INTRODUCTION xv 



Experimental Research, and it is also that which is 

 least known to the public. Till a comparatively 

 recent date even students of Science would have 

 been prepared to concede that the mysteries of life 

 and above all the mysteries of descent must be 

 left to experience and observation and that the 

 experimental method could not hope to arrive at 

 accurate and reliable rules of action such as those 

 obtainable in the inorganic world. But such 

 work as that described by Professor Biffen and his 

 collaborators tell a very different tale. Thanks 

 largely to the Pure Science of Mendel we are 

 rapidly acquiring the power of reorganising the 

 existing vegetable kingdom so as to make new 

 varieties of useful plants which will be secure from 

 attacks from their enemies and will yield a larger 

 return to the cultivator. 



On the other hand Experimental Science is 

 giving to us clear ideas on the effect of foods both 

 as to health and growth. We are learning what 

 is the specific effect of various forms of nutrition 

 and at the same time we are being taught the 

 dangers that may arise from the absence of certain 

 essentials in food, the very existence of which was 

 hitherto unsuspected. It will be interesting to see 

 how rapidly the teachings of this branch of research 

 will be accepted by the class to which they are of 

 the most importance, namely, our Agriculturists. 

 Agriculture is probably the oldest art in the world 

 and it has hitherto reposed mainly on experience 



