3o6 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



sible for students of science and friends of science to meet together 

 and take a eonunon and intelligent interest in the scientific progress 

 of the day. Somewhat later, however, the need became apparent for 

 a more select national society. The local academies in the European 

 capitals had become national institutions in a way that was not possible 

 for the similar societies in the United States, owing to the lack of 

 centralization. Our National Academy of Sciences was organized in 

 1863 with a membership at first limited to fifty, and still under one 

 hundred. The Academy was intended to be the adviser of the Govern- 

 ment in scientific matters, and has to a certain extent fulfilled this 

 function. At first, when there were but few scientific men in the 

 United States and their interests were more or less common, the 

 National Academy was an organization fitted to its environment. But 

 it has scarcely adjusted itself to the growth and specialization in 

 science of the past twenty-five years. 



The organization of science that was adequate for the third 

 quarter of the century did not suffice for the fourth quarter. About 

 twenty-five years ago it became necessary to meet the specialization 

 becoming inevitable for scientific advance. Special societies and 

 special journals were organized. The American Society of Naturalists, 

 organized in 1883, and the 'American Naturalist,' established in 1867, 

 covered a limited, but still wide field. 'Science,' a weekly journal, 

 was established in 1883 to keep the sciences in touch with each other 

 and men of science in touch with the general public. The American 

 Chemical Society was organized in 1876, The American Ornithologists' 

 Union in 1883, The Geological Society of America and the present 

 American Mathematical Society in 1888, and there are now national 

 societies for almost every science. Special journals were established 

 during the same period — 'The Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club' 

 (1870), 'The Botanical Gazette' (1876), 'The American Journal of 

 Mathematics' (1878), 'The American Chemical Journal' (1887), 'The 

 American Journal of Morphology' (1887), 'The American Journal of 

 Psychology (1887), 'The American Geologist' (1888), 'The National 

 Geographic Magazine' (1888), 'The American Anthropologist' (1888) 

 and so on, in increasing numbers, to the present time. A similar 

 movement toward specialization is evident in the development of 

 elective courses in our colleges, of advanced work in our universities, 

 and in many other directions. 



The American Association for the Advancement of Science did not 

 fail to adjust its organization to the growth and differentiation of 

 science. In 1875 a formal division was made into two sections, one for 

 the exact and one for the natural sciences, and in 1883 nine sections 

 were established. At this time, when the Association had fitted itself 

 to existing conditions, it enjoyed a most prosperous period in its his- 



