702 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



country working along parallel lines which must necessarily follow these 

 personal encounters of experts. 



If we turn to the records of our meetings of to-day we find that 

 there are presented many papers which are read only by title. Not a 

 few of us have envied our Recording Secretary for the faculty which he 

 possesses of reading with rapid facility the titles of these papers, the 

 obscure terms of some of which convey no information to the hearer of 

 the subject of the investigation, and leave no other impression behind 

 than doubt as to whether there can be many persons beside the writer 

 who can tell what the paper is about. This brings to our attention the 

 fact that with the growth of scientific knowledge there has come parti- 

 tion of subjects and specialization of investigations. Every man no 

 longer knows everything. The farmer of to-day is not necessarily 

 carpenter, blacksmith, harness-maker and cobbler as well. 



The change that has been produced within the period of my own 

 life, in our social, industrial and scientific conditions by the mere de- 

 velopment of photography is in itself an adequate explanation of the 

 rapid progress in knov.^ledge which has brought about the contrast 

 between the simple earnest groping for knowledge on the part of our 

 forefathers and the marvellous studies in the region of the incompre- 

 hensible submitted for our consideration to-day. Before the days of 

 Daguerre, the portrait, the miniature, and the black silhouette were 

 the only means at command to register the likeness of a relative or 

 friend, the inadequate silhouette being the substitute for the snap-shot. 

 Strip from the walls of our homes the records at different periods of 

 life of the appearance of the several members of the family, what a void 

 would be left in the household ! The industrial arts, astronomy, the 

 diagnosis of diseases, the study of the motion of animals and of birds, 

 indeed pretty much every form of scientific study, has found the use 

 of the photograph contributory to its advance. An aviator — if the 

 word is permissible — crosses the English Channel. The camera records 

 his flight and his picture — in mid-air, high above the water of the 

 channel — is published in an illustrated magazine. A would-be assassin 

 assaults a distinguished public officer, on the crowded deck of an out- 

 going steamer. The picture of the scene is secured while the smoke 

 still hangs round the barrel of the pistol and is laid before the readers 

 of a daily newspaper. The ineffectual efforts of a favorite foot-ball 

 eleven are captured and offered by the Sunday papers as a feeble solace 

 to their disappointed admirers. 



All this is familiar to every one and all know that photography is 

 but one of a number of scientific accomplishments, the development of 

 which has helped to bring us where we are. The story of their progress 



