Febedaky 6, ]914] 



SCIENCE 



195 



These principles have been observed to 

 the present day, sometimes in the face of 

 great temptation to elect men eminent for 

 achievements other than those of original 

 research. Thus the Academy has counted 

 among its members the large majority of 

 the leaders of American science. While 

 it is of course impossible to describe their 

 individual contributions in these pages,^^ 

 some remarks on the progress of American 

 research since the foundation of the Acad- 

 emy will be given in a later paper. 



THE VrORK OF THE ACADEMY FOE THE 

 NATION 



In the first annual report of the presi- 

 dent of the Academy, presented to congress 

 in 1864, Professor Bache remarked: 



The want of an institution by which the scien- 

 tific strength of the country may be brought, from 

 time to time, to the aid of the government in guid- 

 ing action by the knowledge of scientific principles 

 and experiments, has long been felt by the patri- 

 otic scientific men of the United States. No gov- 

 ernment of Europe has been willing to dispense 

 with a body, under some name, capable of render- 

 ing such aid to the government, and in turn of il- 

 lustrating the country by scientific discovery and 

 by literary culture. 



In a previous paper the distinctive posi- 

 tion held by European academies as or- 

 ganizations of the government, and the 

 services they render to the state, have been 

 briefly described. ^^ Here, as elsewhere in 

 these papers, we must not overlook the 

 special conditions which distinguish the 

 National Academy from similar bodies 

 abroad. The Koyal Society and the Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, dating from the 

 earliest beginnings of science in England 

 and Prance, have been the media through 

 which the great advances of more than two 



11 Biogi-aphies of the incorporators may be found 

 in the "History of the National Academy," so 

 often cited. 



12 Science, November 14, 1913. 



centuries have reached the world. Discov- 

 ery after discovery, first presented at their 

 meetings and published in their proceed- 

 ings, has been rigidly associated in the 

 public mind with these great societies, 

 which have fostered science and encour- 

 aged the labors of investigators. Thus 

 they have acquired a prestige and a power 

 in the state which could arise in no other 

 way. It is not enough for a nation to 

 charter an organization and to authorize it 

 to act as the adviser of the government in 

 scientific affairs. Appreciation of the 

 fundamental importance of science as the 

 source of all industrial progress, and con- 

 fidence in the body appointed to advise the 

 nation, are obvious prerequisites to that 

 cooperation between statesmen and men of 

 science which is essential to complete suc- 

 cess. 



In spite of the disadvantage of a widely 

 scattered membership, whose 'discoveries 

 and contributions to science have always 

 reached the world through other channels, 

 and with no home of its own to focus at- 

 tention on its activities, the National Acad- 

 emy has often been called into the service 

 of the country. It will be sufficient to give 

 here a list of the subjects on which the 

 Academy has been consulted by the govern- 

 ment, referring the reader to the "History 

 of the National Academy" (pp. 201 to 

 331) for all details. 



COMMITTEES APPOINTED BY THE ACADEMY ON 

 BEHALF or THE GOVERNMENT 



1. Committees appointed in accordance with Acts 

 of Congress. 



1871. On the Transit of Venus. 



1872. On Preparing Instructions for the 



Polaris Expedition. 



1878. On a Plan for Surveying and Mapping 



the Territories of the United States. 



1879. On a National Board of Health. 



1894. To Prescribe and Publish Specifications 

 for the Practical Application of the 

 Definitions of the Ampere and Volt. 



