86 
searches, the material value of which could 
not be estimated. In stating the objects of 
the Maryland Geological Survey in the 
opening chapter of the first volume of its 
reports I said: ‘‘ The fact must be borne in 
mind that much preliminary and fundamen- 
tal work has to be done, the utility of which 
is not at once apparent to the uninitiated. 
The publication of such material, rendered 
necessary as a basis for future investigation, 
is often liable to misinterpretation, but yet 
may be of far more lasting value to the 
State than some superficial statement that 
is intended to meet a supposed practical 
need.”’ I believe it is not difficult for the 
scientific man, with a subject of real merit, 
to secure the confidence and support of any 
body of legislators, if he approaches them 
with honesty of purpose, and with his plan 
sufficiently matured for them to see its real 
significance. 
We find that ever since the establishment 
of universities and seminaries widely over 
Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth 
centuries, the civilized countries of the 
world have recognized in one form or 
another the relation of the state to scien- 
tific investigation. Not only the great na- 
tions of the world but oftentimes the small 
and relatively poor countries like Belgium 
and Switzerland, as well as the smallest of 
our Own commonwealths, have frequently 
provided liberally for the support of scien- 
tific research. This has been accomplished 
through the publicly endowed educational 
institutions, through the public museums 
and through the special bureaus of the gov- 
ernment. The dependence of these various 
public organizations, as well as the pri- 
vately endowed institutions upon one an- 
other in scientific investigation, has been 
already pointed out by Professor Osborn, 
and I shall presently refer to a concrete in- 
stance of this in my own work. 
Too frequently scientific investigation has 
held a subordinate place in both the pub- 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Vou. XIII. No. 316. 
licly and privately endowed institutions, 
their chief functions being either educa- 
tional or commercial. The purpose of the 
schools and universities is primarily in most 
instances the instructing of youth in the 
already acquired results of scientific re- 
search rather than the fostering of investi- 
gation for itself, although the latter as a 
secondary consideration often holds a prom- 
inent place in the larger institutions of 
learning. The museums and scientific 
bureaus are like our great universities 
centers of research, without the exactions 
of teaching, where continuous investigation 
can be pursued under most favorable con- 
ditions, although here again either educa- 
tional or commercial considerations for the 
most part ostensibly control. That this is 
not always the case either in our own 
country or abroad is cause for congratula- 
tion, and the support of research directly 
for itself without other, and oftentimes 
false, claims is becoming yearly a more 
fully recognized fact. 
It is interesting for us who are Americans 
to know that the claims of science received 
recognition at the very inception of our 
government, for we find that George Wash- 
ington in his first message to Congress 
stated : ‘‘ Nor am [I less persuaded that you 
will agree with me in opinion that there is 
nothing more deserving your patronage than 
the promotion of science and literature. 
Knowledge in every country is the surest 
basis of public happiness. In one in which 
the measures of government receive their 
impressions so immediately from the sense 
of the community as ours it is proportionally 
essential.” How well that early advice has 
been carried out by the statesmen of later 
days under the wise counsels of Henry, 
Baird, Goode and their successors, Pro- 
fessor Osborn has already shown. 
That much can be accomplished through 
cooperation between our national bureaus 
and the State and university institutions, I 
