THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 



411 



THE PROGEESS OF SCIENCE. 



THE WASHINGTON MEMORIAL 

 INSTITUTION. 



It is generally though not univer- 

 sally known that Washington made 

 provision in his will toward the estab- 

 lishment of a national university. For 

 reasons somewhat difficult to under- 

 stand his bequest has never been used, 

 and only after the lapse of a hundred 

 years has an institution been estab- 

 lished in his memory which will fully 

 accomplish under the conditions now 

 existing the great objects he had in 

 view. These have, it is true, in large 

 measure been met by the growth of 

 private and state universities, and by 

 the development of scientific work un- 

 der the government, but at last these 

 different lines will converge in the 

 Washington Memorial Institution. 

 This has resulted from the union of 

 more or less independent efforts. An 

 enthusiastic group of men and women 

 has long advocated the establishment 

 of a national university, and for this 

 purpose a George Washington Me- 

 morial Association was incorporated in 

 1898. In the same year the Washing- 

 ton Academy of Sciences was organ- 

 ized, giving a definite center for scien- 

 tific interests in the city and to a cer- 

 tain extent throughout the country. 

 In the same year a committee of the 

 National Educational Association was 

 appointed, which recommended the 

 utilization for research of the scientific 

 and other departments of the govern- 

 ment. In the same year a committee 

 of the Association of Agricultural Col- 

 leges and Experiment Stations recom- 

 mended the organization of oppor- 

 tunities for study and research for 

 students of the land grant and other 

 colleges. The year 1898 is consequently 



an important one in the history of the 

 development of education and research 

 in the United States, and the present 

 year marks the union and fruition of 

 these efforts. 



The Washington Memorial Institu- 

 tion was incorporated on May 20, its 

 objects being defined as follows: 



To create a memorial to George 

 Washington, to promote science and 

 literature, to provide opportunities and 

 facilities for higher learning, and to 

 facilitate the utilization of the scien- 

 tific and other resources of the govern- 

 ment for purposes of research and 

 higher education. 



A board of fifteen trustees has been 

 created, including representatives of 

 the leading universities of the country 

 and of the scientific work under the 

 government. The officers include Dr. 

 D. C. Gilman, lately president of the 

 Johns Hopkins University, as director; 

 Dr. Charles D. Walcott, president of 

 the Washington Academy of Sciences 

 and director of the U. S. Geological 

 Survey, as president of the board of 

 trustees; and Professor Nicholas Mur- 

 ray Butler, of Columbia University, as 

 secretary of the board. Under these 

 auspices there will surely develop at 

 Washington a great institution, which 

 Avill in fact be a national university. 

 It will not, however, be a rival to exist- 

 ing universities, but Avill coordinate 

 their work; it will utilize the oppor- 

 tunities for study and research in the 

 government departments, without in- 

 terfering with their legitimate func- 

 tions; it will be a center of research 

 and intellectual activity, worthily rep- 

 resenting our great universities and 

 the scientific work of the national 

 government. 



