4 FROM AN EASY CHAIR 



" grown-ups *' who have become or have never ceased to 

 be, in this matter, even as he, is the reason why science 

 has its helpers and workers of all ranks, and it is of them 

 that I chiefly think in writing these notes. 



At a dinner of the Savage Club a year or so ago my 

 friend Dr. Nansen, the Norwegian Minister, quoted some 

 lines from a Scandinavian poet, which he translated 

 somewhat as follows : " As you journey through life do 

 not go too fast, do not press on blindly ; there are so 

 many beautiful things by the way. Turn your head, 

 stay a few minutes. Leave the dusty road. Take in 

 and enjoy the wonders and delights which are at your 

 feet." Motorists, please take note ! 



For those who can enter more thoroughly into 

 the pursuit of science there are even greater joys. To 

 the very few there is the privilege not merely of 

 realising well-established truths, and of perhaps 

 assisting in securing their foundations or extending their 

 application, but of discovering vast unexplored regions, 

 new possibilities, new revelations of the unfathomed 

 depths of Nature's workings. Though few can hope to 

 be leaders in these enthralling adventures, yet we can be 

 close to those who are, and, holding their hands, 

 sympathise with their soul's vision. 



" Then felt I like some watcher from the skies, 

 Or the stout Cortes, when, with eagle eyes, 

 He stared at the Pacific .... 

 Silent, upon a peak in Darien." 



Such a one need have none of the conventional setting 

 of romantic enterprise. He may be standing before a 

 much-stained table, covered with bottles, in an 

 atmosphere of acrid fumes, with a test-tube in his hand, 

 or he may be just raising his head with a far-off gaze, 

 as he sits, bent o'er a microscope, in London. 



