THE NEED FOE A COMMON SCIENTIFIC LANGUAGE 9 



Every correspondent would have to know nine languages 

 besides his own. If, however, we employed an intermediary 

 language, each person would only require to know this 

 language hesides his own. The matter is so simple and the 

 advantage so exceedingly obvious that one can only wonder 

 why it has not been recognised and carried out long ago. 



It is quite self-evident that, if one wishes to become 

 acquainted with the imaginative literature and the inner 

 thoughts and feelings of a foreign nation, one cannot content 

 oneself with translations, but must study a language in its 

 own country. But how many people learn French in order 

 to become acquainted with its literature ? The existence of 

 an intermediary language would interfere with such linguistic 

 studies just as little as the invention of the automobile 

 prevents anybody from using a riding or carriage horse. 

 There is no necessity, therefore, for philologists or pro- 

 fessional linguists to be hostile to the project, since their 

 sphere of work and influence will not be in any way 

 diminished thereby. On the contrary, the creation of an 

 artificial language has led to so many interesting questions 

 relating to the structure, and to such a deeper insight into 

 the nature of language, and has attracted so many to its 

 study, that this beautiful department of knowledge will only 

 derive advantage therefrom. 



It is also remarkable that the original work of Dr. Zamenhof, 

 which in its principles was characterised by genius, but in 

 its execution was imperfect and therefore insufficient, has 

 only through the reforming labours of distinguished philo- 

 logists attained to that perfection of form and principle 

 required to make it the international auxiliary language of the 

 civilised world. The difficulty of the undertaking no longer 

 lies in the language itself, but, rather, in the task of inspir- 

 ing all concerned, and especially the leading thinkers, with 

 the conviction that it is practically realisable. If this con- 

 viction can be sufficiently spread, the introduction of the 



