618 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 956 



the matter through the legislature. The 

 committee from the academy of science in 

 presenting to the legislature its claims for 

 a natural history survey, unlike the geol- 

 ogist, seldom has a definite promise of a 

 definite task to be performed whose con- 

 clusion will be of economic interest to the 

 state. It may be that some advocates have 

 the ability to convince a legislative com- 

 mittee of the economic value to the state 

 of a natural history survey; but it is cer- 

 tain that the most of the advocates of the 

 past have not been so highly gifted. 



The second argument usually employed 

 in furtherance of a natural history svTr\'ey 

 pertains to the benefit to be enjoyed by 

 science. The legislators have been re- 

 minded that the pride and patriotism of 

 the state require that she should di/''">her 

 part toward building the great straeture 

 on which New York and Illinois are so 

 faithfully laboring. On this argument the 

 scientific advocate would like to dwell; but 

 he realizes, at least he does after a little ex- 

 perience, that it is one of the least effec- 

 tive. The legislator counts on his fingers 

 the scientists he knows in the state, and de- 

 cides to risk their displeasure. 



If it be conceded that, as a means of 

 moving legislatures, the argument for eco- 

 nomic benefit is weak because vague ; and 

 the argument for promoting science is in- 

 effective because the class specially inter- 

 ested is small ; what may be expected from 

 the third argument most often used — the 

 benefit to education, the benefit to the 

 schools of the state? 



In attempting to answer this question, 

 it may be said that there are several con- 

 ditions favorable to the use of this argu- 

 ment. The number of people in the state 

 directly or indirectly interested in tlie 

 work of the schools is very large. Tliis 

 large body is constituted by the better edu- 

 cated and more intelligent citizens, and 



therefore one of the most effective classes 

 of citizens. Again, the active members of 

 this body are organized, extending from 

 the state department of education to insti- 

 tutes, associations, clubs and circles, all of 

 which could easily be reached if their in- 

 fluence was desired. 



Some one now offers the suggestion that 

 this proposal contains nothing not already 

 tried, and that its use in the past has 

 brought few results, seeing that but a 

 paltry half-dozen states are at present con- 

 ducting natural history surveys. I will 

 readily admit that the argument has been 

 unsuccessfully tried in several or many 

 states within the past two decades. But I 

 wish also to say that in my own state, 

 'v4Iichigan, I believe it was the argument of 

 'educational benefit, more than any other, 

 which resulted in the establishment of the 

 biological survey in 1905. We appealed 

 for aid in passing the bill to scores of 

 teachers, and to several teachers' organiza- 

 tions. I wish also to say that the argu- 

 ment for educational benefit usually con- 

 tains the same weakness that pertains to 

 the argument for economic benefit: it is 

 vague because it does not have definite 

 tasks to propose, definite things that the 

 survey will surely do for education. It is 

 true that several of the reports or bulle- 

 tins on biological matters, issued within 

 the past twenty years by the state surveys 

 of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Connecticut, 

 Michigan and New York, are as much or 

 more for educational as for scientific pur- 

 poses. But, to my mind, the most of these 

 are not convincing examples of the bene- 

 fits which a survey can give to the schools. 

 The most of them can not be used by the 

 schools, either because they are not written 

 so as to be used or they cover so large a 

 territory that they arouse no local interest. 

 These reports are not written wholly for 

 science; for their descriptions and illustra- 



