Sigma Xi I 255 



power at all. " Shoot an arrow and speak the truth" is 

 said to be an oriental proverb. Telling the truth is like 

 shooting an arrow or a rifle; no man does it by nature; 

 he must learn. I have seen many men shoot, but never 

 saw one hit the center exactly. If one did so hit the 

 mark it were surely an accident; not more to be reck- 

 oned to the marksman's credit than many another shot 

 that came very near but did not quite reach the same 

 perfection of accuracy. So hard is it to report a scien- 

 tific truth, even for the most accurate among us. 



There is just one other thing here to say. The work 

 that we undertake in this world is determined largely by 

 circumstances, often by circumstances over which we 

 have little or no control. Your work will be found pre- 

 cisely where you are. You need not go to Germany or 

 London to begin. You may begin at Iowa City or at 

 Ward's Corners; but wherever it is and whatever it is, 

 whatever its kind or class, be assured the same laws hold 

 fast, the same principles control. Patience, self-restraint, 

 loyalty to the truth and to the work of others, these are 

 the qualifications for service in the goodly fellowship of 

 the Sigma Xi. 



Never was the time more opportune. Everywhere is 

 an open door. All the work that has been done hitherto 

 has been but to clear the way for you,. The work in 

 higher mathematics has been voluminous, immense, but 

 there is probably not a problem in mathematics but sug- 

 gests others more varied and far-reaching still. In phys- 

 ics and in chemistry, as all the world knows, we are on 

 the constant verge of expectancy. In geology there is 

 probably not a county in the Mississippi Valley whose 



