FUTURE OF WOMEN IN SCIENCE 395 



Not only have men, from time immemorial, been wont to 

 point to woman's incapacity for science as evidenced by 

 the small number of those who have achieved distinction 

 in any of its branches, but they have also taken a special 

 pleasure in directing attention to the fact that no woman 

 has ever given to the world any of the great creations of 

 genius, or been the prime-mover in any of the far-reaching 

 discoveries which have so greatly contributed to the weal, 

 the advancement and the happiness of our race. 



No one, probably, has expressed himself on this subject in 

 a more positive or characteristic fashion than the noted 

 litterateur and philosopher, Count Joseph de Maistre. 

 Writing from St. Petersburg to his daughter, Constance, 

 he says: "Voltaire, according to what you affirm for as 

 to me, I know nothing, as I have not read all his works, 

 and have not read a line of them during the last thirty 

 years says that women are capable of doing all that men 

 do, etc. This is merely a compliment paid to some pretty 

 woman, or, rather, it is one of the hundred thousand and 



now to recognize that academies as seats of learning were made for 

 humanity and that, as members of the human race, women have the 

 right to look upon their heritage and property no less than men. 

 This consummation may not at once be reached, but, as it is based 

 upon reason and justice, it is certain to be attained eventually. ; ' 



A fortnight later the same magazine contained a second article, 

 in which the matter is treated in an equally manly fashion. 



"As scientific work," the writer pertinently observes, "must 

 ultimately be judged by its merits, and not by the nationality or sex 

 of its author, we believe that the opposition to the election of women 

 into scientific societies will soon be seen to be unjust and detri- 

 mental to the progress of natural knowledge. By no pedantic reason- 

 ing can the rejection of a candidate for membership of a scientific 

 society be justified, if the work done places the candidate in the 

 leading position among other competitors. Science knows no nation- 

 ality and should recognize no distinction of sex, color or creed among 

 those who are contributing to its advancement. Believing that this 

 is the conclusion to which consideration of the question must inevita- 

 bly lead, we have confidence that the doors of all scientific societies 

 will eventually be open to women on equal terms with men." 



