844 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



hand at the phenomenal success of 

 the meeting. 



In view of this general satisfac- 

 tion at the manner in which the mem- 

 bers had been received and taken 

 care of, and also at the amount and 

 quality of the work done, it may ap- 

 pear a little ungracious to call atten- 

 tion to what seems to us an unfortu- 

 nate omission in the management 

 cf the meeting; and we certainly 

 should not allude to it were it not 

 that, in our opinion, it betrays a 

 growing tendency to abandon, or at 

 least to dwarf, one of the principal 

 objects of the organization. 



What we refer to is the lack of 

 provision on the part of the associa- 

 tion for the popular evening lectures 

 that were instituted by its founders 

 as a part of its educational work, and 

 that for a good many years formed 

 one of the most attractive features of 

 its meetings. 



In the earlier days of the associa- 

 tion, and always in the British Asso- 

 ciation to the pi-esent time, popular 

 lectures on subjects of public inter- 

 est have had a prominent place in 

 the proceedings. Usually given in 

 the evening, they need not interfere 

 with the daily routine, and always, 

 when provided for, they have drawn 

 crowded and intelligent audiences 

 from among the ])eople of the neigh- 

 Ixjrhood, arousing interest in scien- 

 tific matters that came near being 

 enthusiasm, and so contributing di- 

 rectly and efPectually to the object 

 we have specified. 



What was done in furtherance of 

 this purpose at the Boston meeting 

 can hardly be said to have been the 

 work of the association. There were, 

 to be sure, two interesting lectures in 

 Pluntington Hall the same evening 

 on the value of scientific applications 

 in municipal public works, as illus- 

 trated by what had been done in Bos- 

 ton ; but these were delivered for 

 Boston, and by two citizens of Bos- 



ton, the Hon. H. H. Sprague and the 

 Hon. Geoi'ge G. Crocker, and should 

 properly be placed to the credit of 

 Boston, thus increasing rather than 

 diminishing the indebtedness of the 

 association. The same may be said 

 of President Eliot's instructive ad- 

 dress before the association at Cam- 

 bridge, which was indeed a type of 

 what these evening lectures should 

 be, and, in our opinion, was one of 

 the most valuable contributions, at 

 least so far as the public is con- 

 cerned, to the proceedings of the 

 entire meeting ; but it was a part 

 of the entertainment offered by Bos- 

 ton. 



The tendency of the association 

 away from its important educative 

 purpose is further indicated by tlie 

 abolition of the general sessions at 

 the opening of the daily proceedings. 

 These often became occasions for ex- 

 ceedingly entertaining discussions of 

 subjects of general scientific interest, 

 in which the more prominent and ex- 

 perienced members were expected to 

 and habitually did take part. Even 

 the strongest advocates of more room 

 for technical papers acknowledge 

 that the work of the association has 

 of late attracted less and less of 

 popular attention. Whatever force 

 may be given to the plea that many 

 of its most eminent members have 

 been drawn away to the Ameri- 

 can Academy of Sciences, the fact 

 remains that the time was when, 

 with not half its present member- 

 ship, the meetings were of far greater 

 public interest than they are to-day; 

 and there was never any difficulty, 

 when they were sought, in finding 

 men abundantly equipped to interest 

 and instruct an intelligent popular 

 gathering. As scientific investiga- 

 tors multiply and research is ex- 

 tended, the number of technical pa- 

 pers presented to the association may 

 be fairly expected to increase; but 

 the number of topics the public will 



