Annual Address by the President. 
11 
does not lie within the domain of science. When mental phenomena is 
the subject of stnd}^, the most delicate tests are essential ; the veil of dark- 
ness, of mystery, must be torn aside, and every safeguard employed against 
deception, be it willful or otherwise. And, I may add, under no circum- 
stances is a people more easily duped than at the hands of a skilled advo- 
cate of an ^hsm^^ who poses before them as ^^scientitic.^^ 
MISCONCEPTION OF THE PUBLIC. 
Again, the occasions are not few when the iMan of Science feels that 
he is personally misunderstood by the public. While he is attempting to 
do one thing, another, and a totally different thing, may be expected. 
All science is not applied science. That a man should labor early and 
late without the hope of financial reward, that science for the -sake of 
science should be an incentive, is utterly beyond the mental grasp of some 
selfish individuals. Were the ^^scientifiic spirit^’ a burning flame in the 
midst of darkness they could not see it. Tor such the only hope is that, 
by careful education and patience, their children's children, at least, may 
see the brightness of the day ! 
But let us look into the matter more carefully, analyze the situation 
more minutely. Whether science be understood or not depends in a great 
degree upon environment. Let me illustrate: If a people be remote 
from the great centers of scientific activity and growth; if its thought 
tends towards other than the scientific aspects of life; if its opportunities 
for advarucement are confined to one or a few channels, as law, politics, 
theology and the like, the breadth of its culture is limited, the old ideals 
have 'not yet given way to the new, and, in consequence, its scientific 
progress is an exceedingly slow, and, perhaps, stunted growth. With 
such the misconception of science is most marked. That similar mis- 
conceptions may occasionally appear under other environmental condi- 
tions is not denied. My reference here, however, is not to the profoundly 
ignorant, but to the so-called ^^educated^^ classes. 
THE WORK OF THE CHEMIST. 
Take, for instance, the chemist. Many associate him with a ‘^‘^^drug- 
gist,^’ an apothecary. (Others regard him merely as an analyst, who, by 
the application of some ^'^rule,^^ is able to ascertain the ingredients of a 
mixture. That he should investigate in other lines is unknown to them ; 
that in the domain of matter his discoveries should be of the highest type 
praoticed by lOhris^tian Scientists. Mrs. Eddy referred bis courteous letter to ber 
attorney, Judge Hanna, wbo, in his answer, appears to hawe accomplished but 
one thing in a satisfactory manner, and that was to “stave off” a reply to the 
questions. 
