April 12, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



399 



successfullj- completed liis coui-se, making 

 due allowance for personal diflerences and 

 needs, no reason seems to me valid for not 

 crowning the equivalent work of all with 

 the same degree. 



Eeference to the other aspect of vay subject 

 has, perhaps, been too long delayed. Sci- 

 ence has not only educational value of a high 

 order, but industrial applications as well. 

 Discovery and scientific training precede 

 invention. The quality of mind that dis- 

 covers the laws of nature is of a higher or- 

 der than that which makes application of 

 them. The genius of Faraday and Heniy, 

 who discovered the laws of magnetic in- 

 duction, must not be dimmed or diminished 

 by reduction to the level of even the great- 

 est living inventors. The contributions of 

 these men to the well-being, comfort and 

 happiness of mankind cannot be over-esti- 

 mated. They laid the foundation in mag- 

 nificent discoveries of those splendid appli- 

 cations which have dazzled the world in 

 recent years. So thoroughly intrenched in 

 theory and practice are Faraday's concep- 

 tions at the present day that they enter into 

 every design of motor or dynamo. Thej' 

 have been shot through the entire bodj' of 

 practice and are intertwined with every 

 thread of electrical thought. 



On the other hand, one must not fail to 

 note that the w-onderful applications of 

 science have reacted in a favorable way 

 upon theory and investigation. They have 

 proved an effective stimulus to research and 

 have funiished a multitude of problems for 

 original investigation. Scientific discovery 

 and inventions involving scientific laws are 

 two handmaids of national improvement. 

 They are largcir agencies for the advance of 

 modern civilization than any others. As- 

 tronomy has made splendid contributions 

 to navigation since Galileo sufl'ered for 

 teaching that the earth revolves dailj- on 

 its axis and j'carly round the sun. It has 

 also made possible modem chronometry by 



giving us the accurate unit of time. The 

 contributions of modern chemistry are so 

 numerous and so important that it is diffi- 

 cult to particularize. It has taken a useless 

 refuse of the gas retort and converted it in- 

 to resplendent dyes that rival the gorgeous 

 colors of the rainbow . It has improved and 

 cheapened the processes of manufacturing 

 iron till the cost of the ore and the fuel con- 

 trol the price of the product ; and old estab- 

 lishments, far removed fi-om the cheap sup- 

 ply of either, have had to succumb to the 

 march of events. 



Bacteriologj', the allj' of chemistry, work- 

 ing largely bj' chemical methods, gives the 

 fairest promise of discovering the cause and 

 the prevention of disease. Its beneficent 

 aim now is to devise methods of securing 

 immunitj' fi'om the most deadly diseases, 

 whose ravages are gi-eater than those of 

 great civil war.s. Important discoveries in 

 this direction are impending, and medicine 

 is fast becoming a science instead of a body 

 of empirical rules. 



Bacteriolog}^ has already isolated and 

 identified a lai"ge number of pathogenic or 

 disease-producing germs and hopes in time 

 to corral them. It has demonstrated that 

 disease is not due simply to the presence of 

 the bacillus, but to the specific i)oison result- 

 ing ft'om its gi'owth. It has added con- 

 sumption and pneumonia to the list of in- 

 fectious diseases ; and the discovery of the 

 cause is a long stride toward the goal of 

 prevention. 



The specific direction in which the large 

 body of scientific discovery is turned to 

 practical account is in the several branches 

 of engineering. The civil, mechanical, elec- 

 trical and mining engineers are the prophets 

 of the new civilization. They have jnerced 

 the highest mountains ; hung highways 

 over the most dizzy canons ; constructed a 

 rushing steed that feeds on the compressed 

 vegetation of the carboniferous age and 

 wearies not ; thej' have brought the nations 



