22 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



conditions, cultured and uncultured, educated and uneducated, 

 but in average intelligence, we are proud to say, superior to the 

 people of any other nation in the world. Out of these it is not 

 easy to sift by definition the small minority properly known as 

 men of science. Only a rough approximation may be reached by 

 an examination of the membership of scientific societies. 



The American Association for the Advancement of Science 

 includes in its membership about two thousand persons. It is 

 well known, however, that many of these are not actually en- 

 gaged in scientific pursuits, either professionally or otherwise ; 

 indeed, it is one of the important functions of the society to gather 

 into its fold as many of this class as possible. The fellowship of 

 the Association is limited however, by its constitution, to such 

 members as are professionally engaged in science, or have by 

 their labors aided in advancing science. They number about 

 seven hundred, but in this case it is equally well known that the 

 list falls far short of including all Americans who by their labors 

 in science are justly entitled to a place in any roll of scientific 

 men. On the whole, it would not, perhaps, be a gross exaggera- 

 tion to say that not more than one in fifty thousand of our popu- 

 lation could be properly placed upon the list, even with a liberal 

 interpretation of terms. 



In this estimate it is not intended, of course, to include that 

 large class of active workers whose energies are devoted to the ad- 

 vancement of applied science. Although their methods are often 

 the result of scientific training, and while the solution of their prob- 

 lems requires much knowledge of science, the real advancement 

 of science at their hands is rather incidental than otherwise. In 

 certain particulars they may be likened to the class known as 

 " middle-men " in commercial transactions, the connecting link be- 

 tween producer and consumer. It is in no way to their discredit 

 that they usually excel both of these in vigilance and circumspec- 

 tion and in their quick perception of utility. By them the discov- 

 eries of science are prepared for and placed upon the market, and 

 it is difficult to overestimate their usefulness in this capacity. It 

 is true that the lion's share of the profit in the transaction is gen- 

 erally theirs, and that they are often negligent in the matter of 

 giving the philosopher the credit to which he is entitled, but for 

 the latter, at least, it is believed that the philosopher is himself 

 often responsible. 



If this statement of the relative numbers of the scientific and 

 the non-scientific is reasonably correct, the scientific man may at 

 least congratulate himself on wielding an influence in affairs vastly 

 greater than the census, alone, would justify ; and this fact en- 

 courages the belief that, if there is anything " out of joint " in his 

 relations with the general public, the remedy is in his own hands. 



