310 Edward Livingston Youmans. 



hundreds of thousands. Their culture is generally literary, 

 with but a small portion of elementary science ; but they 

 are active-minded, and competent to follow connected 

 thought in untechnical English, even if it be sometimes a 

 little close. Our pages will be adapted to the wants of 

 these, and will enable them to carry on the work of self- 

 instruction in science. 



Thenceforward the editorial duties of the Monthly 

 absorbed the chief energies of Mr. Youmans, and its 

 twenty-eight volumes issued under his care form the 

 principal record of his remaining years. While it was 

 his main intent to give in popular form an account of 

 the progress of the several departments of science, he 

 never lost sight of the aim to show wherein the scien- 

 tific method was applicable to the larger questions of 

 life — of education, social relations, morals, government, 

 and religion. In enlisting contributors to his pages he 

 did not find it easy to get them to steer between over- 

 simplification on one hand and an undue technicality 

 of expression on the other. The following letter to 

 one of his contributors is eminently characteristic : 



My dear Sir: Your article is excellent, and will be read 

 by many with appreciation ; but when I looked over the 

 proof it occurred to me that it had some faults of presenta- 

 tion, perhaps due to your lack of practice in putting abstract 

 things before common readers. Our scientific readers, of 

 course, will have no trouble in understanding you and 

 will enjf^y your argument, but nine tenths of the patrons 

 of the Monthly will get but a partial comprehension of it. 

 Of course so abstract a topic as the Mathematics of Evo- 

 lution may be expected to require some intellectual force 

 to grasp it, and I am well content with your main exposition. 

 Still I think some serious and systematic attention on your 



