19 
they were with a native curiosity. This is reflected in some of the 
terms, early introduced and current today, used in connection with 
the method of science. To investigate—the essence of science— 
means literally to follow footprints (vestigia). We might call it 
the method of Robinson Crusoe. It was what the primitive hunter 
— 
did in the chase—to follow a trail. 
Gradually the investigation of nature became more and more 
a vocation or pro- 
serious; from a game it became a business 
fession. Aristotle considered it a luxury for persons of wealth 
and leisure. Today it is no longer a luxury and no longer exclu- 
sively for persons of wealth and leisure; it is a necessity of modern 
Ibe 
Moreover, science has now reached a point where great dis- 
coveries are not likely to be made, even by men of genius, by such 
a simple procedure as watching a chandelier swing to and fro in 
church, or by dropping stones from the leaning tower of Pisa. 
We must have more or less expensive apparatus and supplies, a 
properly equipped laboratory, scientific assistants, and a fund for 
publication so that the results of research may be given to the 
world—not forgetting at least a living wage for the scientific 
man himself. 
— 
Tor all these reasons science must be endowed—either by men 
of wealth or by the state—preferably by the former. In this con- 
nection it is well to keep in mind the fact that most of the wealth 
jen 
of the moc 
application of the facts and_ principles 
eminently fitting, therefore, that those who have accumulated this 
wealth should devote at least a portion of it in generous measure 
to encouraging those who will forego the larger emoluments of 
ern world has been made possible by the practical 
f pure science... [tas 
business for the purpose of following footsteps along the trails 
that lead to more knowledge, and to intellectual emancipation from 
superstition and ignorance. 
For the past seventeen years the Garden has been largely de- 
pendent for research funds on the unsurpassed generosity of three 
or four loyal and understanding friends. In his letter of Novem- 
ber 15, 1920, to our Board of Trustees, offering to contribute 
$50,000 over a term of years to inaugurate at the Garden a re- 
search project in plant pathology, Mr. Alfred T. White expressed 
