﻿WHO 
  WILL 
  PROMOTE 
  SCIENCE? 
  — 
  ABBOT. 
  139 
  

  

  the 
  reporters 
  will 
  do 
  it 
  for 
  him, 
  accuracy 
  to 
  the 
  contrary 
  notwith- 
  

   standing, 
  if 
  they 
  can 
  scent 
  out 
  any 
  whiff 
  of 
  human 
  interest 
  in 
  it. 
  

   In 
  good 
  conscience 
  it 
  behooves 
  him 
  to 
  practice 
  up 
  in 
  the 
  art 
  of 
  pre- 
  

   senting 
  the 
  heart 
  of 
  things. 
  Even 
  his 
  fellow 
  men 
  of 
  science 
  would 
  

   appreciate 
  that 
  when 
  it 
  comes 
  to 
  listening 
  to 
  him 
  in 
  a 
  meeting. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  a 
  time-worn 
  illustration 
  which 
  strikes 
  harder 
  now 
  than 
  

   when 
  first 
  uttered, 
  because 
  the 
  faith 
  of 
  the 
  man 
  of 
  science 
  has 
  been 
  

   so 
  overwhelmingly 
  justified. 
  A 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  Government 
  to 
  whom 
  

   Michael 
  Faraday 
  was 
  showing 
  a 
  new 
  experiment 
  in 
  electricity 
  said 
  

   slightingly, 
  "Very 
  curious, 
  but 
  of 
  what 
  use 
  is 
  it? 
  " 
  "By 
  and 
  by, 
  

   my 
  lord," 
  replied 
  Faraday, 
  " 
  you 
  may 
  tax 
  it." 
  

  

  Not 
  everybody 
  who 
  makes 
  valuable 
  discoveries 
  is 
  a 
  Faraday, 
  yet 
  

   the 
  man 
  in 
  the 
  street 
  expects 
  every 
  discoverer 
  to 
  be 
  also 
  a 
  prophet, 
  

   and 
  not 
  only 
  a 
  prophet, 
  but 
  endowed 
  with 
  a 
  gift 
  of 
  tongues, 
  so 
  that 
  

   when 
  asked 
  " 
  of 
  what 
  use 
  is 
  the 
  new 
  result? 
  " 
  he 
  shall 
  go 
  beyond 
  the 
  

   answer 
  of 
  him 
  who 
  replied 
  : 
  " 
  Of 
  what 
  use, 
  madame, 
  is 
  a 
  new-born 
  

   infant? 
  " 
  and 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  describe 
  the 
  whole 
  family 
  tree 
  of 
  the 
  de- 
  

   scendants 
  of 
  the 
  infant 
  discovery 
  in 
  terms 
  so 
  simple 
  and 
  so 
  clear 
  that 
  

   he 
  who 
  runs 
  may 
  read. 
  

  

  If 
  investigation 
  had 
  always 
  been 
  limited 
  to 
  subjects 
  promising 
  to 
  

   have 
  utility, 
  we 
  should 
  still 
  be 
  in 
  the 
  dark 
  ages. 
  The 
  enlightenment 
  

   of 
  the 
  human 
  mind 
  brought 
  about 
  by 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  astronomy, 
  for 
  

   instance, 
  has 
  a 
  value 
  not 
  to 
  be 
  measured 
  by 
  dollars 
  and 
  cents, 
  but 
  

   by 
  the 
  safety 
  of 
  life 
  and 
  property 
  from 
  religious 
  persecution 
  and 
  

   by 
  the 
  advance 
  from 
  superstition 
  and 
  ignorant 
  fear 
  of 
  nature. 
  On 
  

   the 
  other 
  hand, 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  easy 
  to 
  cite 
  many 
  investigations 
  of 
  ap- 
  

   parently 
  merely 
  curious 
  and 
  trivial 
  phenomena 
  which 
  later 
  on 
  came 
  

   to 
  have 
  high 
  commercial 
  utility. 
  One 
  will 
  suffice. 
  Thirty 
  years 
  ago 
  

   no 
  " 
  practical 
  man 
  " 
  would 
  have 
  dreamed 
  of 
  investigating 
  the 
  con- 
  

   duction 
  of 
  electricity 
  through 
  rarefied 
  gases. 
  K'ontgen's 
  discovery 
  

   of 
  X 
  rays 
  was 
  not 
  in 
  the 
  least 
  influenced 
  by 
  utility, 
  but 
  came 
  out 
  of 
  

   pure 
  research 
  work 
  in 
  that 
  field. 
  Think 
  of 
  X-ray 
  hospital 
  work 
  

   nowadays! 
  Moreover, 
  every 
  department 
  store 
  carries 
  radio-tele- 
  

   phone 
  outfits, 
  with 
  their 
  thermionic 
  amplifiers, 
  which 
  also 
  are 
  the 
  

   children 
  of 
  that 
  same 
  line 
  of 
  pure 
  research. 
  

  

  But 
  after 
  all, 
  " 
  what 
  further 
  need 
  have 
  we 
  of 
  witnesses? 
  " 
  Hert- 
  

   zian 
  waves 
  have 
  become 
  radio; 
  Pasteur's 
  bacilli 
  have 
  led 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  

   Mayo 
  brothers' 
  surgery 
  and 
  the 
  abolishment 
  of 
  yellow 
  fever; 
  Fara- 
  

   day's 
  and 
  Henry's 
  electromagnets 
  have 
  become 
  dynamos 
  and 
  tele- 
  

   graphs, 
  and 
  the 
  whole 
  world 
  is 
  revolutionized 
  in 
  a 
  century 
  by 
  the 
  

   discoverers 
  who 
  worked 
  not 
  for 
  utilities 
  but 
  for 
  knowledge. 
  Yet 
  it 
  

   is 
  a 
  mean, 
  stunted 
  mind 
  that 
  sees 
  only 
  things 
  like 
  autos 
  and 
  electric 
  

   lights 
  as 
  the 
  foremost 
  rewards 
  and 
  justification 
  of 
  science. 
  What 
  

   the 
  sculpture 
  of 
  Phidias, 
  the 
  painting 
  of 
  Raphael, 
  the 
  music 
  of 
  

  

  