EDITOR'S TABLE. 



553 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



TEE NEW TYNDALL SCEOLARSEIPS. 



THERE are multitudes who still re- 

 member, with vivid pleasure, the 

 brilliant course of scientific lectures de- 

 livered in 1872, in several of our chief 

 cities, by Professor John Tyndall, of 

 the Royal Institution of Great Britain. 

 They made a strong impression at the 

 time, and impelled many young persons 

 to give greater prominence to science 

 in their studies. But there was another 

 and a more special influence exerted by 

 these lectures in accordance with the 

 deeper purpose of Professor Tyndall. 

 The public mind was favorably affected 

 by them in regard to the claims of pure 

 or theoretic science. We plume our- 

 selves on being very practical in this 

 country, and by " practical " we gener- 

 ally mean the opposite of theoretical 

 that which issues in tangible and im- 

 mediate use. Professor Tyndall showed 

 that this is a mistaken view. He was 

 not complaisant toward the lower mo- 

 tives from which science is so generally 

 pursued ; and insisted strongly upon the 

 more elevated considerations by which 

 the students of science should be ani- 

 mated. He enforced, with much im- 

 pressiveness, the important lesson that 

 to yield its noblest results science must 

 be studied for the simple love of truth 

 and the extension of our knowledge of 

 Nature, leaving its utilitarian benefits 

 to follow as they always will when new 

 light has been thrown upon any im- 

 portant group of phenomena. The un- 

 selfish pursuit of science for these 

 nobler ends was urged by Professor 

 Tyndall upon our young men with 

 great earnestness and something of the 

 inspiration of religious conviction ; yet 

 none realized at the time how firm and 

 far-reaching was his purpose, nor how 

 lasting was to be the influence of his 

 work in this direction in this country. 



When Professor Tyndall was solicit- 

 ed to come to America, and told what 

 a golden harvest he could reap by lect- 

 uring here, he invariably replied that 

 no consideration of the kind would 

 have any weight in inducing him to 

 accept the invitation. " If I come to 

 you," he would say, "it must be be- 

 cause my friends in the United States 

 desire it, and think that I could be of 

 service in the cause of American sci- 

 ence ; but I will not lecture for the 

 sake of money, nor would I bring away 

 a dollar of the proceeds of my labor." 

 And when the lectures closed, true to 

 his purpose, he left all of the money he 

 had earned, above expenses incurred, for 

 the promotion of scientific education 

 among American youth. But this was 

 not all : he devoted the money to the 

 advancement of the distinctive ideas 

 which he had illustrated in his lectures, 

 by appropriating it to the assistance of 

 such young men as desire to devote 

 themselves to original scientific study 

 and research. He left it in care of 

 three trustees, the income to be ex- 

 pended in aid of American students of 

 tested ability, who might wish to avail 

 themselves of the higher opportunities 

 of scientific culture available in the Eu- 

 ropean universities. 



But there were difficulties attend- 

 ing the carrying out of this plan which 

 prevented the full realization of its ad- 

 vantages. Several students were aided, 

 and with great satisfaction ; but it was 

 not so easy to find the young men who 

 had the proper qualifications to be en- 

 titled to the benefits of the trust. There 

 were, of course, plenty of them, but the 

 finding them out was more of a task 

 tiian had been anticipated. The trus- 

 tees were scattered, and were busy men, 

 having little time for correspondence, 

 while the employment of a paid secre- 



