November 13, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



693 



your busiest years, and do not neglect it in 

 age. For if it maketh the young old. without 

 infirmity, it keepeth before the old the pic- 

 tures of the eternal youth of the race. 



There has been some discussion among par- 

 tisan educators about the relative merits of 

 humanistic and scientific studies. The sym- 

 metrical and effective development of the nerv- 

 ous system demands both forms of exercise. 

 The man who knows the classics and nothing 

 more is blind and deaf to much which is of 

 the highest interest to both himself and his 

 fellows. The man whose knowledge is con- 

 fined to some narrow domain of science is 

 equally out of touch with much that is neces- 

 sary to make life rich in either endeavor or 

 accomplishment. 



Without experimental science man would be 

 to-day in his primitive state, or more likely 

 he would have become exterminated long since 

 in his unequal contest with the elements and 

 the brute creation. Even in his most perfect 

 physical development he is inferior to many 

 of the lower animals in muscular strength, 

 fleetness and range of sense recognition; but 

 he is unique among animals in the develop- 

 ment of the instinct of inquisitiveness. He 

 wants to know, therefore, he experiments. He 

 observes the effect of altered environment, and 

 his interest in experimentation grows in scope 

 and purpose. He ascertains that when cer- 

 tain definite relations are established, the re- 

 sults are constant. He slowly develops an ap- 

 preciation of causal relationship. After count- 

 less generations of crude experimentation, 

 careless observation and faulty generalization, 

 he sees the necessity of greater exactitude in 

 his experimentation. In this way, slowly and 

 laboriously, the sciences have been evolved. 

 With periods of barrenness of variable length, 

 some of which have extended through many 

 consecutive centuries, man has slowly pro- 

 gressed from his primitive state to his pres- 

 ent condition. Scientists, the greatest bene- 

 factors of the race, have always been few in 

 number, but their work has benefited many. 

 In some ages the masses have been too igno- 

 rant to utilize the scientific knowledge pos- 

 sessed and enjoyed by their ancestors and have 



shown marked retrogression. The most po- 

 tent causes of these lapses have been disease, 

 war and famine. In no age, not even the 

 present, has scientific training touched more 

 than a small part of the generation. 



Some primitive man learned that fire could 

 be kindled by friction between pieces of wood 

 or that a spark could be struck with flint. 

 What benefit came from this simple discovery ? 

 It gave protection from the cold of winter and 

 greatly extended the range of man's activities. 

 The camp fire, now started when and where 

 he willed, frightened away beasts of prey, 

 served to cook his food and formed the nu- 

 cleus of a primitive home. One day, ore be- 

 ing used as stones for the crude hearth, metal 

 is found in the ashes and the flint age is 

 passed and that of metal has come. Century 

 after century passes; accidental discovery is 

 replaced by systematic investigation, and the 

 science of metallurgy with its multiple bene- 

 fits is developed. 



Primitive man crouched in terror when 

 darkness enveloped the earth at noon day. 

 He could see in this only the angry disap- 

 proval of an all-powerful God. The stars were 

 supposed to control the destinies of individ- 

 uals, communities and nations. The motions 

 of the celestial bodies were observed, the heav- 

 ens were charted and astrology became astron- 

 omy. 



Primitive man fed upon such fruits, veg- 

 etables, nuts and berries as the soil gratui- 

 tously offered him, eked out with the uncer- 

 tain product of the chase. Experience showed 

 that the productivity of the soil would be 

 greatly increased by tillage, and that certain 

 animals could be domesticated easily and made 

 to serve man in life and after death. Having 

 the breeding and feeding of these animals 

 under his direct control, he has learned to 

 modify them to suit his purpose. From a com- 

 mon stock he has evolved the draft, race and 

 trotting horse, each with many variations. 

 From the wild grains he has produced many 

 varieties of each cereal, while at the same time 

 he has increased the yield more than a hun- 

 dredfold. By irrigation and cultivation he 

 has converted thousands of acres of barren 



