492 
tered by it. Any government should foster any 
plan that would lead to the high regard of its 
country in scientific matters, and especially in 
regard to the advanced training of the young. 
The French and English have been too indif- 
ferent to the advantages of having American 
students come to them for their doctorates. 
The United States can hardly hope to attract 
many European students in the next few 
years, but the institutions and the government 
of the United States should foster the advent 
to our country of large numbers of Chinese 
and Japanese students; their number is al- 
ready considerable, but should be studiously 
augmented. 
This sort of scientific control is subtle, and 
if turned to bad uses, may become insidious; 
but is almost certain in the case of a demo- 
eratic country like ours to escape misuse, and 
to realize many useful objects. 
Why should our scientists look to Germany 
and to the German language as necessary for 
scientific advance in this country? It seems 
to me that the German advances in science are 
not themselves alone responsible, not perhaps 
even a small part of the reason, for our past 
devotion to Germany. The fact is that any 
scientist must have the means himself readily 
to look up the literature on any scientific sub- 
ject; and the fact is that the great compendi- 
ums of science, the great yearly reviews of 
scientific progress, are made by Germans, and 
published in the German language. It is im- 
possible for a mathematician to work to ad- 
vantage without being able to consult the 
Jahrbuch fiir Mathematik. The Revue Se- 
mestrielle will not alone suffice, nor is it neces- 
sary. It is impossible for a physicist to work 
without consulting the VFortschritie der 
Physik; Science Abstracts are not sufficient. 
And so it is in many other fields of science. 
The physicist must consult Winkelmann’s 
“Handbuch der Physik”; there is no real Eng- 
lish or French equivalent. The “ Mathemat- 
ical Encyclopedia”? commenced its publication 
as a German compendium indispensable to the 
mathematician; fortunately, an improved edi- 
tion was.soon taken up in France. 
In my opinion, whatever country takes care 
SCIENCE 
[N. S. Vou. XLVITII. No. 1246 
of the preparation and publication of the best 
reviews of progress in science, and of the best 
compendiums of scientific knowledge will in- 
evitably be regarded by other countries as an 
essential for scientific development, and the 
language of that country will have to be taught 
to all young scientists. This, again, is subtle 
control, which may be used for good or bad, 
according as it is exercised for good or bad 
motives. That the government of Germany 
was alive to the possibility of this control 
seems patent; and that they expected their in- 
sidious control to be serviceable to them in 
swaying opinion in this country in their favor 
during this war is equally manifest from many 
points of view. 
Are the English-speaking peoples of the 
world to return at the close of the war to the 
well-nigh complete dependence on Germany 
for their standard scientific reviews and hand- 
books, and thus make necessary the learning 
of the difficult German language for all young 
scientists ? 
Irrespective of how this question may be 
answered, the learning of the German lan- 
guage, like that of any foreign language, will 
always be valuable to scientists. I have myself, 
for example, been obliged to read during the 
last ten years German and French constantly, 
Italian very frequently, Dutch, Spanish, Nor- 
wegian and modern Greek occasionally, and I 
have regretted the fact that I could not read 
Russian. All linguistic attainments can be 
put to useful ends by any one interested in 
science, and all linguistic failures are from 
time to time an annoyance. I am, therefore, 
not asking whether it is desirable that young 
men should be able to read German. Of 
course it is; but I am asking whether they 
shall be compelled to read German, whether or 
not they read any other language. 
The preparation of yearly reviews of the ad- 
vance in science and of great compendiums of 
past scientific progress is a matter which re 
quires organization, industry and cheap intel- 
lectual labor. There seems to be plenty of cheap 
intellectual labor in this country, and plenty 
of organizing ability, and probably sufficient 
industry in the work could be obtained. The 
