interested. 



The scientific worker generally does not possess the means to pur- 

 chase or to construct the instruments he requires for the prosecution 

 of his work, and a book bearing in any way on the line of work to be 

 pursued is as much to be considered part of his equipment as the 

 purely mechanical tools. Indeed, I was told by the late von Bezold 

 that Wilhelm Weber set his laboratory students to work by telling 

 them, " Here are the instruments, and there are the Annalen der 

 Pliysik; now go to work." The man of science usually wants his 



