SCIENCE IN EDUCATION. 685 



fact or principle, some addition of more or less importance to the sum 

 of human knowledge, there may come upon us the eager desire to 

 make our discovery known. We may long to be allowed to add our 

 own little stone to the growing temple of science. We may think 

 of the pride with which we should see our names enrolled among 

 those of the illustrious builders by whom this temple has been slowly 

 reared since the infancy of mankind. So we commit our observations 

 to writing, and send them for publication. Eventually we obtain the 

 deep gratification of appearing in print among well-known authors 

 in science. Far be it from me to condemn this natural desire for 

 publicity. But, as your experience grows, you will probably come 

 to agree with me that if the desire were more frequently and ener- 

 getically curbed, scientific literature would gain much thereby. 

 There is among us far too much hurry in publication. We are so 

 afraid lest our observations or deductions should be forestalled — so 

 anxious not to lose our claim to priority, that we rush before the 

 world, often with a half-finished performance, which must be cor- 

 rected, supplemented, or canceled by some later communication. 

 It is this feverish haste which is largely answerable for the mass of 

 jejune, ill-digested, and erroneous matter that cumbers the pages of 

 modern scientific journals. Here it is that you specially need pa- 

 tience. Before you venture to publish anything, take the utmost 

 pains to satisfy yourselves that it is true, that it is new, and that it is 

 worth putting into print. And be assured that this reticence, while 

 it is a kindness to the literature of science, will most certainly bring 

 with it its own reward to yourselves. It will increase your con- 

 fidence, and make your ultimate contributions more exact in their 

 facts as well as more accurate and convincing in their argument. 



The other danger to which I referred as demanding patience is of 

 an opposite kind. As we advance in our career, and the facts of our 

 investigations accumulate around us, there will come times of de- 

 pression when we seem lost in a labyrinth of detail out of which 

 no path appears to be discoverable. We have, perhaps, groped our 

 way through this maze, following now one clew, now another, that 

 seemed to promise some outlet to the light. But the darkness has 

 only closed around us the deeper, and we feel inclined to abandon the 

 research as one in which success is, for us at least, unattainable. 

 When this blankness of despair shall come upon you, take courage 

 under it, by remembering that a patient study of any department of 

 Nature is never labor thrown away. Every accurate observation 

 you have made, every new fact you have established, is a gain to 

 science. You may not for a time see the meaning of these observa- 

 tions, nor the connection of these facts. But their meaning and con- 

 nection are sure in the end to be made out. You have gone through 



