136 EIGfHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



umes, and am engaged on the seventh ; but as yet I have not received a- 

 single cent of the proceeds." In an address on the subject of natural 

 history, by one of our most active cultivators of this branch of know- 

 ledge, we find the following remarks, which are directly in point: 

 " Few are acquainted with the fact that from the small number of 

 scientific works sold, and the great expense of plates, our naturalists 

 not only are not paid for their labors, but suffer pecuniary loss from 

 their pubhcations. Several works on different branches of zoology, 

 now in the course of publication, will leave their authors losers by an 

 aggregate of $15,000. I do not include in this estimate works already 

 finished — one, for instance, the best contribution to the natural history 

 of man extant, the publication of which will occasion its accomplished 

 author a loss of several thousand dollars. A naturalist is extremely 

 fortunate if lie can dispose of 200 copies of an illustrated work, and 

 the number of copies printed rarely exceeds 250." It may be said 

 that these authors have their reward in the reputation which they thus 

 purchase ; but reputation should be the result of the talents and labor 

 expended in the production ot" a work, and should not in the least de- 

 pend upon the fact that the author is able to make a pecuniary sacrifice 

 in giving the account of his discoveries to the pubhc. 



Besides the advantage to the author of having his memoir published 

 in the Smithsonian Contributions free of expense, his labors will be 

 given to the world with the stamp of approval of a commission of 

 learned men ; and his merits will be generally made known through 

 the reports of the Institution. Though the premiums offered may be 

 small, 3^et they will have considerable effect in producing original arti- 

 cles. Fifty or a hundred dollars awarded to the author of an original 

 paper, will, in many instances, suffice to supply the books, or to pay for 

 the materials, or the manual labor required, in prosecuting the research. 



There is one proposition of the programme which has given rise to 

 much discussion, and which, therefore, requires particular explanation : 

 I allude to that which excludes from the contributions all papers con- 

 sisting merely of unverified speculations on subjects of physical science. 

 The object of this proposition is to obviate the endless difficulties which 

 would occur in rejecting papers of an unphilosophical character; and 

 though it may in some cases exclude an interesting communication, yet 

 the strict observance of it will be found of so much practical importance 

 that it cannot be dispensed with. It has been supposed, from the adoption 

 of this proposition, that we are disposed to undervalue abstract specula- 

 tions : on the contrary, we know that all the advances in true science — 

 namely, a knowledge of the laws of phenomena, are made by pro visionally 

 adopting well conditionedhypotheses, the product of the imagination, and 

 subsequently verifying them by an appeal to experiment and observation. 

 Every new hypothesis of scientific value must not only furnish an exact 

 explanation of known facts, but must also enable us to predict, in kind 

 and quantity, the phenomena which will be exhibited under any ,given 

 combination of circumstances. Thus, in the case of the undulatory 

 hypothesis of light, it was inferred, as a logical consequence, that if the 

 supposition were true that light consisted of waves of an ethereal me- 

 dium, then two rays of light, like two waves of water under certain 

 conditions, should annihilate each other, and darkness be produced. 



