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THE POPULAR SCIEN'CE MONTHLY. 



the relations of scientific bodies to what 

 may be called the outlying and adjoin- 

 ing departments of thought, culture, 

 and mental activity. The contrast, for 

 example, between the Germans and the 

 English in the policy and management 

 of their great popular scientific associ- 

 ations is, in various respects, striking 

 and instructive, and an intelligent cor- 

 respondent of Nature has lately drawn 

 attention to some of their peculiarities, 

 which are so suggestive as to deserve a 

 special notice. 



The writer intimates that the "As- 

 sociation of German Natural Philoso- 

 phers and Physicians," which was 

 founded in 1822, is the original of the 

 British Association, which was estab- 

 lished some years later, and modeled in 

 various respects upon the German pat- 

 tern. Speaking of the late meeting 

 which was held in September at Gratz, 

 the chief town of Styria, in one of the 

 most beautiful valleys of the Austrian 

 Alps, after noting that the number of 

 those in attendance corresponds very 

 nearly with the average number of at- 

 tendants at the British Association, he 

 adds that, although this may be a merely 

 fortuitous resemblance, yet "both asso- 

 ciations are convened for the same num- 

 ber of days ; both hold the same number 

 of general and sectional meetings ; they 

 resemble each other in the nature of the 

 recreations offered to visitors excur- 

 sions, dinners, and concerts, to which, 

 in Germany and Austria, are added 

 balls and theatrical performances, while 

 England has the private hospitality of 

 its nobles and rich manufacturers and 

 merchants to offer, which does not enter 

 into the German programme, or cer- 

 tainly does not appear in it to the same 

 extent. A festivity of a peculiar char- 

 acter, in addition to those named, was 

 offered by the municipality of Gratz : 

 an illumination by bonfires of the moun- 

 tains surrounding the town, a sight of 

 most impressive beauty." 



The chief points of contrast in the 

 proceedings of the two bodies are stated 



to be that, "generally speaking, there 

 are no evening meetings in Gei-many, 

 and, the festivals being of a public na- 

 ture (not depending upon private hos- 

 pitality), the connection between the 

 visitors is greater than it is at the Brit- 

 ish meetings. The peculiarity of the 

 German meetings is the absence of a 

 president ; two charges d'affaires being 

 nominated to conduct the business of 

 the Association one a natural philoso- 

 pher and the other a physician. The sec- 

 tions nominate new presidents for each 

 of their daily meetings. A consequence 

 of this arrangement is a certain want 

 of formality. No retrospective intro- 

 ductions (presidential addresses) are of- 

 fered at the opening of the sectional 

 meetings, no criticisms of the work of 

 fellow-workers by more or less compe- 

 tent critics, no sweeping remarks on 

 the state of science in general. In two 

 respects the British Association has an 

 indisputable advantage over the Gei'- 

 man meetings. Those splendidly illus- 

 trated evening lectures addressed to the 

 general public, which form one of the 

 attractions of the meetings in the United 

 Kingdom, are not offered in Germany. 

 Again, the funds of the German Asso- 

 ciation are small; they are spent for 

 the purposes of each meeting, and no 

 money can be given in grants for scien- 

 tific purposes, as is done in Great Brit- 

 ain. On the other hand, the German 

 Association offers the advantage of a 

 speedy publication of its transactions. 

 Instead of publishing an annual volume 

 long after the close of the meetings, the 

 German Association offers a daily pa- 

 per, giving the proceedings in a more 

 or less condensed form, according to 

 the notes given by members to the gen- 

 eral or sectional secretaries. Gener- 

 ally, some supplementary numbers are 

 issued completing the report within one 

 month after the conclusion of the meet- 

 ing." 



The German scientists are further- 

 more contrasted with those of England 

 by their more pronounced repudiation 



