Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary. Ixxxi 



an important anniversary of the Academy of Science but at 

 the same time call to memory one of the greatest, most active 

 and most painstaking of American investigators, George 

 Engelmann — of whose attainments Dr. Green has so well 

 spoken in presenting the medal bearing his likeness, to whose 

 initiative and constant faith in its future the Academy owes 

 more than I have words to express, and whose wise counsels 

 contributed very largely to the crystallization of Henry Shaw's 

 plans in the form which has resulted in provision for the en- 

 during maintenance in our city of the research institution 

 which it is my privilege to direct and to represent officially on 

 this occasion. 



The Toastmaster: — 



I shall have to beg indulgence for having omitted in its 

 alphabetical place the Geological and Natural History Survey 

 of Minnesota, — I call on Dr. Conway MacMillan: — 



Professor MacMillan : — 



Mr. Toastmaster, Members of the Academy and Guests : — 

 It certainly gives me great pleasure to express to The St. 

 Louis Academy of Science the congratulations of the Min- 

 nesota scientific institutions which I have the honor to 

 represent. 



I thought when this medallion was presented to me and I 

 observed that it bore the familiar features of Dr. Engelmann, 

 that it was very expressive of a certain truth which has been 

 coming to me with greater clearness as the years go by. 

 After all, in our scientific work, it is personahty that really 

 counts. 



On this occasion I venture to paraphrase the words of 

 Tennyson : ' ' Better fifty years of science than a cycle of 

 superstition." What the great poet really meant when he 

 wrote the famous line was that it is better to have those qual- 

 ities of the intellect than those other less developed mental 

 aptitudes which are still so common in all of us. 



In this connection, I was particularly interested in the re- 

 marks made by the delegate from Canada. I had one of the 



