55S C. F. BAKER 



aud support, and which will represent some of the most important 

 scientific interests of the Island. 



The same lack of organization is all too evideut iu the libraries 

 of Havana. A caiefull}' planned exchauge of parts of each of these 

 would result in vastly greater efficieucy and notability for all. No 

 libraiy without millions to support it can ever hope to attempt to 

 eover every possible phase of human endeavor and become more 

 than merelj' commouplace in any. For example, suppose a student 

 desires to refer to all available techuical works on Botany. He must 

 run all over Havana and fiud one here and one there, — all valuable 

 works to the specialist — of no use to the general public, and whieh 

 certainly ought to be in the Botanic Garden, where the}" would be 

 just as much the propert}- of Havana and infinitely more accessible 

 and useful to all students of Botany. One library is preeminent iu 

 Cuban Histor}-, another in General Literature, another in Medicine^ 

 another in Law aud Economics, another in General Science and so on. 

 Why not concéntrate and specialize and by exchange, cooperatiou 

 and organization, make these libraries really great in their respecti- 

 ve lines? But these are merelj^ suggestions, — if these remarks shall 

 cali forth active discussion, their purpose will have been abundan t- 

 ly ser ved. Doubtless others better acquainted with local condi- 

 tions could cite other brauches of work calling with equal urgency 

 for scientific organization. These are merely isolated instances. 



We have even at this late day— in the Phillippines — a most 

 remarkable and instructive example of the results of the lack of 

 proper organization aud preparation of a clearly defined and 

 correlated program. They have a Bureau of Government Labora- 

 tories with various other completely detached Bureaus covering 

 very closely related and intimately associated lines of work, with 

 the natural result that there is duplication, overlapping, lack of 

 unity, a dissipating of energy, and a loss of time and economy, to 

 say no thing of endless personal friction. 



The true scientific method is a method which shall recognize 

 aud give full valué to every component part of the orgauism, but 

 which shall insist on determiuing the exact relatious of those parts,. 

 which shall cali for a clear recoguition of their mutual inttrdepen- 

 dence, which shall guarautee the uuimpeded exercise of natural 

 functions, and which shall insure a mode of development adapted 

 to free and indejieudent growth and also at the same time to the 

 formatiou of a sj-mmetrical whole. 



