THE UTILITY OF SCIENCE 



Perhaps, however, there is still some danger 

 though it is rapidly diminishing of practical 

 lore refusing the aid of science. The old farmer, 

 who has made his fields and his stock pay for 

 half a century, has no use for the new science of 

 the living earth, which teems with Protozoa as 

 well as with Bacteria, and he has no appetite for 

 Mendelism. The old fisherman, who has some- 

 times an almost uncanny skill in reading the 

 riddle of the sea in finding out where he is and 

 where the fish are likely to be is not athirst for 

 ichthyological instruction, though, as a matter of 

 fact, when he is approached sympathetically, and 

 as one who has something to impart as well as 

 as to receive, he often proves himself an effective 

 student. We need not multiply examples, for the 

 point is a simple one. 



Much of the practical lore is thoroughly scien- 

 tific though it may never have been stated. The 

 use of instruction is to make it conscious, com- 

 municable, and more plastic, and to get down to 

 the principles which it unconsciously illustrates. 

 For wonderful as is the lore that comes from 

 instinctive insight to start with and long experi- 

 ence to back this up, it not only tends to die with 

 its possessor, but like instinct, as contrasted with 

 intelligence, in animals, it is apt to be thrown out 

 of gear by some slight change in the conditions of 

 application. 



