698 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



and most unenlightened principles of 

 an antiquated state-craft. While the 

 spread of knowledge and the improve- 

 ment in means of communication are 

 drawing men together, and more or 

 less effacing the lines of separation 

 between nation and nation, this coun- 

 try, which, having received, in point of 

 territory and material resources, the 

 fairest and richest heritage of all, might 

 have been expected to show the bright- 

 est example of good feeling and hospi- 

 'tality to other peoples and governments, 

 has apparently considered it its mission 

 to antagonize as far as possible the uni- 

 fying influence of the modern spirit, to 

 counteract the work of science in draw- 

 ing the nations together, and to promote 

 to the extent of its power a regime of 

 international exclusiveness and jealousy. 

 Shall we not some day wake up to a 

 sudden shame of our conduct as a peo- 

 ple in this matter? Shall we not some 

 day be led to feel that we owe the world 

 a better example ? "What is the use of 

 endowing colleges and teaching the 

 rising generation how to subdue the 

 forces of nature, if, after the forces of 

 nature have been subdued, and the life- 

 giving and health-giving currents of 

 international intercourse are prepared 

 to flow in full tide of beneficent activ- 

 ity, we empower a lot of politicians 

 at Washington to place artificial ob- 

 stacles and resistances in the way of 

 our commerce ? The thing is really 

 too absurd — philosophy and religion 

 alike proclaiming the solidarity of 

 human interests, science showing how 

 natural obstacles to intercourse may 

 be reduced to a minimum, while poli- 

 tics — flouting all the teachings of re- 

 ligion and philosophy, handicaps the 

 achievements of science and insists on 

 the perpetuation of a semi-barbarous 

 regime of international hostility. Does 

 any one say the word " hostility " is 

 too strong? It is not too strong. What 

 more hostile thing can we do to any 

 one than to refuse intercourse with 

 him? What deadlier or crueller form 



of hostility is there than the " boycott " ? 

 Of course, in boycotting others, we boy- 

 cott ourselves ; for, big as we are, we 

 are not the whole world. What Mr. 

 Atkinson is striving to show is the in- 

 jurious effect of the boycott upon our- 

 selves. We heartily wish him success 

 in his patriotic labors ; but we could 

 wish also that a more generous senti- 

 ment might come and help to lift us out 

 of our present false and retrograde 

 position. 



Our biographical sketch this month 

 is devoted to Prof. T. C. Mendenhall, 

 Superintendent of the Coast Survey and 

 retiring President of the American As- 

 sociation for the Advancement of Sci- 

 ence. As the author of the sketch 

 rightly observes, we have in this gentle- 

 man a typical specimen of that class of 

 Americans who, by the determined cul- 

 tivation and development of their natu- 

 ral gifts, have arrived at the highest 

 distinction. Many perhaps will consid- 

 er the surroundings of Prof. Menden- 

 hall's boyhood as unfavorable to his be- 

 coming eminent ; but there is an element 

 in his early school training, common- 

 place as that may appear, which to our 

 mind was decidedly favorable, because 

 it contributed directly to the formation 

 of those habits of observation and inde- 

 pendent thinking which are conspicuous 

 in the characters of able men. Deriving 

 from his father an inquiring turn of 

 mind, the boy was fortunate enough to 

 fall into the hands of a teacher who was 

 an interested observer of physical phe- 

 nomena, and who was in the habit of 

 occasionally varying the school-work by 

 such simple experiments as were within 

 the means at her command. Insignifi- 

 cant as this episode may appear to many, 

 it was well calculated to arouse the in- 

 terest and fix the attention. The native 

 curiosity of the childish mind was stim- 

 ulated, and observation, experiment, and 

 reasoning on his own account were the 

 natural result. 



