XLIV PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 
apt to be, and this not only in an unusual development of one part 
of the brain, but in an inferior development in othérs. True, there 
are exceptions to this rule—great and illustrious exceptions; but I 
think we must admit that the man of science often lacks tact, and 
is indifferent to and careless about matters which do not concern 
his special work, and especially about matters of accounts and 
pecuniary details. Ifsuch a man is at the head of a bureau, whose 
work requires many subordinates and the disbursement of large 
sums of money, he may consider the business management of his 
office as a nuisance, and delegate as much of it as possible to some 
subordinate official, who, after a time, becomes the real head and 
director of the bureau. Evil results have, however, been very-rare, 
and the recognition of the possibility of their occurrence is by no 
means an admission that they are a necessity, and still less of the 
proposition that administrative officers should not be scientific men. 
I feel very sure that there are always available scientific men, 
thoroughly well informed in their several departments, who are also 
thoroughly good business men, and are as well qualified for admin- 
istrative work as any. When such men are really wanted they can 
always be found, and, as a matter of fact, a goodly number of them 
have been found, and are now in the Government service. 
The head of a bureau has great responsibilities; and while his 
position is, in many respects, a desirable one, it would not be eagerly 
sought for by most scientific men if its duties were fully understood. 
In the first place the bureau chief must give up a great part of 
his time to routine hack work. During his business, or office, hours 
he can do little else than this routine work, partly because of its 
amount, and partly because of the frequent interruptions to which 
he is subjected. His visitors are of all kinds and come from all 
sorts of motives—some to pass away half an hour, some to get infor- 
mation, some seeking office. It will not work well if he takes the 
ground that his time is too important to be wasted on casual callers 
and refers them to some assistant. 
In the second place he must, to a great extent at least, give up the 
pleasure of personal investigation of questions that specially interest 
him, and turn them over to others. It rarely happens that he can 
earry out his own plans in his own way, and perhaps it is well that 
this should be the case. The general character of his work is usually 
determined for him either by his predecessors, or by Congress, or by 
the general consensus of opinion of scientific men interested in the 
