SCIENCE. 



AN ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL PUBLISHED WEEKLY. 



Viriti : 



CAMBRIDGE, MASS.: MOSES KING, PUBLISHER. 



FEIDAY, FEBEUART 9, 1883. 



THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN SCIENCE. 



The progress of science in any age is deter- 

 mined largely by the circumstances of its en- 

 vironment. The soil in which it is rooted, the 

 atmosphere from which it draws the materials 

 of its life, and the stimulus of light and heat 

 which it receives, all have a strong determining 

 influence upon its growth. Nowhere, prob- 

 ably, has this influence of the surroundings 

 been more potent than in our own land. The 

 intense activity of our people, the high intel- 

 lectual, commercial, and social pressure under 

 which they live, their enthusiastic intei-est in 

 scieutiflc knowledge and the generous liberal- 

 ity with which they foster it, — all these agen- 

 cies have had a powerful influence in creating 

 the position which American science assumes 

 to-daj'. We may not, indeed, boast of a sci- 

 entific record as full and complete as that of 

 other countries ; but we may and should take 

 an honest pride in the achievements in pure 

 science which we have alreadj' actuallj^ accom- 

 plished. The names of Agassiz and of Peirce, 

 of Bache, Henry, and Draper, of Hare and 

 Silliman, of Bond, Watson, and Chauveuet, of 

 Rittenhouse and Saxton, of Rogers, Hitchcock, 

 and Cleaveland, are worthy to be enrolled high 

 up in the temple of scientific fame. The work 

 done by these men iu the direction of original 

 research will ever stand the test of time, and 

 will always keep their memories green. 



The leading feature of American science, 

 however, and that which most distinctively 

 characterizes it, is its utilitarianism. True, 

 there are in our country able investigators 

 working in scientific fields which do not offer 

 the promise of material reward : but notwith- 



standing this, it remains still true that those 

 sciences whose principles are capable of use- 

 ful application are the most zealouslj' cultivat- 

 ed among us, and attract the largest number 

 of students. Nor is this to be at all regretted. 

 Research is none the less genuine, investiga- 

 tion none the less worthj', because the truth 

 it discovers is utUizable for the benefit of 

 mankind. Granting, even, that the discovery 

 of truth for its own sake is a nobler pursuit, 

 because a less purely selfish one ; does it be- 

 come any the less noble when it is ascertained 

 that the truth thus discovered is capable of 

 important applications which increase tenfold 

 the happiness of human life ? It may readih' 

 be conceded that the man who discovers noth- 

 ing himself, but onl}' applies to useful purposes 

 the principles which others have discovered, 

 stands upon a lower plane than the investiga- 

 tor. But when the investigator becomes him- 

 self the utilizer ; when the same mind that 

 made the discovery contrives also the machine 

 by which it is applied to useful purposes, — 

 the combined achievement must be ranked as 

 superior to either of its separate results. 



The inventive genius of this country is pre- 

 eminent. We reap the benefits of it on ever^' 

 side. Our houses are more comfortable, our 

 railways more safe, our fabrics cheaper, and 

 our education more thorough, because of use- 

 ful inventions. Becoming restive at the slow 

 progress of discover^', the inventor has himself 

 assumed the rdle of investigator ; and the n- 

 sults of his researches appear in the records 

 of the patent-office. In the olden times the 

 investigator was content to make his disco\- 

 eries, and to publish them, consecrating to 

 science the knowledge thus obtained. His 

 more modern representative carefuUy treasures 

 what he has discovered, until he has exhausted 

 its practical applications. In consequence, the 



