1883.] A Plea for Pure Science . 675 
a greater height, in his mind, than the great leader of Science 
in some foreign land. He gauges himself by the molehill, 
and is satisfied with his stature, not knowing that he is but 
an atom in comparison with the mountain, until, perhaps, 
in old age, when it is too late. But if the size of the 
mountain had been seen at first, the. young scientist would 
at least have been stimulated in his endeavour to grow. 
We cannot all be men of genius; but we can, at least, 
point them out to those around us. We may not be able to 
benefit Science much ourselves ; but we can have high 
ideals on the subject, and instil them into those with whom 
we come in contact. For the good of ourselves, for the 
good of our country, for the good to the world, it is incum- 
bent on us to form a true estimate of the worth and standing 
of persons and things, and to set before our own minds all that 
is great and good and noble, all that is most important for 
scientific advance, above the mean and low and unim- 
portant. 
It is very often said that a man has a right to his opinion. 
This might be true for a man on a desert island, whose error 
would influence only himself. But when he opens his lips 
to instruct others, or even when he signifies his opinions by 
his daily life, then he is directly responsible for all his errors 
of judgment or fadt. He has no right to think a molehill as 
big as a mountain, nor to teach it, any more than he has to 
think the world flat, and teach that it is so. The fadts and 
laws of our science have not equal importance, neither have 
the men who cultivate the science achieved equal results. 
One thing is greater than another, and we have no right to 
negledl the order. Thus shall our minds be guided aright, 
and our efforts be toward that which is the highest. 
Then shall we see that no physicist of the first class has 
ever existed in this country, that we must look to other 
countries for our leaders in that subjedt, and that the few 
excellent workers in our country must receive many ac- 
cessions from without before they can constitute an American 
science, or do their share in the world’s work. 
But let me return to the subject of scientific societies. 
Here American science has its hardest problem to contend 
with. There are very many local societies dignified by high- 
sounding names, each having its local celebrity, to whom 
the privilege of describing some crab with an extra claw, 
which he found in his morning ramble, is inestimable. And 
there are some academies of science, situated at our seats 
of learning, which are doing good work in their locality. 
But distances are so great that it is difficult to colledt men 
