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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 6«3 



years to shape this earth and render it a 

 fit habitation for man, man himself must 

 not be impatient if he is required to spend 

 a few years of arduous toil that he may 

 unlock some of the doors which so carefully 

 guard nature's secrets. Sixty-three years 

 sped on their way from the time when 

 Boussingault first endeavored to ascer- 

 tain the source of nitrogen ia plants, until 

 a satisfactory explanation was reached 

 through our knowledge of the action of 

 root tubercles; and for more than sixty 

 years Lawes and Gilbert sought the solu- 

 tion of plant nutrition without gaining the 

 end in view. 



The laws of nature are not kept on 

 draught, as it were, to be drawn in large 

 or small qiiantity, according to the demand. 

 To present a problem to an iuvestigator 

 and expect an immediate solution, or an 

 immediate practical application, is to be 

 prodigal of a costly equipment, to sacrifice 

 unnecessarily the best and most carefully 

 trained intellectual strength, and to bring 

 discouragement and invite failure. It is, 

 no doubt, true that when a commonwealth 

 has invested a large amount of capital in 

 specially trained men and expensive appa- 

 ratus, it is reasonable to ask for results, 

 and with this no fault can be found. The 

 danger lies in the fact that sufficient oppor- 

 tunity is not allowed for the careful work- 

 ing out of a problem in all its scientific 

 aspects. Under conditions of haste and 

 undue pressure, the results, if worth any- 

 thing, are very likely to be incomplete and 

 unsatisfactory, and in too many eases they 

 must be subject to costly revision. I feel 

 disposed at this time to make an appeal to 

 the citizens of this commonwealth to secure 

 to the investigators who will occupy this 

 building, as well as to all others in this 

 college, freedom for the future, from an 

 inciibus which, in the history of our ex- 

 periment stations of the past, has for many 

 years been prolific of disastrous results. 



I do this because this building should stand 

 as an exponent of the best scientific work 

 and thought, and because I know of no 

 body of men, other than the citizens of 

 Massachusetts, to whom such an appeal 

 may be made with greater assurance of an 

 intelligent hearing, and a fairer prospect 

 that they will apply the remedy, patience. 



And now to the students of this college, 

 as to those who are to follow you in after 

 years, my best hope is that as you view this 

 building from across the campus, or as you 

 enter its halls for the pursuit of science, 

 you may ever hold it as an inspiration to 

 high ideals, persistent effort and unflinch- 

 ing piirpose ; and that in whatever walk of 

 life your lot may be cast, you will ever 

 keep before you the example of him whose 

 name it bears, taking up your burden of 

 life in all cheerfulness and hope, and what- 

 ever your task may be, with the firm re- 

 solve to "Do it." 



D. P. Penhallow 



McGiLL University 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 Memoir and Scientific Correspondence of Sir 

 George Oabriel StoTces. Selected and ar- 

 ranged by Professor J. Larmor, Sec. R.S. 

 Cambridge. The University Press. 1907. 

 Vol. I., pp. 475; Vol. II., pp. 507. 

 Biographical literature, if one may judge 

 by the notices which have been written of 

 late years, appears to admit of criticism more 

 easily than almost any other form of history 

 which is not written entirely from the point 

 of view of the student. Whenever, as in the 

 present case, the materials are plentiful and 

 easy of access, the reader is almost entirely at 

 the mercy of the writer, so that the latter may, 

 by his method, give what impression he will 

 of the character which he desires to unfold. 

 In any case, it is a difficult matter to settle 

 what is of permanent value in the life of any 

 man who has left his mark on the men of 

 his generation or who has added to the general 

 store of knowledge. The difficulty is not less 



