34 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



Even should the general opinion be against me, and if it were 

 definitely decided that the International Association of Acad- 

 emies should forever maintain its present state of poverty, the 

 establishment of a domicile on a moderate scale will have to be 

 considered as an independent issue. It might be mentioned that 

 in the original proposals of the Berlin Academy, they intended 

 that there should be not only a central bureau but an organ, pub- 

 lished monthly or quarterly, giving an account of the work done 

 by any one academy that would interest the other academies. 



The policy which the International Association of Academies 

 will adopt on these questions is one of the most vital importance, 

 for not only will the future of international work depend on the 

 course taken, but the reputation and influence of the academies 

 themselves will, I am convinced, be seriously affected by the 

 decision. 



It is with the greatest hesitation and with much diffidence that 

 I now approach the concluding portion of my discourse, for I 

 am oppressed by the fear that my remarks may be taken as an 

 unnecessary interference in the concern of others. But the issue 

 is too serious to let that prevent my expressing an opinion which 

 is based on a deep, and I believe impartial conviction. 



The academies, royal societies, or whatever name they are 

 called by, have been founded at different times in accordance 

 with the varying requirements of their countries. They value 

 their historical traditions above everything; some are over two 

 hundred years old, others of recent growth, and their constitu- 

 tions differ in many respects. But whatever their constitution 

 and their history may be, they must be judged by this same 

 test: Do they fulfill their obligations, which for all of them, I 

 take it, is that defined in the charter of the Royal Society as " The 

 promotion of natural knowledge"? Do they embody in them- 

 selves the promotive power of the scientific efforts of their 

 country, or have they fallen a prey to the dangers, which more 

 especially beset the older institutions, of crystalizing into an 

 aristocracy of science, recruited from those who in the natural 

 course of growing maturity are ceasing to be active workers and 



