DARWIN AND ZOOLOGY 361 



DAEWm AND ZOOLOGY 1 

 Bx De. hermon c. bumpus 



AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 



THIS is an assembly composed substantially of members and 

 friends of the New York Academy of Sciences, united to do 

 homage to one whose genius has been long felt in our meetings, and 

 whose influence is now recognized in every field of intellectual 

 endeavor. The example of Darwin's precision in observing, of his 

 wisdom in interpreting, and of his truthfulness in recording the 

 phenomena of nature, has transformed zoology — the subject assigned 

 to me — from prosaic description to acute speculation, from a merely 

 interesting study to an aggressive science. 



This change has taken place in an incredibly short space of time, 

 and it may be worth while, on an occasion such as this, to examine 

 the condition of scientific academies and similar organizations in 

 America at the time of the publication of the " Origin of Species," 

 to note the first center of appreciative acceptance and to trace the 

 spread of the belief in Darwinism as it betrayed itself in the publi- 

 cations of the time. 



Fifty years ago there were in America five leading centers of organ- 

 ized scientific activity. 



In Philadelphia were the American Philosopical Society, founded 

 by Franklin, and then well along in its second century of " promoting 

 useful knowledge," and the Academy of Natural Sciences, approach- 

 ing its semi-centennial. 



In Boston were the adolescent Boston Society of Natural History, 

 approaching its thirtieth birthday, and the mature American Academy 

 of Arts and Sciences, founded in 1780. 



In New Haven was the Connecticut Academy, founded in 1786. 



In Washington, although the National Institution for the Promo- 

 tion of Science (founded in 1810) and the Smithsonian Institution had 

 been publishing for eleven years, men of science apparently did not 

 unite in an academic way until the Philosophical Society of Wash- 

 ington was organized in 1871. Even the National Academy was not 

 incorporated until 1863, four years after the announcement of the 

 " Origin of Species." 



In New York, this academy (then called the Lyceum of Natural 

 History) was meeting at Fourteenth Street, at a point now occupied 

 by the headquarters of Tammany Hall. Of those then attending its 

 meetings, but one now remains. 



^An address given at the American Museum of Natural History on Feb- 

 ruary 12. 



