TEE VALUE OF SCIENCE 



185 



Alfred C. Lane, State Geologist of Michi- 

 gan, Vice-president for the Section of Geology 

 and Geography. 



matter of fact, the great discoveries in I 

 the history of science are but few, and 

 it is as a rule only in retrospect that 

 they are seen in their true perspective. 

 The doctrine of the origin of species by 

 natural selection is probably one of 

 the two great scientific advances of the 

 past century, and it was clearly and 

 dramatically announced at a certain 

 meeting of the Linnean Society. Yet 

 no one would expect the newspapers 

 the next morning to devote their front 

 pages to a report of the meeting. The 

 work of the scientific men of the coun- 

 try during the year was more im- 

 portant for the people than the pro- 

 ceedings of its congress and legisla- 

 tures, and this work was in large 

 measure reported at the New York 

 meeting. Almost any one of the re- 

 searches presented might be the subject 

 of an interesting article; abstracts of 

 all of them, so brief as to be unin- 

 telligible, would fill a volume of the 

 Monthly. 



The first article of the constitution 



of the American Association reads as 

 follows: "The objects of the Associa- 

 tion are, by periodical and migratory 

 meetings, to promote intercourse be- 

 tween those who are cultivating science 

 in different parts of America, to give a 

 stronger and more general impulse and 

 more systematic direction to scientific 

 research, and to procure for the labors 

 of scientific men increased facilities and 

 a wider usefulness." Certainly a meet- 

 ing such as that of the present year 

 does much to advance these objects. 

 The council of the association, to which 

 the affiliated societies now elect dele- 

 gates, is a body truly representative of 

 scientific research and of scientific men. 

 Its functions in the future will prob- 

 ably become more important than 

 hitherto, for it is not only able to con- 

 duct the business of the association, 

 but to exert a predominant influence on 

 the conditions which affect scientific 

 progress. 



The retiring president of the Asso- 

 ciation, Professor Calvin M. Woodward, 

 known both as an engineer and for his 



Edwin G. Conki.in, Professor of Zoology in 

 the University of Pennsylvania, Vice-president 

 for the Section of Zoology. 



