THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



285 



in the autobiography more clearly than 

 in Dr. Duncan's pages. Indeed the lack 

 of skill and tact in the biography gives 

 the impression of a tinge of malicious- 

 ness. It is all very well to reproduce 

 the accounts of Spencer's amiable 

 foibles, given by Mr. Galton and Lady 

 Courtney, but it is scarcely necessary 

 to quote the letter according to which 

 Carlyle called him " an immeasurable 

 ass," and the amount of space given to 

 his attitude towards the honors he 

 declined, to his misunderstandings 

 with Huxley and Harrison and to the 

 difficulties about his portrait is out of 

 proportion to their significance. It is 

 proper to quote Spencer as writing: 

 " Twice or thrice I have taken up 

 Plato's Dialogues and have quickly 

 put them down with more or less irri- 

 tation," but then it seems scarcely 

 desirable to close the biography with 

 " What Professor Theodor Gomperz 

 says of Plato may be said of Spencer," 

 etc. The care that Spencer took about 

 his autobiography and biography com- 

 pared with Darwin's belief that his 

 autobiographical sketch would be of 

 interest only to his children places in 

 sharp relief a real difference in char- 

 acter which is fully confirmed by all 

 we know of the two men. Still, -the 

 inference may fairly be drawn that it 

 is better for the reputation of a great 

 man to have his biography written by 

 his son than by his private secretary. 

 It would not be possible in a brief 

 note to select material from the " Auto- 

 biography " and from the " Life and 

 Letters " which would give any impres- 

 sion of Spencer's life and character, 

 and it is of course out of the question 

 to attempt to expound, appreciate or 

 criticize the vast contributions to 

 philosophy and science which have had 

 such a large share in making the evo- 

 lutionary standpoint dominant every- 

 where. Readers of this journal are 

 familiar with Spencer's work, for he 

 contributed to it nearly a hundred 

 articles. It was indeed established by 

 Dr. E. L. Youmans in 1872 largely 



with a view to provide a suitable 

 medium for printing Spencer's " Study 

 of Sociology," and the Popular Sci- 

 ence Monthly may be regarded as one 

 of the by-products of his genius. 



The " Life and Letters " is published 

 by Messrs. D. Appleton and Company, 

 who for fifty years have been perform- 

 ing an important service by giving to 

 American readers authorized editions 

 of the works of Spencer, Darwin and 

 Huxley. By their courtesy we repro- 

 duce the accompanying portraits. 



THE FINANCIAL STATUS OF THE 



PROFESSOR IN AMERICA 



AND IN GERMANY 



The second bulletin of the Carnegie 

 Foundation for the Advancement of 

 Teaching, issued under the title given 

 above, contains information that is of 

 interest not only to those who receive 

 salaries from American colleges and 

 universities, but also to all those who 

 realize that the future of our civiliza- 

 tion depends largely on ideals of service 

 and research for which the university 

 is the natural home. There is no more 

 important question than how the best 

 men can be drawn to the universities 

 and how they can be led to do their 

 best work. The part played by salaries 

 in accomplishing these objects is not 

 obvious. It might be that large sal- 

 aries would attract the wrong kind of 

 men and lead them to spend their time 

 in unwise ways. Ecclesiastical and 

 military organizations, which in the 

 past have developed the ideals of loy- 

 alty and service which should now be 

 found at our universities, have not 

 been dependent on salaries, though 

 office and honors have played a con- 

 siderable part. In an industrial dem- 

 ocracy, however, it seems that men are 

 likely to be esteemed in accordance 

 with their incomes, and if the office of 

 professor is to be made honorable it 

 must be well paid, or at least certain 

 positions must exist that are highly 

 paid. 



The statistics in regard to salaries 



