1896.] Proceedings of Scientific Societies. 777 
many of us are of necessity also teachers of scientific knowledge. The 
primary object of the Association is, however, not teaching, but the 
advancement of science by the increase of knowledge. We seek to 
penetrate the unknown and to build up a system which will express 
with certainty the mutual relations of the various parts of the universe, 
including ourselves. Although many facts are known, and some laws 
have been formulated, very much still remains unknown, and many of 
the highest principles of nature remain undiscovered. ‘Original research 
furnishes the material for teaching and the matter which is contained 
in books. Much money is devoted to the building of libraries and of 
schools, but not much is given for the purpose of supplying the knowledge 
which is to be taught in the schools and from which books are made. 
- “ The motives of the original investigator vary with his years, but the 
taste for research is generally developed early in life. In some it is a 
love of the beautiful, whether it be the beauty of a perfect mechanism 
or the beauty of form that attracts him. In some, it is the desire to 
know, and in others it is a high interest in the problem of human origin 
and destiny. In many it is the same feeling which prompts the ad- 
venturous explorer to enter new regions, not knowing what he will find, 
but believing that whatever is, is right. 
“The services rendered by science are twofold. They have a value 
either material in their character or utilitarian, or they have a mental 
value, inasmuch as knowledge serves to clear the mind of fears and 
doubts, and so to promote human happiness. The true man of science is 
not influenced by utilitarian considerations, but pursues the truth wher- 
ever it may lead, knowing by experience that its benefits are many and 
sometimes unexpected. Another benefit which the cultivation of science 
promotes is the formation of correct habits of thought. The rational 
faculty of the mind is of very ancient origin, and developed early in 
the history of man. But its use in the early stages of human develop- 
ment has been largely a priori; that is, in the adyance of knowledge, 
rather than as a digestor of knowledge after its acquisition. In other 
words, the scientific method consists not in the use of abstract’ reason, 
but in a rational use of the results of observation and experiment. 
This is the lesson which the history of science teaches mankind, that if 
we wish to know the actual state of affairs, our course is first to observe 
‘the facts and to draw our inferences from them, and not to attempt to 
describe the universe from our inner consciousness as we think it ought 
to be. All the results attained by science have been due to adherence to 
_ this method. Neveitheless it is not forbidden to entertain hypotheses 
before discovery, if such hypotheses are not valued for more than they 
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