Science and Progress in the South. 53 



tended greatly to promote the scientific work of their age. And 

 much of the progress along social and economic lines is to be at- 

 tributed directly to the great advances made by science. Eng- 

 land's progress is coincident with the establishment and growth 

 of the Royal Society. It has been said that "in olden times this 

 country (England) possessed the materials for great things as 

 well as the men fitted to develop them into great results." But 

 the nation was slow to awake and take advantage of its oppor- 

 tunities. There was no enterprise, no commerce, no "go" in the 

 people. The roads were frightfully bad, and there was little 

 communication between one part of the country and another. If 

 anything important had to be done, foreigners were called in to 

 teach the people. An English writer says : "We sent for them 

 to drain our fens, to build our piers and harbors, and even to 

 pump our water at London Bridge. Though a seafaring popula- 

 tion Hved around our coasts, we did not fish our own seas, but left 

 it to the industrious Dutchman to catch the fish and supply our 

 markets." (Samuel Smiles, Invention and Industry, p. 45.) 



Even to the casual observer, the analogy between the condition 

 thus depicted in old England and those of the South must come 

 with telling force. 



Without entering at present upon a discussion of the tardy prog- 

 ress heretofore made by the South in education and social wel- 

 fare, the causes of which are not far to seek, it may be pointed out 

 that there has been a like absence both of notable achievements in 

 science and of organizations which might serve as a stimulus for 

 such work. 



Among the first and most notable organizations of this char- 

 acter in this country are the American Philosophical Society and 

 the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, The Brooklyn 

 Academy of Arts and Sciences, The American Academy and the 

 Boston Society of Natural History of Boston, and the St. Louis 

 Academy of Science. Inspired by the success of these organiza- 

 tions, sprang up such as the Chicago Academy of Science, the 

 Philosophical Society of Washington, etc., which, though pos- 

 sibly of lesser prominence, have in their way rendered most im- 

 portant service in promoting the cause of science in their respec- 

 tive communities. State Academies of Science like this of ours 

 are of relatively recent origin, and have flourished particularly in 



