I shall show exactly how the marine naturalist 

 works. 



We are all of us aware that the chief stock in 

 trade of the magician is his ability to keep us mys- 

 tified as to the method in which he performs his 

 tricks. When once we become aware of how he 

 works his seeming wonders, our interest and re- 

 spect are at an end. Thus it would seem to be in the 

 minds of a lingering few so-called men of science 

 concerning their trade. I say "a lingering few" 

 because there are still some left whose mind and 

 manner are of the Middle Ages; they are fearful 

 of familiarity with their way of working, lest they 

 lose the prestige of their craft. Verily there was 

 a time when all scientists actually encouraged the 

 public in the belief that research work was one of 

 mystery and legerdemain. It was in this manner 

 that originally came into being the modern sym- 

 bols and abbreviations used in medicine and phar- 

 macy and in some branches of biology and astron- 

 omy. The odd codes of the alchemists, no less than 

 the use of Latin by the ancient leeches, were de- 

 signed to keep from the ordinary man the secret of 

 the real nature of their methods and of the com- 

 position of the remedies they prescribed. But the 



[4i] 



