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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



attcc of that spirit of frivolity which too 

 generally prevails at present among their 

 inmates, and which President Eliot men- 

 tions to deprecate a spirit already declin- 

 ing even in the absence of the healthful in- 

 fluence which the system I have attempted 

 to describe brings with it, and which, 

 though not yet wholly extinct, survives 

 rather as a pernicious inheritance from 

 other times, than because, in the conditions 

 of modern educational institutions, it finds 

 any thing properly congenial to its main- 

 tenance. 



With one further remark I conclude. It 

 is experimentally proved that no system of 

 compulsory attendance in college is neces- 

 sary to secure faithful attention to their 

 duties and a conscientious improvement of 

 their opportunities, on the part of that large 

 proportion of undergraduate students whom 

 collegiate education is likely to benefit 

 That smaller proportion, who will always 

 neglect their duties if they can, will not 

 greatly profit under any system, whether of 

 absolute freedom, or of coercion, however 

 rigorous. I am unable to perceive the wis- 

 dom of adapting systems of control with 

 special, or, I may say, exclusive, reference 

 to the case of those who least deserve to be 

 considered, and out of whom the least is 

 likely to be made ; especially when this can 

 only be done by depriving the rest of what 

 soems to me to be one of the most felicitous 

 moral influences which can surround and 

 accompany them during the period of their 

 education. 



Very respectfully yours, 



F. A. P. Barnard. 

 Columbia College, April 2, 1S73. 



THE DANGEES AND SECUEITIE3 OF SCI- 

 ENCE. 



To the Editor of the Popular Science Monthly. 



Mr. Editor : I listened, among others, 

 to the speech of Mr. Parke Godwin at the 

 Tyndall Dinner, and have been much inter- 

 ested both in the speech and in the discus- 

 sions which have grown out of it. Of 

 course, we cannot all expect to view the 

 most important subjects in the same light, 

 but I feel sure it is a mistake to attribute 

 to Mr. Godwin any thing like a spirit of op- 

 position or depreciation toward scientific 



progress or preeminence. On the contrary, 

 what he said was, we believe, wholly in the 

 interest of science. He simply gave ex- 

 pression, in unusually elegant and forcible 

 language, to ideas which are entertained of 

 late by many professionally scientific men. 

 He did not propose to cramp scientific in- 

 quiry, nor to limit, in any way, its powers 

 or its results, but only to prevent Its con- 

 tamination by what would degrade and 

 cripple it. His speech, as we understand 

 it, was a protest, not against science, but in 

 its behalf, and against the damaging influ- 

 ence of pretended followers or mistaken 

 friends. 



There is no danger now that science can 

 ever suffer from the attacks of its enemies, 

 unless it be first debauched by the folly of 

 its own partisans. Its progress for the last 

 hundred years has been a series of tri- 

 umphs, so numerous and brilliant that noth- 

 ing else is now in a position to stand against 

 it. And it owes this success entirely to the 

 fidelity with which it has pursued its le- 

 gitimate course, and the steady determina- 

 tion with which it has adhered to the 

 method of strict scientific observation. For 

 a long time we have given up the notion of 

 the old philosophers, that men could dis- 

 cover things by thinking about them ; and 

 have only considered it worth while to 

 spend our time in the investigation of actual 

 phenomena. What has been, for the last 

 half-century, the invariable demand of the 

 world of science upon its votaries ? When- 

 ever any one made his appearance with a 

 new claim to attention, the scientific public 

 said to him, in effect : " What is that you 

 have to tell us of this new body or sub- 

 stance ? We do not wish to hear what you 

 think about it, but only what you knoic. 

 How much does it weigh ? What are its 

 form and structure ? What are the actual 

 results of its chemical analysis? What 

 phenomena does it exhibit under special 

 conditions ? If it be a peculiar force or 

 mode of activity, instead of a material sub- 

 stance, what are the exact conditions of its 

 manifestation, and what are the results of 

 its action, in quantity as well as in kind ? " 



This is the healthy and nutritious food 

 upon which science has grown to her pres- 

 ent proportions. In following such a track 

 with such unswerving patience, she can 



