SYNOPSIS OF PROCEEDINGS. 24 1 



tunate in securing for this position, at an extremely moderate compen- 

 sation, the services of an earnest and competent gentleman who, more 

 than any other person, has contributed to the establishment of this in- 

 stitution on a firm and enduring basis. It must be borne in mind that 

 the museum is thus maintained and thrown open to the public for the 

 benefit of all students of science. It affords no income to the Acad- 

 emy, and entails only expense, and yet as an educational institution it 

 is of inestimable value. No doubt it is true that scientific researches 

 may be pursued, and new discoveries published to the world without 

 the collection of a museum, and therefore we have to expect from the 

 public, for whose benefit it is maintained, liberal contributions toward 

 its support. 



This line of thought suggests various inquiries it may be well to pon- 

 der. What is the meaning of the scientific enterprise in which we are 

 engaged? Are the researches in which the members of the Academy 

 are so profoundly interested pursued only through idle curiosity, or 

 have they a practical purpose? Is our museum a mere curiosity-shop, 

 or is it a leaf carefully translated from the great volume of nature? In 

 seeking a solution of these deep questions it will be apparent that the 

 Academy fills an important place in the advancement of culture, and 

 that it and other like institutions are forerunners of the n6w and true 

 education. As an adjunct to our public school system, the museum of 

 the Academy can be made of inestimable value. It is well known to 

 all investigators that the truths of science cannot be learned alone from 

 books, but need to be verified by researches in the field and laboratory, 

 and this it is that gives to the scientific collections in our museum their 

 great educational value. 



I will now ask your attention to a brief consideration of the practical 

 value of scientific study. I refer here not so much to the inestimable 

 worth of these researches in the discovery of pure truth, as to the in- 

 fluence of its discoveries in advancing the material well-being of the 

 citizen, and thus strengthening the foundations of the state. It is 

 related of Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry that they refused to reap 

 any pecuniary reward from their great discoveries, and hence, as soon 

 as their scientific researches attained a point where invention made 

 them practically useful and gave them a commercial value, they then 

 abandoned that field of study, assured that the large number intent on 

 gain would complete the work, and themselves pressed onward, like 

 veritable pioneers, toward the frontiers of knowledge, to again engage 

 in the higher and more congenial employment of disinterested research. 

 While it is doubtless true that to the earnest student of science the dis- 

 covery of new truths is its own sufficient reward, still, in seeking to 

 secure the adoption of physical research into the busy practical life 

 around us, it is fitting that we should give appropriate consideration to 

 the economic values of these science studies. Consider, then, for a 

 moment, how intimately scientific discoveries, and the mechanical in- 

 ventions which follow in their wake, are interwoven into the web and 

 woof of our social, civil, and political institutions. Take, for example, 

 from the circle of sciences some of its principal branches, like botany, 



[Proo. D. A. N. 8., Vol. V.J 31 [September 19, 1889.] 



