698 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ciety of London, the Transactions of the Royal Society, the Journal 

 of the Society of Arts, the Journal of the Horticultural Society of 

 London, the " Edinburgh Veterinary Review," the reports of the 

 Royal Dublin Society, the "Philosophical Magazine," the "Agricult- 

 ural Gazette," the " Chemical News," and in official reports and scat- 

 tered pamphlets and newspaper letters. 



Of the value of Sir John Lawes's work at Rothamstead as a whole, 

 we find the judgments recorded in scientific reviews of its results, that 

 " it is not to be equaled by that of any of the foreign stations ; in- 

 deed, in several departments of investigation it might safely challenge 

 comparison with their united efforts " ; and that " be has obtained a 

 larger body of facts in relation to manures and cropping, and the feed- 

 ing of animals, than all the agricultural societies in the empire put to- 

 gether." 



We also find some lessons suggested by it in the same reviews, the 

 bearing of which seems to have escaped the notice of the reviewers 

 themselves, for they forthwith proceed to draw from them the oppo- 

 site conclusions to the true one : "The whole is the work of the man 

 himself. He has had no aid from the Government or any agricultural 

 society, and no advice from any committee or public body." " Of the 

 indebtedness of science to Mr. Lawes's unique and costly experiments 

 we need not speak, the facts are so plain that they speak for them- 

 selves. Kor need we state the moral. The addition to the national 

 wealth which has accrued from the discoveries made by Mr. Lawes is 

 already enormous. It must be borne in mind that this benefit has 

 arisen from accidental researches, for Mr. Lawes was not compelled 

 to take them up, nor is he bound to continue them." 



The secret of this great merit is also given ; for while Mr. Lawes 

 has not had an unqualified success, especially in drawing inferences 

 from his facts, "his writings afford ample evidence of great earnest- 

 ness of pui-pose. His manly, outspoken language shows that he loves 

 truth for its own sake. He has had ample resources ; and he has had 

 the motive of self-interest, as well as love of knowledge, to stimulate 

 him in his investigations." 



In this splendid example, as in so many others, we have illustrated 

 anew the fact that the best scientific results and the most impor- 

 tant advances in discovery are the fruit of earnest individual work, 

 prompted by love of the pursuit and carried on in a spirit of self-reli- 

 ance ; that investigation can and will make its own paths and find its 

 way to its own ends, and be more vigorous and active for the effort ; 

 and that the time has not yet come when, in Anglo-Saxon countries, 

 science has so declined that it must be coddled by oflicial patronage. 



