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ject with wJiich 1 am not familiar, and yours with a pai>er whicl> 

 would be probably ot as little interest, as it would be of permanent 

 value. 



My address shall at least have one virtue — that of brevity — to re- 

 commend it to you, and shall consist merely of thoughts in connection 

 wtih our pursuits, which have occurred to me within the past few days, 

 bib which for want of time have failed to crystallize into symmetries^! 

 forms, or to fali into regular con)binations. 



There is no more a loyal road to solving the secrets of nature, than 

 there is to fathoming the profundities of metaphysics, or to mastering 

 the anatomy of dead languages. One must ^try the neai-est by-paths, 

 and must penetrate to her retreat by threading a ver-y labyrinth of trails. 

 But along no path can he far proceed without finding here a clue and 

 there a clue which, if lightly undirstojd, will bring him nearer to the 

 goddess of his search. Her throne is at the converging ^wint of 

 innumerable paths which lead inward from an outlying sea of ignorance. 

 These avenues may be sinuous and oft interrupted, but by them arrive 

 to the pilgrims occasional glimpses of the radiance emanating from the 

 central area. Morass and thicket may intervene, but no matter how 

 treacherous the swamp or intricate the jungle, there will not be want- 

 ing objects of present encouragement and of incentive to further efi'ort. 

 At each step the giound will become more solid and the way less rough, 

 so that the slow and wearisome labour of the outset becomes gradually 

 a pleasant and absorbing I'ecreation. The various powers are develoj^ed 

 and strengthened by exercise, and progress becomes easier and more 

 rapid with each stage completed. 



What has thus been stated figuratively of the investigation of 

 nature is also literally true in many respects. He who keeps to the 

 dusty macadamized highway will have scant opportunity for discovery 

 as compared with one who seeks the winding {)aths through field and 

 forest. It is true that evtrn along the roadside the observant noturalist 

 will find much to iiiterest and much to study, but after all the objects 

 will be either common, or will belong to some family of aggressive and 

 self-asseitive forms. They will be the weeds that follow man along his 

 highways, not the rare orchids that hide in the dim shade of the cedars 

 and are nourished by the rich mould of the swamp. Or they will be 



