76 TRUE SCIENCE IS UNSELFISH. 



forefathers, and from the most exquisite flowers he turns 

 with indifference. The gardener, on the other hand, is 

 wholly absorbed by his love and his hate, his charming 

 exotics, and his troublesome weeds. The latter he regards 

 with much the same feelings as a society wholly composed 

 of honest men would regard an infusion of the " dangerous 

 elements ; " for weeds, like rogues, take what is not their 

 own, and deprive others of their means of sustenance. But 

 to classify plants according to their virtues or vices is not 

 worthy of science, exclaims the rigid botanist. Would you 

 mingle vile self-interest with the pure study of the vegetable 

 kingdom? Remember that all selfish feelings ought to be 

 banished from the sublime sanctuary of analysis and synthesis. 



This sounds exceedingly well. Disinterested words, from 

 whatever quarter they come, always produce perhaps, on 

 account of their comparative rarity an admirable effect. 

 But what is their real value? To ascertain it, the listener 

 must be able to seize, like so many luminous threads, all 

 the emotions which are acting upon the heart and tongue 

 of the speaker. But we are very far from having arrived 

 at this degree of perfection. Shall we ever attain to it? 

 Yes, because we can conceive its possibility. But, until 

 that golden epoch, the pure love of science will always 

 remain a myth, and we shall not have universally under- 

 stood the necessity of seeking in the profound study of 

 nature the grand destiny of man. 



It is among the weeds and noxious plants that we shall 

 find the species capable of enduring longest the cold of 



