1884.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



157 



to be the great representative of Amer- 

 ican science. 



In the number of Science of July 

 38th we find the following expres- 

 sions : ' Work of value upon the sub- 

 ject of micro-organisms is not done 

 in this country.' 'Until * * * we 

 can hope for no better work in the 

 future than has been done in the past.' 

 In regai'd to the first assertion it is es- 

 sentially untrue. In regard to the sec- 

 ond, it is doubtful if any better or 

 more thorough work will be done un- 

 der more favorable conditions than 

 has already been done here. It is 

 true our Government does not en- 

 courage such researches as it should ; 

 it is true better facilities for it should 

 be offered by Gov'ernment depart- 

 ments. One might justly infer, from 

 the tone of articles that have appeared 

 from time to time in Science^ that 

 there is some spite on the part of the 

 writers against Government depart- 

 ments. Surely Science should be 

 above such influences, and we sin- 

 cerely trust it is. Yet the fact remains 

 that Science is continually finding 

 fault with what is done in such de- 

 partments. Granting the disadvan- 

 tages under most scientific work 

 under Government is conducted, all 

 the more credit is due to those ear- 

 nest investigators who accomplish 

 good results under the trying circum- 

 stances. Such work deserves recog- 

 nition. The Editor of Science can- 

 not be ignorant of what has been done 

 in the particular field of work abpve 

 mentioned, as the columns of his pa- 

 per show ; and the writer of the ar- 

 ticle in question should not have made 

 such a bold assertion w^ithout some 

 knowledge of the facts. Even a spe- 

 cialist would be scarcely justified in 

 such a sweeping condemnation of 

 American work. 



The injustice of such assertions must 

 be discouraging to investigators here. 

 It is clear evidence that their work is 

 ignored by the paper which should 

 be the first to recognize it. Compare 

 the article froin which we have quo- 

 ted with another on the same page, 



in which we read : ' So far as Koch's 

 work upon tuberculosis is concerned, 

 it remains a complete monument of 

 scientific accuracy. * * * We are 

 bound to consider that the cause of tu- 

 berculosis is found * * * in the ba- 

 cillus of Koch, to whom all honor is 

 due for the beauty and completeness of 

 his investigations.' Let us have some 

 such recognition as that of home work 

 from the same source. It will en- 

 courage our own obsei*vers to further 

 effort. The merit of Koch's work is 

 unquestioned ; but the best informed 

 would scarcely venture to go quite so 

 far as the author of the above lines 

 in declaring the direct connection be- 

 tween the bacillus and the disease. 

 Yet the praise is unstinted. ' Can 

 any good come out of Nazareth ' — 

 which is a U. S. Government depart- 

 ment } 



We have asserted that good work, 

 thorough work, has been done here 

 and is still in progress. It is not ne- 

 cessary to refer to it in detail. It is 

 not the purpose of this article to do 

 so. The principle at stake is what 

 now concerns us, and concerns every 

 scientific man in the country. In be- 

 half of such men, and there are many, 

 we protest against the attitude of Sci- 

 ence^ as indicated by the quotations 

 we have made. It is not a question 

 of policy or good taste on the part of 

 the conductors of what should be an 

 authoritative and trusted scientific pa- 

 per ; it is a matter of justice. Our 

 scientific observers have a right to de- 

 mand adequate recognition in the col- 

 umns of Science^ or at least that their 

 work shall not be belittled and ig- 

 nored, no matter in what field they 

 inay be engaged. They have a right 

 to demand that criticisms in that pa- 

 per be written without bias, and by 

 persons who ai"e familiar with the 

 subjects they treat. Such an unjust 

 and unnecessary assertion as we have 

 quoted must seem hard to one worker 

 whom we might name, who is con- 

 ducting his investigations at his own 

 expense, and at such sacrifices as only 

 an earnest and careful worker would 



