Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 64.djvu/297

Rh sources and others made in the laboratory produce effects of various kinds when taken into the system led to the thought that these substances might be useful in the treatment of disease. Then, further, it was thought that disease itself is a chemical phenomenon. These thoughts, as is evident, furnish strong motives for the investigation of chemical substances, and the science of chemistry owes much to the work of those who were guided by these motives.

And so in each period as a new thought has served as the guide we find that men have been actuated by different motives, and often one and the same worker has been under the influence of mixed motives. Only in a few cases does it appear that the highest motives alone operate. We must take men as we find them, and we may be thankful that on the whole there are so many who are impelled by one motive or another or by a mixture of motives to take up the work of investigating the world in which we live. Great progress is being made in consequence and almost daily we are called upon to wonder at some new and marvelous result of scientific investigation. It is quite impossible to make predictions of value in regard to what is likely to be revealed to us by continued work, but it is safe to believe that in our efforts to discover the secrets of the universe only a beginning has been made. No matter in what direction we may look we are aware of great unexplored territories, and even in those regions in which the greatest advances have been made it is evident that the knowledge gained is almost insignificant as compared with that which remains to be learned. But this line of thought may lead to a condition bordering on hopelessness and despondency, and surely we should avoid this condition, for there is much greater cause for rejoicing than for despair. Our successors will see more and see more clearly than we do, just as we see more and see more clearly than our predecessors. It is our duty to keep the work going without being too anxious to weigh the results on an absolute scale. It must be remembered that the absolute scale is not a very sensitive instrument, and that it requires the results of generations to affect it markedly.

On an occasion of this kind it seems fair to ask the question: What does the world gain by scientific investigation? This question has often been asked and often answered, but each answer differs in some respects from the others and each may be suggestive and worth giving. The question is a profound one, and no answer that can be given would be satisfactory. In general it may be said that the results of scientific investigation fall under three heads—the material, the intellectual and the ethical.

The material results are the most obvious and they naturally receive the most attention. The material wants of man are the first to receive consideration. They can not be neglected. He must have food and