THE PRUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 269 



THE EOYAL PRUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND 

 THE FINE AETS. BERLIN. 



By EDWARD F. WILLIAMS, 

 Chicago, III. 



VI. The History of the Academy under the Emperor William I., 



the Emperor Frederick III. and his son William II., the 



present Emperor, or from 1859 to 1900. 



A S early as 1860 A. Kirchhoff, in an address delivered on one of the 

 -£-*- festival days of the academy, emphasized the change which had 

 been introduced into the methods of scientific study. Research, he 

 said, had limited itself to narrow fields with a view to the mastery of 

 the least important detail in them. This limitation he regarded as 

 necessary. Although the academy had done its part in the discovery 

 and confirmation of the law of the conservation of energy, and had 

 shown the immense value of the law of evolution as a scientific hypoth- 

 esis, the time had come when investigation must be content to confine 

 itself to a limited field, if its results are to be trustworthy, and permit 

 men of comprehensive minds and more general information to weave 

 them into consistent philosophical systems. The era of the universal 

 had passed, that of the particular had begun. 



The Prince of Prussia, brother of the king, became regent in 1859 

 and king in 1860. He was succeeded by his son, Frederick III., who, 

 after a reign of three months, was followed by his son William II., 

 who is still on the throne. Each of these sovereigns has favored the 

 academy so far as possible. 



From 1859 to 1900, 82 members were received into the academy. 

 Of the 46 actively engaged in its work in 1859, Rammelsberg and 

 Mommsen alone were living in 1900. Of the 82 new members, 32 had 

 died and 4 had moved from Berlin. The physical class had lost but 

 11 members, the historical 25. Of some of these members a few words 

 may be permitted. Helmholtz, the discoverer of the law of the con- 

 servation of energy, has been thought in Germany worthy of a place by 

 the side of Sir Isaac Newton. His works on optics, acoustics and the 

 physiology of the nerves are known everywhere and are received as 

 authority. Von Siemens is famous for his discoveries in electricity 

 and the practical use he made of them. Virchow, and van't Hoff the 

 chemist, still living, have brought the academy lasting fame. During 



