1896.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 369 



Bat away back in the days when Queen Aliquippa enter- 

 tained George Washington, running down to the present 

 time, there has been courtesy shown to the strangers, 

 save and except when Captain William Trent, about 1772, 

 acted rudely to the Indians who were rude to the English- 

 man, General Braddock. But these are all facts known to 

 history, and the people of the present day may be relied 

 on to accord to you in their homes and in all the relations 

 you may meet them a hospitality that will be personal. 

 I welcome you as representatives of the learned of the 

 nineteenth century. It is said of the most famous of the 

 ancient Hebrew kings, accounted the wisest of his day, 

 that "he spoke of trees from the cedar which is in Leba- 

 non to the hyssop which springeth from the wall; he 

 spoke also of beasts, creeping things (reptiles) and 

 fishes." From this you will observe that King Solomon's 

 knowledge was confined in botany to the phenogams 

 and that his knowledge of histology extended no further 

 than to the lower vertebrates. He knew nothing of 

 spores and bacteria; all the wonders of mycetology and 

 cryptogamic life were hidden from him. He knew noth- 

 ing of the protozoa and the myriad forms of microscopic 

 life with which you are familiar, representing the won- 

 derful advancement of modern science achieved through 

 the microscope. I welcome you as those who are wiser 

 than Solomon, and who know more than the ancients, 

 and trust from intercourse with you to add to the stores 

 of knowledge. I welcome you as friends of humanity. 

 People sometimes wonder why men should spend their 

 time investigating mere minute organisms, spending 

 months and hundreds of dollars. From the peculiarly 

 economic standpoint, the investigator himself reaps very 

 little return in fame or wealth, but the pathway is 

 broadened and made plain to discoveries which enrich the 

 world. You are a representatives of those who with the 

 microscope have carried our knowledge downward into 



