CAPACITY FOR SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS 131 



they ever made any notable contribution to scientific ad- 

 vancement? They have not." 



Yet, notwithstanding all these facts, notwithstanding all 

 traditions and prejudices and social bias, the unexpected 

 has happened, even in conservative, old-fashioned Ger- 

 many. The German professor may be tenacious of pre- 

 conceived views; he may be a stickler for ancient customs 

 and usages; nevertheless, when he is called upon to give a 

 question a categorical answer which can be arrived at by 

 observation or experiment, he may generally, in spite of 

 his likes or dislikes, be counted on to give a decision in 

 accord with the principles of legitimate induction. He may 

 have his prejudices and who has not? but, when one 

 appeals to him in the name of science and justice, he will 

 rarely be found wanting. Regardless of all personal con- 

 sideration, he will feel that loyalty to science, of which he 

 is the avowed devotee, requires him to consider a question 

 proposed to him as he would a scientific problem some- 

 thing to be decided solely by such evidence as may be 

 available. 



To the exceeding gratification of the believers in the 

 intellectual equality of the sexes, this proved to be the case 

 in Herr Kirchhoff's investigation. The answers of the 

 German professors, contrary to what most people would 

 have anticipated, were, by a surprising majority, in favor 

 of women. But their answers were in keeping with the 

 changed educational conditions in Germany, as well as in 

 other parts of the civilized world. Had Herr Kirchhoff 

 undertaken his investigation a few decades earlier, the 

 result would undoubtedly have been different, for women 

 were then excluded from the universities and the profes- 

 sors had not had an opportunity of accurately testing their 

 intellectual capacities. But having, during the latter part 

 of the nineteenth century, had them as students in their 

 lecture halls and laboratories, where they were able to 

 study their mental powers and determine the value of their 



