196 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XII. No. 292. 



In small rooms leading out of the Salon Pas- 

 teur is a portion of the hygiene exhibit of for- 

 eign nations, the major portion being in the 

 Champ de Mars. Germany here shows a large 

 model of the Imperial buildings for sanitary 

 administration, a map of the mineral waters of 

 Germany, numerous plans and elevations of 

 the many sanatoria for the open-air treatment 

 of consumption ; also numerous graphic models 

 to show the increase in the population, the fall 

 in death-rates, the hospital accommodation, 

 etc., the most striking being black and red 

 cubes showing the number of deaths from 

 small-pox in 1862-76, that is, 199,410, com- 

 pared with the number of deaths in 1882-96, 

 that is, 3291 ; in 1897 there were only five deaths 

 from small-pox. Vaccination and re-vaccina- 

 tion became compulsory by law in 1775. 



SIOMA XI, THE A3IEBICAN ASSOCIATION AND 

 THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF A3IEBICA.* 



An unsigned article in Science (June 22d) en- 

 titled ' Sigma Xi at the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science,' calls attention 

 approvingly to a movement to associate meet- 

 ings of this Greek-letter society with those of 

 Association. The rapid rise of the Sigma Xi 

 in American universities is cited, and it is af- 

 firmed that "as an honor society it promises to 

 take a leading part in our universities in which 

 science holds a prominent place." It is urged 

 that "it has become a representative honor 

 society for the ablest students of science in the 

 institutions where it is established." Kespect- 

 ing its intent, the following authoritative quo- 

 tation is made : "In establishing a new chapter 

 * * * in each case we should make sure that 

 we entrust the power of distributing the honor 

 of membership only to such persons and insti- 

 tutions as are capable of giving the education 

 and training necessary to the carrying on of 

 scientific investigation." 



It is scarcely necessary to make these quota- 

 tions to show that the fundamental feature of 

 the Society is the promotion of a class distinc- 

 tion based on academic preparation. How- 

 ever laudable this may be in itself considered, 



* Editorial article from the American Journal of 

 Geology. 



it would seem to be inharmonious with the 

 fundamental purpose of the Association, which 

 is the development and dissemination of science 

 among all people without regard to race, age, 

 sex or previous conditions of intellectual servi- 

 tude. 



From professional relations the writer should 

 not be inappreciative of the value of uni- 

 versity training and of academic achievement. 

 Nevertheless, it seems to him that the pur- 

 poses of the Association are unqualifiedly 

 democratic and that the spirit of science is 

 equally so, and that therefore the only distinc- 

 tions which the Association should foster or sanc- 

 tion, if it fosters or sanctions distinctions at all, 

 are those which are based solely upon scientific 

 productiveness. And this productiveness should 

 be honored quite irrespective of its connection 

 with the fortunate conditions of academic ap- 

 pointments and opportunities, or with the ad- 

 verse or even hostile conditions under which 

 much good science has been developed. The 

 movement therefore to connect the Sigma Xi 

 with those of the American Association seems 

 incongruous. 



As set forth in another article in the same 

 number of Science, some fifteen special scien- 

 tific societies have already become correlated 

 with the Association and have much increased 

 the complexity of the proceedings. This move- 

 ment seems to be an inevitable consequence of 

 the differentiation of scientific work, and is 

 scarcely less than necessary to the continued 

 success of the Association, but it has already 

 brought some inevitable conflict of interests 

 and not a little congestion of programs and 

 appointments. Between these and the in- 

 creased number of social functions, it has 

 already come to pass that there is little time 

 left for that personal conference and that in- 

 formal sociability whose basis is 'shop talk,' 

 which formed so large a factor in the attrac- 

 tiveness of the earlier meetings of the Associa- 

 tion. If now in addition to these laudable 

 complications, the attention of a considerable 

 number of the members of the Association is 

 to be diverted in the interest of an academic 

 honor society and a precedent established for 

 the meeting of other societies whose basis is 

 not strictly congenial to thatof the Association, 



