10 
MALBERY. 
But the course of thought most fitting for an occasion 
like this is not in the line of details of economy, of sentiment, 
or of local conditions. It should be broad and comprehensive 
and be applicable not only to Washington but to New York, 
to London, to Paris—in short, to any place and to all places 
in wdiich associations are formed by scientific workers for 
their common benefit. 
A not unimportant though minor objection to the exclu¬ 
sive segregation of specialties is the tendency to exaggerate 
what is nearest, or is most obvious. A body of isolated 
•specialists is in danger of becoming a mutual admiration 
society with all the attending faults positive and negative. 
No man is a competent critic of his own profile or voice, and 
no specialty can judge correctly upon its own features or 
enunciations, yet will tend to dogmatism on the very points 
on which its judgment is most fallible. The mere specialist 
never thoroughly understands his own specialty because, 
confined within its colored compartment, he cannot examine 
it from the outside through the white light of generality. 
While every scientist must work on a specialty he should 
not imprison himself within it as in a barred cell. 
However essential division of labor and specialization, the 
work of which is by analysis, may be, they are, nevertheless, 
only means to the ultimate aim of generalization and in¬ 
tegration, which constitute wisdom, and their construction 
is by synthesis. 
Within the most circumscribed of specialties there must 
always be an attempt to reach law through details. The so¬ 
lution of a problem without application of it is like playing a 
game of solitaire in which time and skill give no substantial 
result. Mathematics, apart from their gymnastic training, 
would be useless if their integrals should remain meaning¬ 
less. Each asserted fact must be tested by varied experiment 
which often results in failure to establish the assertion. The 
truth of to-day has sometimes been the paradox of yesterday 
and may become the falsehood of to-morrow. Admitted facts 
must be compared with all other facts related to them. Con- 
