THE UTILITY OF SCIENCE 235 



ferred on man might be greatly lengthened, but 

 what we have given is perhaps sufficiently repre- 

 sentative, and there is much risk of over-empha- 

 sizing the utilitarian criteria. The too intensely 

 practical man has got so accustomed to the 

 fruits of Science that he is apt to forget that these 

 cannot be forthcoming if the roots die. There- 

 fore to the critic who growls over the time spent 

 on studying sea-weeds, when "what we want is 

 more wheat," over embryological research in- 

 stead of fish-hatching, over the theoretical puz- 

 zles of geology instead of the search for more 

 coal and iron, we must answer, first, that man 

 does not live by bread alone; second, that he 

 must be patient if his desired practical results 

 are to be sure; third, that Science is a unity, and 

 the theoretical foundation is essential if there 

 is to be progressive practical application; and, 

 fourth, that, as a matter of fact, it has often been 

 from the most unpromising theoretical investi- 

 gations that great practical discoveries have 

 come. Even for the sake of practice, Science 

 should never submit to the over-practical man's 

 canon which makes immediate utility a strin- 

 gent criterion of worthiness. 



To-day, as much as ever, when the enthusi- 

 asm for "practical results" is so strong, we do 

 well to remember the distinction drawn by Bacon, 

 nearly four hundred years ago, between those 



