300 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Lockyer says: "Further, I am told that the sum of £24:,000,000 is less 

 than half the amount by which Germany is yearly enriched by having 

 improved upon our chemical industries, owing to our lack of scientific 

 training. Many other industries have been attacked in the same way 

 since, but taking this one instance alone, if we had spent this money 

 fifty years ago, when the Prince Consort first called attention to our 

 backwardness, the nation would now be much richer than it is, and 

 would have much less to fear from competition." 



But enough on the purely material side. Let us turn to the intel- 

 lectual results of scientific investigation. This part of our subject 

 might be summed up in a few words. It is so obvious that the intel- 

 lectual condition of mankind is a direct result of scientific investigation 

 that one hesitates to make the statement. The mind of man can not 

 carry him much in advance of his knowledge of the facts. Intellectual 

 gains can be made only by discoveries, and discoveries can be made only 

 by investigation. One generation differs from another in the way it 

 looks at the world. A generation that thinks the earth is the center of 

 the universe differs intellectually from one that has learned the true 

 position of the earth in the solar system, and the general relations of 

 the solar system to other similar systems that make up the universe. 

 A generation that sees in every species of animal and plant evidence 

 of a special creative act differs from one that has recognized the gen- 

 eral truth of the conception of evolution. And so in every department 

 of knowledge the great generalizations that have been reached through 

 the persistent efforts of scientific investigators are the intellectual gains 

 that have resulted. These great generalizations measure the intel- 

 lectual wealth of mankind. They are the foundations of all profitable 

 thought. While the generalizations of science belong to the world, not 

 all the world takes advantage of its opportunities. JsTation differs from 

 nation intellectually as individual differs from individual. It is not, 

 however, the possession of knowledge that makes the efficient individual 

 and the efficient nation. It is well known that an individual may be 

 very learned and at the same time very inefficient. The question is, 

 what use does he make of his knowledge? When we speak of intel- 

 lectual results of scientific investigation, we mean not only accumulated 

 knowledge, but the way in which this knowledge is invested. A man 

 who simply accumulates money and does not see to it that this money 

 is carefully invested, is a miser, and no large results can come from his 

 efforts. While, then, the intellectual state of a nation is measured 

 partly by the extent to which it has taken possession of the generaliza- 

 tions that belong to the world, it is also measured by the extent to which 

 the methods by which knowledge is accumulated have been brought into 

 requisition and have become a part of the equipment of the people of 

 that nation. The intellectual progress of a nation depends upon the 



