^'•^4 PniLosortiY OF Botany. 



Chancellor of King- James I., of England, presented to philoso- 

 ,phers a new method of inquiry — " a new instrument," as he 

 called it— the " Novum Organum," a philosophical treatise, an 

 idea which Aristotle had not yet conceived, which led the way 

 from discovery to discovery, and served to rejuvenate culture 

 and progress. Bacon taught : " The natural philosopher 

 ought not to confine himself to the observatio-ns of nature in 

 just that state in which it happens to present itself to the ob- 

 server. Results from such inquiries are ambiguous and con- 

 fused. The inquirer must understand to put nature in such a 

 condition that by rationally conducted examination no otheT 

 but just, definite, and plain answers could be possible : he must ' 

 combine experiment with observation." Like a seed dropped 

 on congenial and well-prepared soil. Bacon's advice brought a 

 gratifying harvest, and ever since experiment and observation 

 go hand in hand by every scientific investigation. 



The students of olden times often had to console themselves 

 with the poor consolation : 



« 

 GeheimnissvoU am lichten Tag 

 Last sich Natur des Schleiers nlcht berauben, 

 "Und was sie deinem Gelst nicht offienbaren mag 

 Das zwlngst du ihr nicht ab mit Hebeln nud mit Schrauben. 



— Goethe (Faust). 



Mysterious, even in the open day 

 Nature retains her veil, despite our clamors. 

 That which she doth not willingly display 



Cannot be wrenched from her with levers, screws, and hammers. 



— Faust. 



The modern investigators have refuted this maxim ; with 

 the levers and the screws of their physical and chemical ap- 

 paratus, the telescope, microscope, and spectroscope, they 

 forced Nature to surrender her recondite secrets, one by one. 

 which spontaneously she never would have revealed. 



The new experimentative method came to be applied in 

 the course of the seventeenth century for the investigation of 

 the actions of inanimate nature, arid for the laws of atmos- 

 pheric and hydrostatic pressure, gravity, and light, and for the 

 purpose of submitting them to mathematical calculations. 



