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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ing it to himself, applies it to a prac- 

 tical use, and then patents it for his 

 own profit, the act qualifies the motive 

 as selfish and sordid, and of the lowest 

 kind. The writer in "Science" main- 

 tains that where an invention is tacked 

 on to a discovery, the compound result 

 must he superior to its separate ele- 

 ments. But invention is not science, 

 and can not count in ranking scientific 

 achievement. Rank is here determined 

 solely by the elevation or the degrada- 

 tion of the motives by which men are 

 impelled to research. Davy made dis- 

 coveries in combustion which enabled 

 him to # invent the safety-lamp, but he 

 at once gave it freely to the world. Dr. 

 Wollaston discovered the malleability 

 of platinum, and devised the means of 

 producing it on a commercial scale, but 

 he kept his inventions a secret and ac- 

 quired great wealth by them. The two 

 transactions, however, are ranked in 

 scientific history as of two orders, and 

 as widely apart as generosity is from 

 greed. 



Inventions are excellent things, and 

 we have certainly no objection to pat- 

 enting them ; but, as we have said be- 

 fore, they are not parts of science, and 

 when introduced in connection with the 

 work of scientific discovery they serve 

 only to mark the lower purpose for 

 which it is pursued. We are not re- 

 sponsible for this mixing up of patent- 

 rights with science, and protest against 

 the use of them to magnify utility, and 

 cast virtual disparagement upon the 

 highest motives of scientific investiga- 

 tion. The writer upon "The Future of 

 American Science " identifies the inter- 

 ests of invention with those of science 

 in a way that antiquates the simple- 

 minded devotee to truth for its own 

 sake. He says : " The inventive genius 

 of this country is pre-eminent. We 

 reap the benefits of it on every side. 

 Our houses are more comfortable, our 

 railways more safe, our fabrics cheaper, 

 and our education more thorough, be- 

 cause of useful inventions. Becoming 



restive at the slow progress of discov- 

 ery, the inventor has himself assumed 

 the role of investigator ; and the results 

 of his researches appear in the records 

 of the Patent-Office. In the olden times, 

 the investigator was content to make 

 his discoveries, and to publish them, 

 consecrating to science the knowledge 

 thus obtained. His more modern rep- 

 resentative carefully treasures what he 

 has discovered until he has exhausted 

 its practical application. In conse- 

 quence, the discoveries upon which 

 many of the most important scientific 

 inventions of the day rest will be 

 searched for in vain in scientific litera- 

 ture. The telegraph, the telephone, 

 and the electric light are inventions 

 which illustrate the fact now stated in 

 an eminent degree." 



The significance of the new depart- 

 ure, which substitutes the lowest for 

 the highest inducement to scientific 

 labor, is here sufficiently apparent. It 

 is the old fogy of "the olden times" 

 that was content "to make his dis- 

 coveries, and to publish them " ; it is 

 his wide-awake "modern representa- 

 tive" that keeps his results to himself 

 until he can turn them to the purposes 

 of private speculation, through the 

 agency of the Patent- Office. But if it 

 is not to be the policy of the coming sci- 

 entific utilitarian to publish, pray what 

 is the function of the new weekly? 

 And, when the inventor gets "restive 

 at the slow progress of discovery," and 

 proposes to take hold of it himself we 

 may commend his enterprise, but there 

 are some things of which it is desirable 

 that he should be reminded. First of 

 all, and as a matter of fact, scientific 

 truth has been a slow growth of ages. 

 " The telegraph, the telephone, and the 

 electric light" illustrate a good deal 

 more than is here stated. Centuries 

 of labor, and the blood of generations 

 of indefatigable scientific workers, had 

 been expended in experimental re- 

 searches upon electricity, before the 

 facts were disclosed and the principles 



