310 Explanations and Mlustrations of the plan 
‘cess of publication by the institution. As it is not our intention 
te i terfere with the proceedings of other institutions, but to co- 
these societies, while ihesdetails of the memoirs and their expen- 
ed 
persons can be found, and their labors be directed to 
pre j ct . The number, however, of those who are capa- 
ble of discovering scientific principles is comparatively small; 
like the poet, they are “born, not made,” and, like him, must be 
left to choose their own subject, and wait the fitting time of in- 
spiration. In case a person of this class has fallen on a vein of 
discovery, and is pursuing it with success, the better plan will be 
to grant him a small sum of money to carry on his investigations, 
provided they are considered worthy of assistance by competent 
judges. This will have the double effect of encouraging him in 
the pursuit, and of facilitating his progress. The institution, 
however, need not depend upon cases of this kind, even if they 
sre more numerous than they are, for the application of its 
s in the line of original research. There are large fields of 
rvation and experiment, the cultivation of which, though it 
may afford no prospect of the discovery of a principle, can hardly 
fail to produce results of importance both in a practical and a the- 
oretical oint 0 view. ‘As an illustration of this remark, I may 
mentic * i 
cominittees of the Franklin Institute, of Philadelphia. . The 
ca 
sons in the United States engaged 'in the application of steam, 
er. In this way opinions and suggestions in great va- 
riety, as to the cause of explosions, were obtained. ‘The most 
plausible of these were submitted to the test of experiment: the 
