ISO NULLIUS IN VERBA 



the brand-newest discovery. Lastly, there is an- 

 other excellent reason for scientific work, namely, 

 that the bodily welfare of the human race and of its 

 friendly animals and plants depends on accurate 

 knowledge of the nature and behaviour of every- 

 thing in the world. It is this truth that makes us 

 believe that every fact has its value. Its value 

 may remain unrecognised for long periods, and then 

 it may suddenly find its place in the great jig-saw 

 puzzle of knowledge. The two most exciting 

 sciences just now seem to me to be Physics and 

 Pathology ; one as bringing us nearer to the know- 

 ledge of the structure of matter, the other in dis- 

 entangling the causes of deadly and mysterious 

 diseases such as malaria, diphtheria, hydrophobia, 

 sleeping sickness, in a manner and with a success 

 hitherto undreamt of. But because the advances 

 in these sciences are so brilliant and hopeful, no 

 civilised worker will venture to despise the pursuits 

 of less fortunate people whose work seems rather 

 humdrum. There are botanists who spend their 

 whole lives in describing and classifying dried 

 plants in a herbarium. But these are really doing 

 highly valuable work, for the simple reason that 

 we cannot make any accurate use of plants until 

 they have names. I am omitting the purely 

 commercial use of such work, which is very great. 

 I only want to insist that the mere naming of living 

 things is an indispensable stone in the building of 

 the palace of science. All who work at science may 

 recognise that they belong to a guild which makes 

 for the happiness of the human race. And this 

 they must do, not with any pride, but humbly 



