LamplugJi : Man as an Instrument of Research. igi 



investigation, he must strive so to fashion the mind-picture 

 representing his impressions that it shall be faithful to the thing 

 observed, and shall be transferrable to other minds in a form 

 still true to its original. This is the step that costs. So far as- 

 the sphere of expanding consciousness is concerned, this is the 

 creative act. If through carelessness or inability in the observer 

 a false idea be fashioned and transmitted, it is worse than 

 useless ; for, like a bad stone in the building, it will crumble 

 and imperil the superstructure. 



Therefore, first, to learn rightly to understand the evidence 

 of the senses ; and next, to learn to convey what has been 

 gathered from them in unmistakable terms, are the indispen- 

 sable qualities in the equipment of man as an instrument of 

 research. Possessing these qualities, the investigator may 

 rest assured of the permanent value of his work, whether the 

 field of his observation be great or small. 



From temperamental diversity, however, it often happens 

 that the person who is most capable as an observer has no 

 equivalent capacity for conveying his results to other minds. 

 His powers of perception are keen ; he finds it easy, nay, 

 pleasurable, to face outward on the borders of the known, 

 and to advance therefrom into the region where new impressions 

 grow thickly. But to formulate his knowledge for transmission 

 is a task that is uncongenial to him ; it may even demand 

 faculties that he does not possess, and cannot or will not take 

 the trouble to acquire. He is daunted by the ever-increasing 

 complexity of technical expression, and has no liking for the 

 literature in which it is used. Rather than struggle with the 

 irksome task, he will remain mute, and allow his discoveries to- 

 die with him. 



Persons of this type — and they are many — are to be counted 

 among the most valuable instruments of research if we can 

 use them rightly, and can distil from them the knowledge they 

 are so peculiarly fitted to gather. Here again, our societies 

 serve an important function, in bringing about that per- 

 sonal intercourse whereby the passage of information from 

 mind to mind is rendered simple and direct ; and it is their 

 particular duty to reach and encourage the observer who 

 sincerely devotes himself to investigation, but is careless or 

 diffident about placing his results on record. Let them assure 

 him that he will do good service even by recording the simple 

 facts alone, without attempting to demonstrate their intricate- 



1910 May I. 



