FEB. 19, 1921 sosman: distribution of scientific information 75 



In the field of human physiology and pathology, as before remarked, 

 the sale of information is distinctly a minor matter compared with 

 the sale of advice.*' This case serves very well to illustrate another 

 restriction on the distribution of information for profit, namely, 

 that the information is frequently a part of the working capital and 

 equipment of the middleman (physician, consulting engineer, etc.), 

 and if sold should bring a much higher price than advice. We should 

 logically and reasonably expect to pay at least twenty times as much 

 for the one as for the other. 



To summarize: The method of personal communication of infor- 

 mation, direct or through the middleman, is effective enough as 

 between producers; but is usually quite ineffective with respect to 

 the public simply from physical inaccessibility, except in certain 

 cases where it has been organized on a considerable scale for the 

 definite purpose of distributing certain kinds of information. 



Distribution by public lectures. — It is probable that men have always 

 assembled together for the purpose of being harangued, exhorted, 

 or entertained by one of their number, but their assembly to receive 

 information from a speaker or reader seems a development of modern 

 civilization. Even now, there are relatively few human beings who 

 can be induced to sit still for more than a few minutes to hear facts 

 stated or theories expounded, even when it is done with skill and 

 in an interesting way. Such folk are mostly to be found in scientific 

 or cultural societies, yet even in this limited circle I have observed 

 (at a general meeting of the American Association, for example) 

 that there are often more members in the lobby than there are listening 

 to the papers. 



All this is merely an expression, I suppose, of the fact that although 

 the ear is a very much better physical instrument than the eye, 

 impressions received through spoken words have only a fraction of the 

 clearness of impressions received through the sense of sight. 



As before, we may distinguish between philanthropic lecturing 

 and lecturing for profit. The comparative rarity of the latter in 

 its pure form is perhaps an indication of the method's essential in- 

 efifectiveness, to which reference has already been made. It is seldom 

 if ever used commercially without the assistance of some oth r appeal, 

 such as moving pictures or the attraction of getting a personal view 

 of some celebrity. 



^ In this field we have the condition, anomalous in a community whose form of govern- 

 ment is based upon the assumption of an intelligent and informed public, that the sale 

 of certain kinds of information is forbidden by law. 



