108 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS 



plan of this character, and that our academy will initiate the 

 movement. 



When we review the whole subject of the history and present 

 status of the academy of sciences we must, I think, come to 

 the conclusion that the function of the modern academy is now 

 modest. Libraries, museums, research laboratories, govern- 

 ment departments and universities have developed in a way that 

 leaves no excuse for the academy of sciences to attempt com- 

 petition with them. The university in its modern form seems 

 to me most suitable for the central institution, and when our 

 universities are controlled and supported by the state and when 

 there is only one university in a region, it seems to me that the 

 university should administer the libraries, museums, research 

 laboratories and the like, and that the academy of sciences will 

 be essentially a part of the university. The national and local 

 societies for each branch of science are the natural groups for 

 meetings and discussion and for publication. Membership in 

 an academy as an honor, the presidency as a distinction, foreign 

 members, medals, prizes and the like, seem to me to belong 

 to the childhood of science. So long as we are still in this 

 state let us rejoice in our innocence, but what is charming in 

 the child is intolerable in the man. 



Has the academy of sciences then played its part in the 

 world? Must it, like the mastodon and elephant, give way to 

 organisms better suited to a changed environment ? I have al- 

 ready indicated that I believe the academy to have important if 

 modest functions, and have stated what I think them to be. 

 They are essentially those of a guild. We need a center in 

 each community for organization and social intercourse. As 

 capitalists unite in corporations and laborers in trades unions, 

 so men of science should unite in their academies. We should 

 not profess unselfish philanthropy, but we may reasonably 

 claim that whatever is accomplished to improve the condition 

 of men of science, to increase their influence or to forward 

 their work is of benefit to the community and for the welfare 

 of society. 



J. McKeen Cattell. 



