OOTOBEB 9, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



477 



matter of choice; but some recognizable 

 thing must be pictured on the surface to 

 show that it is reflective, if in a high degree. 

 This was the case with the cyst described 

 by this particular author and drawn by 

 this particular artist. Now why should 

 the artist be criticized because he chose 

 his source of light, the window, as the ob- 

 ject reflected, providing, of course, that it 

 did not obscure any structural detail de- 

 scribed by the author? In this instance it 

 did not obscure. By drawing in his source 

 of light, the window, since he had to do 

 with a highly reflective surface, he simply 

 introduced a secondary fact which largely 

 contributed to, without detracting from, 

 the main idea, and he added thereby only a 

 touch of realism to his picture. 



Now you may ask why has so much stress 

 been laid upon this realism as applied to 

 graphic art in science? The answer to 

 that question may be begun with another 

 question— Why is there such a pursuit 

 as scientific investigation? Surely one of 

 its chief reasons for existence is to dispel 

 the mystery that often overclouds even the 

 simplest phenomena of life, and to lead 

 us, if not into the full, white light of com- 

 plete understanding, at least, into the light 

 of partial comprehension. And often 

 when one seeks to describe some findings 

 that have resulted from his exploration 

 into the unknown, he finds that his words 

 are too vague and inadequate to present 

 the complete and correct description. He 

 desires to convey to others a delicately ac- 

 curate idea of the object as he sees it, and 

 naturally must turn to the use of a picture. 

 Therefore, an investigator should never 

 tolerate a drawing illustrative of his text 

 that does not vividly contribute to express, 

 in an optical sense, completely and truth- 

 fully, the object described. 



But, even realism can be carried too far 

 in the drawing of scientific subjects, and 

 to avoid this a fine discrimination is nec- 



essary : a discrimination that the artist can 

 not be expected to exercise if he does not 

 know what he is drawing, and, more im- 

 portant, the purpose of the drawing. This 

 leads us to what I consider the most mo- 

 mentous matter in this address, and that 

 is a discussion of the ideal relationship 

 which should exist between scientist and 

 artist, and the means by which this might 

 be effected. At present it is only too com- 

 mon that inharmonious relations exist be- 

 tween scientist and artist. 



In the first place, an individual whose 

 nature has led him into a life devoted to 

 investigation is seldom an adept in the use 

 of tools employed in the practise of graphic 

 art. At times it seems that investigative 

 talent, and the talent necessary to worthily 

 render anything in a graphic way, are 

 natural antagonists, so rarely are they 

 found inculcated in the same person. But 

 there are very few good scientists who, if 

 they choose and have the opportunity, can 

 not become excellent critics of the good 

 and bad points in a drawing or painting, 

 especially when it is used to illustrate sub- 

 jects with which their business in life has 

 made them thoroughly familiar. 



And, on the other hand, very few artists 

 display any taste for or merit in work of 

 a purely investigative character. Most of 

 them are loath to believe that any high art 

 can be worked into subjects that present a 

 pattern of almost infinite detail. But this 

 is not all. Without the proper guidance, 

 even an eager, capable artist set upon the 

 task of drawing some scientific subject, 

 would be, in nearly every instance, sure to 

 give some inlportant feature of the same 

 only an indifferent expression, or omit it en- 

 tirely, while another one, perhaps an arti- 

 fact, something that a horde of accidental 

 conditions might produce and which is en- 

 tirely foreign to the subject in its natural 

 state, would be painstaking and conspicu- 

 ously copied, thus rendering his production 



