JANUARY 18, 1901.] 
until an entire unity of purpose and action 
is consummated which completes the scien- 
tific structure of the nation. 
Henry FAIRFIELD OSBORN. 
CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 
THE attitude of the state toward scientific 
investigation is less a question of inherent 
right than of expediency. Political econ- 
omy assigns no sharp limitations to the 
functions of government and whether or 
not any particular interest should receive 
the fostering care of the state depends 
upon circumstances. That scientific re- 
search is a subject of government concern 
is becoming recognized more fully every 
year. A well-known English educator in 
discussing the endowment of research by 
the state says: ‘that liberal and scientific 
culture, intelligence, and the whole domain 
of mind, is a national interest, as much as 
agriculture, commerce, banking or water- 
supply.’ 
Granting all this, and I am sure no one 
here maintains any other view, we are con- 
fronted with the fact that the state cannot 
support, or even subsidize, every national 
interest. Which should receive government 
support must finally be determined by ex- 
pediency—by whether in the long run the 
state is to be benefited by the aid extended. 
Agriculture, commerce and banking, for 
example, can be maintained by private en- 
terprise and can be made largely or wholly 
self-supporting. Their prosecution can be 
left therefore largely to the individual, with 
suchincidental protectionas may be required 
in the particular case. Scientific investi- 
gation is not and cannot hope to be self-sup- 
porting in most instances. This I believe 
to be the determining factor. Admitting 
the material value of scientific investigation 
to the state, it becomes necessary for the 
state to see that its interests are secured. 
It may perhaps be desirable to examine 
for a moment the reason why scientific in- 
SCIENCE. 
85 
vestigation is not and can not be self-sup- 
porting. This may be found in the fact 
that the great majority of scientific re- 
searches have no immediate commercial 
value and as commodities can not find a 
speedy or, in most instances probably, 
even a prospective market. We all know 
of many investigations, begun without 
thought of pecuniary advantage, that have 
ultimately produced practical results of the 
greatest importance. Instances might be 
cited of investigations, the value of which 
were not apparent until a generation or 
more had passed, as, for example, paleonto- 
logical researches which have laid the foun- 
dation for the correlation of deposits of great 
economic value. The support of such in- 
vestigations must, as Professor Osborn has 
shown, be looked upon as investments for 
the state which no far-sighted statesman 
will ignore. 
I have found, although my own experi- 
ence has been limited to be sure, that the 
average legislator, who is considering hon- 
estly the interests of the state, is not with- 
out appreciation of the far-reaching value 
of scientific work, if convinced that the in- 
vestigations proposed will be honestly con- 
ducted. The legislator, surrounded, as he 
too frequently is, by evidences of political 
jobbery of every sort, is very keen in detect- 
ing what is false and untrue. He may be 
Over-suspicious in some instances and may 
even suggest that you have some ax to grind 
in the measure which you bring forward, 
but if he is honest in purpose his support in 
the end is not difficult to obtain. I have 
always gone on the principle that the legis- 
lator whose support I was seeking was a 
public-spirited and intelligent citizen who 
was capable of judging of the true merits 
of the subject under consideration. I have 
never claimed for the investigation proposed 
that it would in every instance bring an im- 
mediate financial return, but rather that the 
work laid the foundation for subsequent re- 
