ENDOWMENT FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. 037 



foimil wortliN . as in tlio practice of the Liiuiieau Society, lii'st by a 

 critical c\i)cit in tlic |)articulai' do]>ai'tnicnt, and tlicn by tlic council 

 of [)ublication.* 



The stinmlus ni(H«'ovcr lo scicntitic research that^v<)^hl be imparted 

 by the distribution of (•oini)arativcly small sums, sucii as arc uiveu by 

 the Ivoyal Society and by the l>ritisli Association, would also be \"cry 

 g'reat : nor is there any reason w hy the founding' of professorships for 

 the express ]»uri)osc of ])rosecntiiig original research in (uir scientific 

 societies, after the model of the IJoyal Institution, should not in time 

 be followed by results ecpially brilliant, and ('([ually l)enelicia] to nian- 

 kiiul. 



I have cndeaxored to point out three main directions in which there 

 is urgent need in this country of pecuniary endowments. 



(1) In relief of professors during the transition of the colleges from 

 the school-master system to the university system, wlier«^by all profess- 

 ors in science shall become actively enlisted in the prosecution of original 

 discovery as a part of their duties. 



(2) In providing for the future recruits in science, by more endow- 

 ments for i)ost-graduate study. 



(3) By endow'nu'uts of our scientitic associations, both directly to 

 promote original research, and especially also to supi)ly larger means 

 of X)ublication. 



It is gratifying to perceive what beginnings have been recently made 

 in response to the needs of science. Only a short time since, in 1885, 

 Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, of Stamford, Conn., gave .|25,000 to a board 

 of trustees of which Dr. IJowditch, of Boston, is president, for the 

 '' advancement of scientitic research in its l)roadest sense." The in- 

 come is annually distributed in sums of from two hundred to live hun- 

 dred dollars. 



Mr. Ilodgkins, of Setauket, Long Island, has recently bequeathed 

 to the Smithsonian Institution §2()0,0()0, the income of one-half of which 

 is to be devoted to research into the properties of atmospheric air, 



Columbia College has, during the past year, received from Mr. I)e 

 Costa's estate, before referred to, $100,000 for biology; Harvard, the 

 Joseph Lovering fund, above stated; $10,000 from Henry I)rai)er forthe 

 photogra])hy of stellar sjjectra; the endowments in arclneology, above 

 named; and some smaller gifts for various scientific purposes. The 

 University of Chicago and some otlun- institutions have also received 

 important gifts, not to nuMition those yet to be realized toother colleges 

 from the estate of Mr. I^'airweather. 



By a recent bequest of Charles Lenning, the Academy of Sciences of 

 Philadelithia will, in time, receive §20,000; wiiilehalf a million of dol- 

 lars will go to the ('niv<'rsit.\' of Pensylvania in aid of instructi(ni in 

 theoretical and practical mechanics, and $200,000 to maintain scholar- 

 ships. At this University, also, a superb structure foi- the"\Vistar 



* President Carruthers, rroeced'mgs, Lin. .Soo., May, 18!IU, p. 39. 



