962 
as the postoffice and railways developed, 
as general scientific journals were estab- 
lished— The American Journal of Science began 
publication in 1818—the need of a national 
organization was felt, and here again the 
older nations had established the precedent. 
The meetings of German scientific men and 
physicians began in 1828, and the British 
Association for the Advancement of Science 
was established in 1831. 
of American Geologists and Naturalists 
An Association 
was organized in 1840, and became the 
American Association for the Advancement 
of Science in 1848. 
Fifty years ago the sciences were compar- 
atively undifferentiated. Special societies 
and special journals were not required. It 
was possible for students of science and 
friends of science to meet together and take 
acommon and intelligent interest in the 
scientific progress of the day. Somewhat 
later, however, the need became apparent 
for a more select national society. The local 
academies in the European capitals had be- 
come national institutions ina way that was 
not possible for the similar societies in the 
United States, owing to the lack of central- 
ization. Our National Academy of Sciences 
was organized in 1863 with a membership 
at first limited to fifty, and still under one 
hundred. The Academy was intended to 
be the adviser of the Government in scien- 
tific matters, and has to a certain extent 
fulfilled this function. At first, when there 
were but few scientific men in the United 
States and their interests were more or less 
common, the National Academy was an or- 
But 
it has scarcely adjusted itself to the growth 
ganization fitted to its environment. 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Vou. XIII. No. 338. 
and specialization in science of the past 
twenty-five years. 
The organization of science that was ad- 
equate for the third quarter of the century 
did not suffice for the fourth quarter. About 
twenty-five years ago it became necessary 
to meet the specialization becoming inevita- 
ble for scientificadvance. Special societies 
The 
American Society of Naturalists, organized 
in 1883, and the American Naturalist, estab- 
lished in 1867, covered a limited, but still 
wide, field. Scrence, a weekly journal, was 
established in 1883 to keep the sciences in 
touch with each otherand men of science in 
The Amer- 
ican Chemical Society was organized in 
1876, The American Ornithologists’ Union 
in 1883, The Geological Society of America 
and the present American Mathematical 
and special journals were organized. 
touch with the general public. 
Society in 1888, and there are now national 
societies for almost every science. Special 
journals were established during the same 
period—The Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical 
Club (1870), The Botanical Gazette (1876), 
The American Journal of Mathematics (1878), 
The American Chemical Journal (1887), The 
American Journal of Morphology (1887), The 
American Journal of Psychology (1887), The 
American Geologist (1888), The National Geo- 
graphic Magazine (1888), The American An- 
thropologist (1888) and so on, in increasing 
numbers, to the present time. A similar 
movement toward specialization is evident 
in the development of elective courses in 
our colleges, of advanced work in our uni- 
versities, and in many other directions. 
The American Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science did not fail to adjust 
