24 JOURNAL OF THE 



or Chemistry is at the disadvantag-e of having- an audi- 

 ence which expects to be amused, as at some exhibition 

 of jugfg'lery, whereas the lano-ua«-e teacher has under 

 him those who reaHze fully that there is no royal road 

 to learning-. I have heard a distinguished professor of 

 chemistry say that he always felt his class begnn to 

 drag' when he passed the "fizz, pop and bang- stag-e. " 

 They would g-aze in wonder at the beautiful experi- 

 ments upon the elemental g-ases but had no stomach for 

 the hard work of the science. And yet, how essential 

 this plodding-, this toil without apparent, or at least 

 immediate, reward, is to the truth of the picture and to 

 the success of the study. The drudg-ery ceases to be 

 such in the eyes of the enthusiastic searcher into na- 

 ture's m3'steries. It becomes a joy, as bring'ing- him a 

 step nearer to the realization of his hopes. 



If any of jx^u are looking- forward to a life-time of 

 work in the realms of science it is well that you should 

 face clearly the condition demanded of you for the hig-h- 

 est, truest success, namely, patient and often times 

 seeming-h- fruitless toil. A patient worker who has 

 just laid his tribute on the altar of science, before an 

 admiring- world of fellow-citizens — I refer to Morley 

 and his monumental work upon the atomic weig'ht of 

 oxyg-en — writes : 



"Do not deceive 3"ourselves, however, by thinking- 

 that patient toil can accomplish everything-. Genius 

 is not 'an infinite capacity for taking- pains' but a 

 something- broader and deeper, that lifts the drudgery 

 into the sublime. You ma}^ take infinite pains and still 

 be only a drudge. You must take infinite pains to be 

 a brilliant leader." 



One of the most valuable cjualities of mind to a man 

 of science is persistence, obstinacy, doggedness — what- 



