June 7, 1918] 



SCIENCE 



549 



Such is the activitj' of a university, al- 

 waj-s bearing in mind the fact that the 

 "sublime speculators" are few and far be- 

 tween and that most of us while following 

 the path laid down by them and enjoying 

 the fruits of their genius must content our- 

 selves with the study of lesser problems. 

 To devote ourselves to such activity and 

 then to return from time to time from ex- 

 peditions into the unknown with our sack 

 full of treasures which our enthusiasm 

 loves to show to eager and inquiring stu- 

 dents whose highest ambition is to follow us 

 and to wrest from Nature the secrets which 

 she in playful reluctance yields to us, is 

 one of the keenest joys the intellect oan ex- 

 perience. 



But this very simile of an expedition 

 carries with it this question, who is to pay 

 for the expedition? Who is to fit out the 

 ships of Columbus? Who is to endow our 

 laboratories and our professional chairs? 

 It is indeed an important fact that every 

 researcher is dependent either directly or 

 indirectly upon the bounty of some person 

 or persons who may be called the patrons 

 of learning and who, whether they be the 

 people of the state or some smaller group, 

 are always on the watch for what they deem 

 adequate returns. It is only in heaven, 

 where the pangs of hunger can not reach 

 us, that there can exist such a condition as 

 is described in the stanzas, 



No one shall work for money, and no one shall work 



for fame; 

 But each for the joy of the working, and each in 



his separate star. 

 Shall draw the Thing as he sees It, for the God of 



Things as They Are! 3 



For all our pursuings of truth must sooner 

 or later be endorsed by the patrons at 

 whose expense we dine or at least lunch. 

 Thus the range of activit.v of the university 

 sRudyard Kipling, "L 'Envoi" of "Seven 

 Seas. ' ' 



is limited not only by the intellectual short- 

 comings of the researchers themselves but 

 by the attitude of the patrons. These per- 

 sons, being onlj' human, may be affected 

 unfavorably, and therefore in the direction 

 of limitation, by two factors, namely, their 

 incapacities and their prejudices. 



Of these the second, namely the preju- 

 dices, are the more potent if less conspicu- 

 ous, and are also singularl.v resistant toward 

 external, ameliorative influences. The 

 mode of action of these prejudices is very 

 familiar to us all. All are aware that no 

 researcher whose results are offensive to the 

 patrons can retain their support, for 



This same truth is a naked and open daylight, 

 that doth not show the masks and mummeries and 

 triumphs of the world half so stately and daintily 

 as candlelights.* 



We have but little reason to hope that 

 this form of limitation may be relaxed 

 through changes in the political order. We 

 are too prone to believe and to assert that 

 in a real democracy research of every sort 

 will be encouraged and all truth will be wel- 

 come. This naive over-confidence in demo- 

 cratic institutions is rudely shaken when we 

 recollect that it was in the most intellectual 

 and cultivated democracy that the world 

 has ever known that Socrates was tried and 

 convicted, "firstly of denying the gods 

 recognized by the state and introducing 

 new divinities, and secondly of corrupting 

 the youths of Athens." Thus, although 

 Athenian democratic society was eminently 

 fitted to develop intellectual brilliancy, it 

 was hostile to intellectual liberty and when 

 brought into opposition to the dominant 

 prejudice and dominant public opinion, 

 the way of the innovator was hard. 



There are few who would expect that a 

 consideration of post-Athenian ways and 

 customs would lead to encouraging com- 

 parisons. 



4 Francis Bacon, "Essay on Truth." 



