EDITOR'S TABLE. 



265 



first place, the scientific mind must 

 " vibrate in unison with that of 

 which it is in search." It is in 

 search of truth, and it must there- 

 fore vibrate in unison with truth. 

 The follower of science must have a 

 truthfulness beyond that of the or- 

 dinary man, who does not set a great 

 price upon exactness in his observa- 

 tions or conclusions, and readily 

 confounds things which, superficial- 

 ly similar, are fundamentally differ- 

 ent. Nature resents even the most 

 trifling inexactness, and the care- 

 less student will find that the fur- 

 ther he carries his inquiries the fur- 

 ther he goes astray. The scientific 

 mind must also be alert. The in- 

 dications and hints which Nature 

 gives are sometimes very slight, and 

 only one who is watchful in the ex- 

 treme and attentive to the smallest 

 things will catch them. Then the 

 problems which Nature sets are 

 often complicated, and call for a 

 high degree of courage and perse- 

 verance. An inquiry which seemed 

 easy at first will suddenly become 

 overcast by what seems the most 

 hopeless obscurity, and the scien- 

 tific worker, unless he possesses the 

 necessary moral as well as intel- 

 lectual qualities, will fail in his 

 quest. Considering the character- 

 istics which the pursuit of science 

 tends to develop in its votaries, and 

 considering that scientific method 

 is now and has been for many years 

 past a wonderfully devised system 

 for carrying on research, Professor 

 Foster is surprised that the progress 

 of science is not even more rapid 

 than it is. He fears that perhaps 

 Science does not get the best minds 

 enrolled in her service, and rather 

 hints that our institutions of edu- 

 cation are responsible for turning 

 aside many who might lend great 

 aid in the advancement of real 

 knowledge to less profitable pur- 

 suits. In words of almost precisely 

 similar import to some that we used 

 in these columns not veiy long ago, 



he observes that " that teaching is 

 one-sided, and therefore mislead- 

 ing, which deals with the doings of 

 man only and is silent about the 

 works of Nature, in the sight of 

 which he and his doings shrink 

 almost to nothing." The whole 

 address is stamped with the high 

 thoughtfulness which so eminently 

 distinguishes its author, and de- 

 sei'ves to be carefully pondered by 

 all who would understand the char- 

 acter and mission of science and 

 the intellectual needs of the pres- 

 ent age. 



THE LA TE WILLIAM B. APPLET ON. 



As many of our readers will have 

 learned through the daily press, Mr. 

 William H. Appleton, long the head 

 of the well-known publishing house 

 of D. Appleton and Company, passed 

 away at his home in Riverdale on 

 the Hudson, October 19, 1899, hav- 

 ing reached the advanced age of 

 eighty-five years. As one of the 

 founders of this magazine, who from 

 the start was in close sympathy with 

 its aims, kept up an active interest 

 in its management, and was ever 

 ready to aid its conductors with ad- 

 vice and encouragement, it is fitting 

 that a few memorial words should 

 be spoken of him in these columns. 



The career of Mr. Appleton was 

 a marked one in many respects. En- 

 tering the book business of his fa- 

 ther, Mr. Daniel Appleton, at an un- 

 usually early age, he soon developed 

 such an aptitude for affairs that at 

 twenty-one he went abroad for the 

 purpose of making the acquaintance 

 of the leading foreign publishers and 

 paving the way for closer relations 

 with them in the importation and 

 sale of their books in this country. 

 Three years later, or at the age of 

 twenty-four, his father made him a 

 partner in the business, which had 

 previously been extended so as to 

 include the publication as well as 

 the sale of books, and had now so 



