332 



NA TURE 



[February 6, 1896 



Knowledge contains articles on curious facts in plant distribu- 

 tion, by Mr. W. B. Hemsley, F.R.S. ; vvaves, by Mr. Vaughan 

 Cornish ; Antarctic exploration, by Mr. W. S. Bruce ; and 

 comets of short period, by Mr. W. E. Plummer. There is also 

 a full-page reproduction of Dr. Roberts' photograph of the 

 nebula near 15 Monocerotis. We omitted to mention that in 

 the January number, Dr. H. R. Mill had an article on " Geo- 

 graphy as a Science in England," in which he pleaded for a more 

 scientific study of geography. 



Longman^s Magazine has an excellent short article on the 

 Pasteur Institute, by Mrs. Frankland. Mr. H. M. Stanley.tells 

 "The Story of the Development of Africa" in the Century. 

 Among the subjects lightly and brightly treated in Chambers's 

 Journal Z.X& left-handedness, by Dr. R. A. Lundie ; turpentine 

 farms in Georgia ; Bath brick ; new work on the filtration of 

 water ; and flint-knapping. Dr. Andrew Wilson writes on 

 Medusae in the English Illustrated. A description of the 

 fantastic forms taken by lycopodium powder or a semi- 

 liquid substance, when placed upon a flexible mem- 

 brane set vibrating by the voice, is given by Margaret W. 

 Hughes in Good Words, under the title of "Voice Figures." 

 The article is illustrated by reproductions of some of the beauti- 

 ful patterns thus produced. An article entitled "The Romance 

 of the Museums," in the Strand Magazine, contains a short 

 description, with illustration, of the Cranborne meteorite, in the 

 British Museum Collection. The same magazine has in it a 

 short story of adventure, founded upon the action of the 

 "Souffleur" at Port Gorey, Sark. The scientific interest of 

 the story lies in the section which is given of the Gouliot Caves, 

 in order to explain how " Soufileurs " are caused. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF SCIENTIFIC 

 SOCIETIES.^ 

 COME cultivators of the sciences occasionally complain that 

 *~-^ the meetings of scientific bodies are not well attended, and 

 that they read papers to too many empty benches. Moreover, 

 even when they have a scientific audience they allege that very 

 few of those present understand what they have to say. And 

 they speculate on measures to be adopted to remedy this state of 

 affairs. 



As the scientific investigator acquires years and experience, 

 he recognises that in the present state of human society he has 

 no right to expect that the situation can be very different. The 

 number of serious cultivators of science in any community is not 

 large, and the number of men engaged in original research in 

 any given field is still smaller. Like the landed aristocracy of 

 the old nations, the producers in each department of science are 

 well scattered over a country, and it is only on national occasions 

 that they gather in any considerable force. The situation as to 

 the audiences who assemble to listen to papers of original value 

 in pure science is therefore not likely to change for some years. 

 In fact, the size of audiences may be set down as inversely as 

 the rationality, and directly as the emotionality of the matter set 

 before them. Such is the present state of the civilised nations 

 of the earth, and it is not peculiar to any one of them. 



Most of the large cities of the United States have an 

 " Academy of Sciences," or its equivalent, and it is largely with 

 reference to the prosperity of those bodies that discussions such 

 as we have referred to above is heard. Many of the members 

 want them to be what they call popular, which, in its best sense, 

 means that they wish for large audiences at the meetings. 

 Now, if what we have said above is true, this object cannot be 

 attained unless the academy abandons its real object, the 

 advancement of scientific knowledge by original research. This 

 is the primary object of academies of science in all countries, 

 and if they neglect it, they lose their identity, since the facilities 

 for the distribution of knowledge are everywhere relatively 

 abundant. When the academy of science becomes a distributor 

 of knowledge only, it abandons its important proper function, 

 and becomes comparatively a nonentity. Let us hope that 

 academies of science in America will not follow the course of 

 the academies of music, which are, in Europe, educational and 

 critical, m America, mere theatres. 



The measures adopted by academies of science in the United 

 States to make themselves popular and therefore "successful," 

 are often highly amusing. The usual method is to elect some 

 man president who is rich but unknown to science ; since, in the 

 minds of some people, money is the source of the sciences and 

 1 Reprinted from the American Naturalist, December 1895. 



NO. 1371, VOL. 53] 



the arts. Men of the same type are also often elected to other 

 responsible positions in these societies for similar reasons. We 

 have watched this mode of attacking the problem for many 

 years, and have never known it to be successful. In the case of 

 the Philadelphia Academy, it did, on one occasion, entail a loss 

 of over $12,000 cash capital to the Society. In fact, the reasons 

 why this method should not prove successful are not far to seek. 

 The only way to make it successful would be to have a bill of 

 sale of the office legally executed, so that the sum agreed on 

 could be collected by process of law in case of failure to produce 

 the "consideration" after the election. This the busine.ss 

 world understands, whereas it does not perceive the cash value 

 of original research. In fact, the election of an outsider to rule 

 over them by a body of experts for a supposed financial equiva- 

 lent, is a proceeding not calculated to excite the respect of a 

 rich man or any other kind of man. 



A society is, however, fortunate if it escapes without more 

 serious injury than a financial disappointment. Men not 

 habituated to the ways and means of research frequently apply 

 nostrums which do more harm than good, and bring the society 

 into deserved contempt. Thus in one city the president, who 

 was of the type mentioned, succeeded in incorporating into the 

 society a body of photographers, with the result of simply 

 developing the photographic society. The men by whom the 

 original society was known to the world were locally quite lost 

 sight of. In another city a number of local amateur astronomical 

 clubs were taken into the academy. These consisted of ladies 

 and gentlemen whose devotion to science consisted in viewing 

 the stars in each others pleasant society. Another academy 

 adopted popular lectures as a device for filling empty benches. 

 The selection of the lectures being in the hands of incompetent 

 officers, cranky and ignorant persons, and those who had 

 apparatus to sell, occupied the time of the academy, to the 

 great scandal of the really scientific men of the city. 



The appointment of amateurs and unscientific persons to 

 positions in scientific bodies, often has ludicrous results. One 

 academy of science discussed an ancient bone dredged up in salt 

 water. It was perforated with fosste in series, and it was con- 

 cluded that it was a mouth bone of a fossil fish. It turned out 

 to be the head of an ancient tooth-brush. An exhibition of foot- 

 tracks on ancient rocks before the same academy, brought to his 

 feet . a dancing-master, who illustrated the formation of the 

 impressions terpsichorean fashion. 



Another plan for promoting the prosperity of scientific bodies 

 is to have dinners and social receptions. These methods are 

 always successful in drawing together numbers, and if persons 

 are to be elected members of such societies in proportion to their 

 gastronomic capacities, such a system must be eminently success- 

 ful. To be serious, however, and to repeat what should be self- 

 evident to every person, this plan tends only to an increase o. 

 non-expert membership, which is really at the bottom of all the 

 evils which have befallen scientific societies. Hence, unless 

 some measures to protect the membership be adopted, this 

 method of " promotion" should be always rejected. 



The result, both of our observations and cogitations on this 

 subject, is that the only method by which academies of .science 

 can advance themselves in the public esteem, is to continue in 

 their work of original research. If they cannot acquire public 

 confidence in this way, they cannot acquire it at all. There is 

 no short-cut to this so-called " success." As in all other human 

 endeavours to wrest advantage from nature, labour and labour 

 only " omnia vincit." As with the agriculturist, the machinist, 

 or the accumulator of money, devotion to work, and this only, 

 brings the rewards which we seek. The visible products of 

 labour are what men respect, and if the scientific man wishes to 

 inspire the respect of wealth, he must show results, rather than 

 bestow on men of wealth what are to them empty honours' 



SCHOLARSHIP SCHEMES OF TECHNICAL 

 EDUCATION COMMITTEES. 

 /^NEof the chief ways in which Technical Education Commit- 

 ^^ tees alloverthe country spend the funds entrusted tothem is in 

 the award of scholarships ; and if this branch of their work is wisely 

 organised and carried out, there is no better method of securing 

 the proper education of promising boys and girls. The scholar- 

 ships awarded can be divided into four classes, namely, those 

 tenable at (i) Technical Schools and Science and Art Schools ; 

 (2) Secondary Schools ; (3) Universities or institutions of Uni- 

 versity rank ; (4) short courses of instruction. Full information 



