March 30, 1S83.] 



SCIENCE. 



211 



FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 1883. 



SCIENCE AND THE NEWSPAPERS. 



We hear a great deal about the educating 

 influence of the press, and it cannot be denied 

 that this influence is very great. Ever}- one 

 reads the newspapers, and is more or less 

 aflected bj' them. To saj- that the press exerts 

 a great educational influence is, however, not 

 necessarilj' praise ; for this influence may be 

 bad, and in some respects it undoubtedly is 

 bad. Leaving out of consideration the obvious 

 illustrations of this truth, it seems to be desira- 

 ble to call special attention to one direction in 

 which the newspapers, as a rule, signallj' fail 

 in their attempts to educate the public ; and 

 that is, in reporting the transactions of the 

 meetings of scientific associations. Fortu- 

 natel}' the attempts are not often made ; but, 

 when thej' are, the results are quite different 

 from what the editors probably desire. The 

 intention of the editors is, we take it, really 

 to inform the public, in an honest, straight- 

 forward waj', what the papers presented at 

 the meetings are about. Perhaps the gentle- 

 men think that this is actuallj' accomplished : 

 nothing can be farther from the truth. Usu- 

 all}-, instead of a clear statement, a column or 

 two of the veriest nonsense is strung together 

 by a 3'oung reporter entirelj' ignorant of the 

 first principles of the simplest science. The 

 matter passes into the office, and is accepted 

 by an editor as ignorant of science as the 

 reporter ; and the result is, that science is 

 belittled, and the public deceived — certainlj- 

 not educated. When ignorance alone is ex- 

 hibited in these reports, they may be regarded 

 with equanimity b}' those who are informed ; 

 for the ignorance of the writer appears on the 

 surface, and no one can or does hold the author 

 of the paper responsible. But when, added 

 to the ignorance, there is a tendencj- to ridicule, 

 to turn matters of grave importance into petty 

 jokes, — in genei-al, to betray a fiippant spirit 

 in the treatment of the subjects discussed, — 

 then it is time for science to enter a protest, 

 not in the interests of scientific men (for news- 

 paper reports, no matter how bad, do them lit- 



No. 8.— 1883. 



tie harm) , but in the interests of science it- 

 self. 



When a newspaper in a semi-civilized region 

 makes sport of death ; when an execution is 

 emphasized by mirth-provoking head-lines ; 

 when the most sacred things are ridiculed, 

 — the refined members of the communitj^ are 

 shocked. So, too, when the earnest efforts of 

 investigators are used by strangely incompetent 

 young men for the purpose of exhibiting their 

 sophomoric humor, those whose senses in mat- 

 ters of science are in the least refined €eel out- 

 raged. They feel that the newspapers which 

 lend themselves to such abuses are guilty of a 

 sacrilege for which they should be held respon- 

 sible. The harm done is both positive and 

 negative, — it is positive in so far as entirelj^ 

 false notions in regard to the work of scientific 

 men are given currency, and ignorance is en- 

 couraged ; it is negative in so far as the oppor- 

 tunity for really correctlj' informing the public 

 is lost. 



AU who hold science in reverence ; who 

 believe, that, through scientific investigation 

 in everj' direction open to us, the truth will at 

 last be reached ; who believe that the spread 

 of correct ideas concerning natural phenomena 

 will eventuallj' dispel that superstition which 

 is now the great enemy of progress, — all such 

 cannot but deplore anj" thing which in a tan- 

 gible way is opposed to the development of 

 scientific culture. We call upon the editors of 

 our great dailj- newspapers to carefully consider 

 the subject, and to endeavor to remedy what 

 must be regarded as a grave difficulty. Better 

 no reports at all than such as are usually' fur- 

 nished ; but the work of reporting might easilj- 

 be well done, and, if well done, would be of 

 value. 



THE PRESENT STATE OF SCIENCE IN 

 BRAZIL. 



The last ten or fifteen years have witnessed 

 a marked awakening in Brazil to the impor- 

 tance of scientific research, and the inaugura- 

 tion of what maj^ fairly be termed a new 

 movement, of which, so far as the writer is 

 aware, no account has j-et been given to the 

 outside world ; while Brazilians themselves are 



