306 
SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION AND 
PROGRESS.! 
AS the weekly services of many of our churches it is 
customary to begin with the reading of a verse or 
two from the Scriptures for the purpose, I suppose, of 
putting the congregations in the proper state of mind for 
the exercises which are to follow. It seems to me we may 
profit by this example, and accordingly I ask your attention 
to Article i. of the Constitution of the American Association 
for the Advancement of Science, which reads thus :—‘ The 
objects of the association are, by periodical and migratory 
meetings, to promote intercourse between those who are 
cultivating science in different parts of America, to give 
stronger and more general impulse and more systematic 
direction to scientific research, and to procure for the labours 
of scientific men increased facilities and a wider usefulness.” 
The first object mentioned, you will observe, is ‘* to pro- 
mote intercourse between those who are cultivating science 
in different parts of America’’; the second is ‘‘ to give a 
stronger and more general impulse and more systematic 
direction to scientific research ’’; and the third is “‘ to pro- 
cure for the labours of scientific men increased facilities and 
a wider usefulness.’’ Those who are familiar with the 
history of the association are well aware that it has served 
its purposes admirably, and I am inclined te think that those 
who have been in the habit of attending the meetings will 
agree that the object which appeals to them most strongly | 
is the promotion of intercourse between those who are 
cultivating science. Given this intercourse and the other 
objects will be reached as a necessary consequence, for the 
intercourse stimulates thought, and thought leads to work, 
and work leads to wider usefulness. 
While in 1848, when the association was organised and 
the constitution was adopted, there was a fair number of 
NATURE 
good scientific investigators in this country, it is certain | 
that in the half century that has passed since then the 
number of investigators has increased very largely, and 
naturally the amount of scientific work done at present is 
very much greater than it was at that time. So great has 
been the increase in scientific activity during recent years 
that we are apt to think that by comparison scientific re- | 
search is a new acquisition. In fact there appears to be 
an impression abroad that in the world at large scientific 
research is a relatively new thing, for which we of this | 
generation and our immediate 
responsible. 
science is necessary, however, to show that the sciences 
have been developed slowly, and that their beginnings are 
to be looked for in the very earliest times. Everything 
seems to point to the conclusion that men have always been 
engaged in efforts to learn more and more in regard to the 
world in which they find themselves. Sometimes they have 
been guided by one motive and sometimes by another, but 
the one great underlying motive has been the desire to get 
a clearer and clearer understanding of the universe. But 
besides this there has been the desire to find means of in- 
creasing the comfort and happiness of the human race. 
A reference to the history of chemistry will serve to show 
how these motives have operated side by side. One of the 
first great incentives for working with chemical things was 
the thought that it was possible to convert base metals, like 
lead and copper, into the so-called noble metals, silver and 
gold. Probably no idea has ever operated as strongly as 
this upon the minds of men to lead them to undertake 
chemical experiments. It held control of intellectual men 
for centuries, and it was not until about a hundred years 
ago that it lost its hold. It is very doubtful if the purely 
scientific question whether one form of matter can be trans- 
formed into another would have had the power to control the 
activities of investigators for so long a time, and it is idle 
to speculate upon this subject. It should, however, be borne 
in mind that many of those who were engaged in this work 
were actuated by a desire to put money in their purses—a 
desire that is by no means to be condemned without reserve 
and I mention it not for the purpose of condemning it, but 
to show that a motive that we sometimes think of as 
peculiarly modern is among the oldest known to man. 
predecessors are largely 
1 Address by Prof. Ira Remsen, retiring president of the American Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science, delivered at St. Louis, December 
28, 1903. 
NO. 1787, VOL. 69] 
Only a superficial knowledge of the history of | 
[JANUARY 28, 1904 
When the alchemists were at work upon their problems, 
another class of chemists was engaged upon problems ot 
an entirely different nature. The fact that substances 
obtained from various natural sources and others made in 
the laboratory produce effects of various kinds when taken 
into the system led to the thought that these substances 
might be useful in the treatment of disease. Then, further, 
it was thought that disease itself is a chemical phenomenon. 
These thoughts, as is evident, furnish strong motives for 
the investigation of chemical substances, and the science of 
chemistry owes much to the work of those who were guided 
by these motives. 
And so in each period as a new thought has served as the 
guide we find that men have been actuated by different 
motives, and often one and the same worker has been under 
the influence of mixed motives. Only in a few cases does 
it appear that the highest motives alone operate. We must 
take men as we find them, and we may be thankful that on 
the whole there are so many who are impelled by one motive 
or another, or by a mixture of motives, to take up the work 
of investigating the world in which we live. Great progress 
is being made in consequence, and almost daily we are 
called upon to wonder at some new and marvellous result 
of scientific investigation. It is quite impossible to make 
predictions of value in regard to what is likely to be re- 
vealed to us by continued work, but it is safe to believe 
that in our efforts to discover the secrets of the universe 
only a beginning has been made. No matter in what direc- 
tion we may look we are aware of great unexplored terri- 
tories, and even in those regions in which the greatest 
advances have been made it is evident that the knowledge 
gained is almost insignificant as compared with that which 
remains to be learned. But this line of thought may lead 
to a condition bordering on hopelessness and despondency, 
and surely we should avoid this condition, for there is much 
greater cause for rejoicing than for despair. Our successors 
will see more and see more clearly than we do, just as 
we see more and see more clearly than our predecessors. 
It is our duty to keep the work going without being too 
anxious to weigh the results on an absolute scale. It must 
be remembered that the absolute scale is not a very sensitive 
instrument, and that it requires the results of generations 
to affect it markedly. 
On an occasion of this kind it seems fair to ask the 
question: What does the world gain by scientific investi- 
gation? This question has often been asked and often 
answered, but each answer differs in some respects froma 
the others, and each may be suggestive and worth giving. 
The question is a profound one, and no answer that can be 
given would be satisfactory. In general it may be said that 
the results of scientific investigation fall under three heads 
—the material, the intellectual and the ethical. 
The material results are the most obvious, and they 
naturally receive the most attention. The material wants 
of man are the first to receive consideration. They cannot 
be neglected. He must have food and clothing, the means 
of combating disease, the means of transportation, the 
means of producing heat and a great variety of things that 
contribute to his bodily comfort and gratify his asthetic 
desires. It is not my purpose to attempt to deal with all 
of these and to show how science is helping to work out 
the problems suggested. I shall have to content myself by 
pointing out a few of the more important problems the 
solution of which depends upon the prosecution of scientific 
research. 
First, the food problem: Whatever views one may hold 
in regard to that which has come to be called ‘‘ race 
suicide,’’ it is certain that the population of the world is 
increasing rapidly. The desirable places have been occupied. 
In some parts of the earth there is such a surplus of popula- 
tion that famines occur from time to time, and in other parts 
epidemics and floods relieve the embarrassment. We may 
fairly look forward to the time when the whole earth will 
be overpopulated unless the production of food becomes 
more scientific than it is now. Here is the field for the work 
of the agricultural chemist who is showing us how to in- 
crease the yield from a given area, and, in case of poor 
and worn-out soils, how to preserve and increase their 
fertility. It appears that the methods of cultivating the soil 
are still comparatively crude, and more and more thorough 
investigation of the processes involved in the growth of 
