Mat 9, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



697 



You can imagine this kind of a conversa- 

 tion taking place: 



Is this the International Union of Friends of 

 Young Girls? 



No, but it is the International Congress of Com- 

 mercial Travelers. 



The architect, no doubt, will do his best 

 to group together associations relating to 

 the same subjects, and it would be inter- 

 esting to pass through the corridors de- 

 voted to all the religious and irreligious 

 societies that take the name of "interna- 

 tional." If a humorist were to exchange 

 the name plates over the doors, the mathe- 

 matician who has traveled all the way from 

 Australia to attend the "International 

 Congress for Promoting the Study of 

 Quaternions" might find himself in the 

 room reserved for the "International 

 Union of "Woman Suffrage," and a mem- 

 ber of the Association of Seismology might 

 be mixed up with the "Association to Pre- 

 vent the Abuse of Alcohol. ' ' 



I do not like to throw ridicule on what 

 is obviously a well-meant effort, but how- 

 ever much our sympathy may extend to 

 each of these objects separately, no good 

 purpose is served by inventing a connect- 

 ing link between incommensurate objects, 

 such as solar research and the proper ob- 

 servance of Sundays. 



Our work is sufficiently difficult, if we 

 confine ourselves to scientific methods. It 

 nevertheless remains true that it is de- 

 sirable to establish some central authority 

 which can act as a connecting link between 

 different associations. What should its 

 functions be? It is the essence of all in- 

 ternational combinations that they depend 

 entirely on moral force and have no power 

 to impose their decisions. A central au- 

 thority must therefore be content with 

 offering advice, with the conviction that, 

 if the advice is sound, it will be accepted. 



Though the existing associations would 



tolerate no interference with their inde- 

 pendence, they would doubtless consider 

 with care any suggestions made to them in 

 the interests of science by an authoritative 

 body. Our problem is therefore to find an 

 authority of sufficient eminence to be gen- 

 erally looked upon with confidence and 

 who could also act as adviser to different 

 governments when they are asked to finan- 

 cially support some fresh undertaking. 

 That is one of the most serious difficul- 

 ties of the present time. There is a new 

 international undertaking proposed almost 

 every year, and application is made to the 

 different governments for support and 

 money. What is the government to do? 

 To whom is the government to go for ad- 

 vice whether such an undertaking is worthy 

 of support or not? My solution of that 

 question is this : In the International Asso- 

 ciation of Academies we possess indeed a 

 body fulfilling all the requirements of such 

 a central authority, provided the individ- 

 ual academies constituting the association 

 are willing to undertake the task. The 

 Association of Academies was founded at 

 a conference held at Wiesbaden on October 

 9 and 10, 1899, the National Academy of 

 the United States being represented by 

 Professors Newcomb and Bowditch. The 

 paragraph of its statutes which were 

 adopted at a meeting held in Paris in 1901 

 relating to the functions of the association 

 runs as follows: 



The object of the association is to prepare and 

 promote scientific work of general interest which 

 has been submitted to it by one of the associated 

 academies, and to facilitate in a general manner 

 scientific intercourse between different nations. 



From its origin the association claimed 

 an advisory voice in new international 

 undertakings, and at the meeting held in 

 London in 1904 the following resolution 

 was passed with one dissenting voice : 



That the initiation of any new international 

 organization to be maintained by subventions from 



