BOTANY 161 



vital change, was first studied with precision by the botanist 

 Dutrochet, and later by the botanist Pfeffer; and correct 

 ideas of the processes of fermentation are due to the labors 

 of the botanist Pasteur. 



In this connection should be briefly mentioned the rela- 

 tion of botany to aesthetics, illustrating the relation to aesthe- 

 tics of science in general. We hear a great deal nowadays 

 about the dry facts and cold logic of science driving all the 

 poetry out of modern life. In the last chapter of Ollivant's 

 "Redcoat Captain" occurs this passage: "Because our eyes 

 are so close to the page, and because the page is so very large, 

 we often only see the foot-notes, which are most interesting 

 in themselves. Then sometimes we deny that the page is 

 there, saying the foot-notes are all, which is rather foolish; 

 for what is the good of Notes on Nothing?" 



A reviewer of the book says, referring to this passage : 

 "The man who buries his nose in the Notes and tries to read 

 the writing smelling it is a sinner, and usually knows a lot 

 about nothing; the man who holds his eyes close to the page 

 and pries into the Notes is a scientist, and knows a great deal 

 about both the Notes and the Story; and the man who stands 

 stands back a bit and declares he can read the whole thing, 

 Notes and all, is a philosopher, and usually knows a little 

 about both the Notes and the Story ; and the man who stands 

 still farther back and looks at the Story very quietly, and 

 tells truly all he sees without trying to explain it, is a poet, 

 and he usually knows a lot about both Notes and Story."* 



This only illustrates a very general tendency of modern 

 times to regard science and aesthetics as mutually exclusive. 

 No notion could be more false. For the botanist, every blos- 

 som embodies a series of relationships, of wonderful adapta- 

 tion of means to ends, in addition to the more obvious facts 

 noted by all. The discovery and contemplation of these re- 



*Outlook. Nov. 2, 1907. 



