Ixxxviii 7'rans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



for things at the best, it would be infinitely more conven- 

 ient for people to carry the things around with them to the 

 end that when called upon to discuss or express themselves 

 concerning particular matters they could proceed to a prac- 

 tical and objective demonstration — of the kind, by the way, 

 which our citizens are of late accustomed to demand. This 

 notion has grown upon me ; and I am heartily sorry that I did 

 not think in time to have with me the Missouri Historical 

 Society to speak for itself, if for no other reason than to con- 

 vey to you in silent eloquence, more impressive than words of 

 mine can express, the congratulations and sympathy and re- 

 joicing of a sister organization in your glorious anniversary. 

 Be assured, Mr. President, that the Missouri Historical So- 

 ciety is with you in spirit, sharing your satisfaction over a 

 splendid history and joining in your ambition for a still 

 brighter future. Such an organization as the Saint Louis 

 Academy of Science perfects and presents unsullied memorials 

 of truth, and imparts to successive generations the spotless 

 records of real knowledge. It is the function and felicity of 

 Science to improve, in proportion to its cultivation, the gene- 

 ral condition of all mankind ; to first ameliorate and then 

 elimmate the ferocities of savage life; and to foster deep- 

 seated feelings of fraternity among all peoples. From the 

 birth of Science in barbaric times through its stages of slow and 

 almost imperceptible progression toward the present, its be- 

 neficent effects are plainly evident ; and the historian clearly 

 sees that wherever even chance and imperfect rays from the 

 sun of knowledge illuminated the darkness and desolation of 

 ignorance in which the world lay for ages, there prosperity 

 and happiness took root and grew up and flourished. It was 

 but a few times fifty years ago that Science and Art were 

 borne still in infancy across the Atlantic to find an asylum 

 on western shores ; yet under the fostering care of organ- 

 izations such as this Academy they developed apace; and 

 to-day the triumphs of Science are in our hands as means of 

 every day existence. The New World is the world of inven- 

 tion ; the prairie schooner gave way to locomotive and auto- 

 mobile, the clumsy candlestick and ill-smelling snuffers to the 



