HIS PERSONALITY 
the globe. Captivating in their style and 
alluring in their contents, they were never 
marred by overstatement of excellencies. One 
is constantly struck by the clarity of his con- 
versation and the freshness and vividness of 
his language, and, while this has usually been 
the gift of all great scientific thinkers, it is es- 
pecially noteworthy in this instance because of 
the fact that while he was well grounded in 
rudiments and has read widely, he has not had 
the exhaustive literary training of the schools. 
He closed one of the very few public 
addresses he has ever given, in this wise; the 
words are characteristic: 
“Who can estimate the elevating and refin- 
ing influences and moral value of flowers, with 
all their graceful forms and bewitching shades 
and combinations of colors and exquisitely 
varied perfumes? These silent influences are 
unconsciously felt even by those who do not 
appreciate them consciously, and thus with 
better and still better fruits, nuts, grains and 
flowers will the earth be transformed, man’s 
thoughts turned from the base, destructive 
forces into the nobler productive ones, which 
will lift him to higher planes of action toward 
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