lity_ even more than by
_culture_.

The fundamental quality is the capacity for "observation"; a quality
so important that the positive sciences were also called "sciences of
observation," a term which was changed into "experimental sciences"
for those in which observation is combined with experiment. Now it is
obvious that the possession of senses and of knowledge is not
sufficient to enable a person to observe; it is a habit which must be
developed by _practise_. When an attempt is made to show untrained
persons stellar phenomena by means of the telescope, or the details of
a cell under the microscope, however much the demonstrator may try to
explain by word of mouth what ought to be seen, the layman cannot see
it. When persons who are convinced of the great discovery made by De
Vries go to his laboratory to observe the mutations in the varied
minute plants of the Aenothera, he often explains in vain the
infinitesimal yet essential differences, denoting, indeed, a new
species, among seedlings which have hardly germinated. It is well
known that when a new discovery is to be explained to the public, it
is necessary to set forth the coarser details; the uninitiated cannot
take in those minute details which constituted the real essence of the
discovery. And this, because they are unable to observe.

To observe it is necessary to be "trained," and this is the true way
of approach to science. For if phenomena cannot be _seen_ it is as if
they did not exist, while, on the other hand, the _soul of the
scientist_ is entirely possessed by a passionate interest in what he
sees. He who has been "trained" to see, begins to feel interest, and
such interest is the motive-power which creates the spirit of the
scientist. As in the little child internal _coordination_ is the point
of crystallization round which the entire psychical form will
coalesce, so in the teacher interest in the phenomenon observed will
be the center round which her complete new personality will form
spontaneously.

The quality of observation comprises various minor qualities, such as
_patience_. In comparison with the scientist, the untrained person not
only appears to be a blind man who can see neither with the naked eye
nor with the help of lenses; he appears as an "impatient" person.

If the astronomer has not already got his telescope in focus, the
layman cannot wait until he has done so; while the scientist would be
performing this task without even pe