s passage with regard to his
friend, Petrus Peregrinus, {288} who did such excellent work in
magnetism in the thirteenth century, and sent to Friar Bacon the
details of it with the loving solicitude of a pupil to a master.

In his Opus Tertium, Bacon thus praises the merits of Peregrinus: "I
know of only one person who deserves praise for his work in
experimental philosophy, for he does not care for the discourses of
men and their wordy warfare, but quietly and diligently pursues the
work of wisdom. Therefore, what others grope after blindly, as bats in
the evening twilight, this man contemplates in all their brilliancy
_because he is a master of experiment_. Hence, he knows all of natural
science, whether pertaining to medicine and alchemy, or to matters
celestial or terrestrial. He has worked diligently in the smelting of
ores, as also in the working of minerals; he is thoroughly acquainted
with all sorts of arms and implements used in military service and in
hunting, besides which he is skilled in agriculture and in the
measurement of lands. It is impossible to write a useful or correct
treatise in experimental philosophy without mentioning this man's
name. Moreover, he pursues knowledge for its own sake; for if he
wished to obtain royal favor, he could easily find sovereigns who
would honor and enrich him."

Brother Potamian's reflections on this unexpected passage of Bacon are
the best interpretation of it for the modern student of science.

"This last statement is worthy of the best utterances of the
twentieth century. Say what they will, the most ardent pleaders of
our day for original work and laboratory methods, cannot surpass the
Franciscan monk of the thirteenth century in his denunciation of
mere book-learning, or in his advocacy of experiment and research;
{289} while in Peregrinus, the medievalist, they have Bacon's
impersonation of what a student of science ought to be. Peregrinus
was a hard worker, not a mere theorizer, preferring,
Procrusteanlike, to make theory fit the facts rather than facts fit
the theory; he was a brilliant discoverer, who knew at the same time
how to use his discoveries for the benefit of mankind; he was a
pioneer of science and a leader in the progress of the world."
[Footnote 32]

[Footnote 32: The letter of Petrus Peregrinus on the Magnet, A. D.
1269, translated by Bro. Arnold, M. Sc, with an Introductory Note by
Bro. Potamian, N.Y., 1904.]

This