SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 1. 



OUT faculties are increased hj the adminis- 

 trations of science. 



Scientific ti-uth has likewise this trait of 

 its own ; it is absolutely open to the world ; 

 it is as fi'ee as air, as visible as light. 

 There is no such thing about it as an inner 

 secret, a nij-sterious gnosis, shared by the 

 favored few, the select illuminati, concealed 

 from the vulgar horde, or masked to them 

 under ambiguous terms. Wherever you 

 find mysteiy, concealment, occultism, you 

 may be sure that the spirit of science does 

 not dwell and, what is more, that it would 

 be an unwelcome intruder. Such preten- 

 sions belong to pseudo-science, to science 

 falsely so called, shutting itself out of the 

 light because it is afraid of the light. 



Again, that spirit of science which we 

 cultivate and represent is at once modest 

 in its own claims and liberal to the claims 

 of others. The first lesson which everj^ 

 sound student learns is to follow his facts 

 and not to lead them. New facts teach 

 him new conclusions. His opinions of to- 

 day must be modified by the learning of the 

 morrow. He is at all times ready and 

 willing to abandon a position when further 

 investigation shows that it is probably in- 

 correctly taken. He is in this the reverse 

 of the opinionated man, the hobby rider 

 and the dogmatist. The despau- of a scien- 

 tific assemblage is the member with a pet 

 theory, with a fixed idea, which he is bound 

 to obtrude and defend in the face of facts. 

 Yet even toward him we are called upon 

 to exercise our toleration and our charity; 

 for the history of learning has repeatedly 

 shown that from just such Avayward enthu- 

 siasts solid knowledge has derived some of 

 its richest conti-ibutions. So supreme, after 

 all, is energy, that error itself, pursued 

 with fervid devotion, yields a more bountifal 

 harvest than ti-uth languidly cultivated. 



But, perhaps, the picture I have thus 

 di-awn of the spirit of scientific inquuy 

 excites in the minds of some a certain 



antipathy, or, at least, a sense of dissatisfac- 

 tion and incompleteness. To such this 

 description may sound narrow and material- 

 istic ; the results of scientific study thus 

 rehearsed may appear vague, indefinite, in- 

 competent to satisfy the loftier yearnings 

 of the soiil of man for something utterly 

 true, immutably real. 



Vain, indeed, were the life work of our 

 Association; bereft, indeed, wei-e we of 

 just claim on yoiu" consideration, did we 

 appear before you with such a thankless 

 and fatile confession of the ultimate aim of 

 our labor. But it is far, very far, otherwise. 



All this prj'ing into the objective, ex- 

 ternal aspect of things ; this minute, pains- 

 taking study of phenomena ; this reiterated 

 revision and rejection of results, are with 

 the single aim of discovering those absolute 

 laws of motion and life and mind which 

 are ubiquitous and eternal ; which bear 

 unimpeachable mtuess to the unity and the 

 simplicity of the plan of the universe, and 

 which reveal vnt\x sun-clear distinctness 

 that imchangeable order which presides 

 over all natural processes. 



This is the mission of science — noble, in- 

 spiring, consolatorjr ; lifting the mind above 

 the gross contacts of life ; presenting aims 

 which are at once practical, humanitarian 

 and spiritually elevating. 



Daniel G.Brinton. 



UsriVEESITY OF PENNSYIiVANIA. 



AiMEBICA'S RELATION TO THE ADVANCE 

 OF SCIENCE* 



" In art and science there is no such thing 

 as nationalism : these, like all things great 

 and good belong, to the entfre world, and are 

 promoted only by free interchange of ideas 

 among contemporaries, with constant refer- 

 ence to the heritage of the past." So wrote 



*From W/tat ?ias been done in America for Science — 

 an Address delivered before the Philosopliical Society 

 of "Washington, November 24, 1894, by G. Beown 

 GOODE, retiring President. 



