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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 958 



taken, but the reputation and influence of 

 the academies themselves will, I am con- 

 vinced, be seriously affected by the decision. 



It is with the greatest hesitation and 

 with much diffidence that I now approach 

 the concluding portion of my discourse, 

 for I am oppressed by the fear that my 

 remarks may be taken as an unnecessary 

 interference in the concern of others. But 

 the issue is too serious to let that prevent 

 my expressing an opinion which is based 

 on a deep, and I believe impartial convic- 

 tion. 



The academies, royal societies, or what- 

 ever name they are called by, have been 

 founded at different times in accordance 

 with the varying requirements of their 

 countries. They value their historical tra- 

 ditions above everything; some are over 

 two hundred years old, others of recent 

 growth, and their constitutions differ in 

 many respects. But whatever their consti- 

 tution and their history may be, they must 

 be judged by this same test: Do they ful- 

 fill their obligations, which for all of them, 

 I take it, are those defined in the charter 

 of the Royal Society as "The promotion 

 of natural knowledge." Do they embody 

 in themselves the promotive power of the 

 scientific efforts of their country, or have 

 they fallen a prey to the dangers, which 

 more especially beset the older institutions, 

 of crystallizing into an aristocracy of sci- 

 ence, recruited from those who in the nat- 

 ural course of growing maturity are ceas- 

 ing to be active workers and constitute 

 themselves to be the judges of the work 

 of others? The dead weight of such a so- 

 ciety brought to bear discretely on the ex- 

 uberance of youth may have its uses, but 

 it remains a dead weight just the same. It 

 should act as a brake on a too fanciful 

 imagination, but it can take no share in 

 any real progress. If the academies are to 



fit themselves for the formation of a really 

 strong and fruit-bearing association, they 

 must be bodies which, animated, as all of 

 them now are, by the highest and noblest 

 ideals, strive at the same time to repre- 

 sent what is best and most progressive in 

 the scientific life within their range of in- 

 fluence. 



Each country must solve its own diffi- 

 culties, but in addressing your national 

 academy which, though it holds to-day its 

 first jubilee, may still be called youthful, I 

 may be forgiven if I remind you that, 

 while the older institutions may offer you 

 much that deserves to be admired and per- 

 haps be imitated, you must not mistake the 

 signs of gray hairs for the stamp of an en- 

 viable dignity. 



This, then, is my final summary. Ours 

 is an age of organization presenting many 

 problems that can not be confined within 

 political boundaries. The demands of 

 science have already called into existence 

 separate international associations, which 

 are efiiciently performing their duties. 

 Nevertheless the continued increase of 

 their number is beginning to cause incon- 

 venience and is likely to hamper future de- 

 velopments unless they can be united by 

 some bond intended to coordinate their 

 work. The International Association of 

 Academies stands out as a natural body, 

 fit to act as a central advisory authority. 

 To exercise that authority effectively, the 

 academies must individually recognize their 

 obligations to be truly representative of 

 the most healthy and vigorous portion of 

 the scientific life of their country. It is 

 because I believe in the vitality of the acad- 

 emies and in the power which an increased 

 responsibility will give them to cheek the 

 danger of stagnation to which ancient and 

 dignified bodies are exposed, that I advo- 

 cate the extension of their activity and the 



