78 PltOCEEDINGS OE THE SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS 
mulgation of the principles I have alluded to that we owe 
such works as those of Mill, Buckle and Lecky. 
Aristotle found it necessary to defend Biology even among 
the Greeks, of whose high intellectual advancement we have 
so many proofs in their literature, their public and private 
life, and their works of art scarcely as yet surpassed by the 
most diligent efforts of moderns. The Greeks were the true 
founders of Science as distinguished from unclassified know- 
ledge — a mere mass of experiences without shape or order. 
But it was reserved to the moderns to use the great instru- 
ment of induction, of which the Greeks had as yet only a 
perception, and which Bacon indicated as the true Method. 
In the darkness of the medioeval period Science was al- 
most entirely neglected. But even in our own days when 
Science has made so vast a stride, and when we obtain a 
glimpse of the glorious part it has to play in the develop- 
ment and advancement of mankind, such a defence as that 
of Aristotle is not wholly superfluous : for we hear from 
grave men, too facile in contempt of what they do not un- 
derstand, protests against “a trivial curiosity respecting 
flies and tadpoles.^ 
Now, as to the limits of Knowledge. I have already 
stated in the words of Lewes that all Science is beneficent 
even among our daily uses. Even were it not so, the mere- 
pecuniary advantages gained by the increased intelligence 
produced in mankind by its cultivation would pay for all 
the time and labor spent in its prosecution. But the fact 
is, there is no such thing as useless knowledge. People 
always inquire for the practical application of this and the- 
other study, but not seeing any they often condemn such 
as useless. But God made nothing in vain. It is neces- 
* Lewes, op. cit. i). 296. 
