1847] WRITINGS OP JOSEPH HENRY. 275 



consequently authors of the highest rank of merit are fre- 

 quently deterred from giving their productions to the world 

 on account of the pecuniary loss to which the publication 

 would subject them. When our lamented countryman, 

 Bowditch, contemplated publishing his Commentary on La 

 Place he assembled his family and informed them that the 

 execution of this design would sacrifice one-third of his 

 fortune, and that it was proper his heirs should be con- 

 sulted on a subject which so nearly concerned them. The 

 answer was worthy the children of such a father : " We 

 value," said they, "your reputation more than your money." 

 Fortunately in this instance the means of making such a 

 sacrifice existed, otherwise one of the proudest monuments 

 of American science could not have been given to the 

 world. In the majority of cases however those who are 

 most capable of extending human knowledge are least able 

 to incur the expense of the publication. Wilson, the Amer- 

 ican ornithologist, states in a letter to Michaux that he has 

 sacrificed everything to publish his work: "I have issued," 

 he says, "six volumes 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 knowledge 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 publications. Several 

 works on different branches of zoology now in the course 

 of publication will leave their authors losers by an aggre- 

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

 already finished — one, for instance, tlie best contribution to 

 the natural history of man extant, the publication of which 

 will occasion its accomplished author a loss of several thou- 

 sand dollars. A naturalist is extremely fortunate if he can 

 dispose of two hundred copies of an illustrated work, and 

 the number of copies printed rarely exceeds two hundred 

 and fifty." It may be said that these authors have their 

 reward in the reputation which they thus purchase; but. 



