484 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



been augmented ; and we are seeking, with certainty of success, 

 yet more considerable increase in the production of wheat. No 

 less progress is reached in the production of fruits and vegetables, 

 and of cattle, to the daily amelioration of the general condition 

 of the human race. 



This advance has been promoted, partly by close acquaintance 

 with the general laws of living Nature, as revealed by disinter- 

 ested science — laws which are the essential foundation of every 

 application ; and equally, and in a way no less worthy of admira- 

 tion, by the efforts of inventors, those men of practical ingenuity 

 who labor at the same time for the increase of their own fortunes 

 and for the good and profit of mankind. 



But,besides discovering important scientific truths and devis- 

 ing profitable applications of them, the inventor needs to have a 

 popular support ; and it is, above all, important that the appli- 

 cation of his inventions shall be made seriously by educated and 

 intelligent populations, ready to receive and to propagate all use- 

 ful ideas. To this end the sphere of public instruction has been 

 enlarged; and, besides the elementary knowledge hitherto re- 

 quired, and the moral and civic precepts fitted to make intelligent 

 voters, our educational schemes of the present time include 

 fundamental scientific principles, the knowledge of which is in- 

 dispensable for hygiene, industry, and agriculture. All civilized 

 peoples have recognized the importance of such teaching, and 

 democracies, more than any other governments, have thus ex- 

 panded the courses of popular instruction. 



The good old times of ignorance raised to a principle have 

 passed away. Science can not be reserved for a narrow oligarchy ; 

 all should be associated in it to the greatest possible extent, be- 

 cause knowledge of that kind is necessary for the advancement of 

 the applications, an advancement which is hindered by ignorance. 

 It is so because it is important that all the citizens of a free 

 country shall share in the highest ideal. No ideal is superior to 

 that of agriculture. Country life is the normal type of human 

 life. In it only can manhood be developed in its plenitude. 

 Country life favors at once material health of the body and moral 

 soundness of mind. The robust, industrious, and intelligent 

 countryman has always constituted the strength of nations, and 

 of France in particular; through him we have survived many 

 trials and catastrophes ; and through the countryman, active, 

 intelligent, and instructive, we shall maintain the prosperity and 

 greatness of our country. — Translated for The Popular Science 

 Monthly from the Revue Scientifique. 



