COMRADES IN ZEAL. 305 



works through one channel only, that of comradery in research. We 

 are Spudon Xynones — fellow pilgrims in a joyous land — full of 

 glorious scenes, broad outlooks and repaying experiences. But the 

 way we travel is beset with many difficulties both within and without. 

 There are many temptations to turn aside from the main quest, from 

 the large joys to the immediate successes, and the number of those who 

 to the end remain Xynones is far less than the number who first strike 

 out on the trail. These temptations are internal for the most part. 

 The response to them depends on the man, not on anything outside of 

 him. They are the intrinsic factors in his scientific evolution. But 

 there are also extrinsic factors which undermine zeal and discourage 

 enthusiasm. These extrinsic factors are sometimes potent, though 

 relatively few, while the influence of the intrinsic factors decimates 

 our band; wherefore we conclude that the individual in science is more 

 than the environment. Men of research are born more often than 

 made, but those well born may be spoiled or half-spoiled in the making. 

 To prevent this, to keep the ranks firm, it is well for us to stand 

 together, as comrades in zeal, and when necessary, as to-night, we 

 may whistle bravely to keep up our courage. 



And in standing together, it is well for men interested in one line 

 of research not to look down on those whose taste or capacity favors 

 some other. So long as it is real, research is the real thing, and one 

 line may come as near the heart of things as another. Whence it is 

 not good for the experimenter to look down on the systematist, the 

 student of exact sciences on the mathematics of the imagination, the 

 physicist on the psychologist, the chemist on the engineer, the engineer 

 on the economist, the biologist who thinks in terms of chemistry only 

 on the biologist who finds vital force a convenient temporary concep- 

 tion while searching for underlying causes, or any class on any other 

 class, each being a loyal follower of the clue which has come into his 

 hands. To be sure, not all is science which takes that name. 'Sci- 

 ence falsely so called' is known to all of us as well as to the theologian. 

 Of course, the name of science, even the name of research, is bor- 

 rowed for purposes utterly at variance with science. Trade-marks 

 which have a value are always imitated. With all that in the long run, 

 there comes to be a science of non-science when even christian 

 science and psychical research will ultimately find a place in the 

 pigeon-holes of investigation. 



In general, scientific research may be divided into four or five great 

 classes. 



' Experiment. — The purpose of experiment is to test laws, to find 

 out how things work. We arrange the conditions, nature does the 

 rest, and our part of the process is to find out what the rest is. In 

 the old days experiment was easy — to let fall an apple, to rub the hair 

 of a cat, to bring a nail near a magnet. Nature would take advantage 



VOL. LXIV. — 20. 



