588 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 380. 



Leaflet, describing 'The Collection of Minerals.' 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 549th regular meeting was held March 

 15, 1902. The evening was devoted to a dis- 

 cussion 'On the Definition of Some Modern 

 Sciences.'* 



Dr. W. H. Dall opened the discussion with 

 a reference to the early history of the Society, 

 when all the scientific men of Washington be- 

 longed to it, and the splitting up into numer- 

 ous societies had not begun. He quoted some 

 of the definitions of science from the earliest 

 English dictionaries, and in felicitous words 

 welcomed the speakers who had been invited 

 to follow him, and characterized their subjects. 



Col. Carroll D. Wright spoke on ' Statistics.' 

 The name is due to Acheiiwall, Professor at 

 Gottingen about 1750. It may be considered 

 either as a method, or as a science demand- 

 ing a classification of facts. Numerous fal- 

 lacies in the collection and use of statistical 

 data were illustrated, and attention was called 

 to the importance of the psychological element 

 in the interpretation of such data; thus, it 

 was found that nearly all the farm mortgages 

 in 1890 were evidences of prosperity rather 

 than of adversitj'. 



Professor Roland P. Palkner, now in charge 

 of the Document Division, Library of Con- 

 gress, discussed 'Economics.' The limits of a 

 science, he said, are largely questions of the 

 division of labor. So definitions vary, but 

 the consensus of opinion is that economics 

 deals with man in his activities, which are 

 designed to satisfy his material desires, in 

 short with wealth. From an analysis of his 

 wants the metaphysical side of the subject has 

 been developed. His wants being unlimited 

 and nature's provision being limited, man 

 must put forth efFort; the character of this 

 effort and the rules which govern it are the 

 subject matter of political economy. The form 

 which economic organization assumes at any 

 time and place depends upon the abundance of 

 land, labor and capital: whatever the form, 

 the 'economic man' seeks the maximum re- 

 sult with the minimum effort. The axioms 



* To be published in the Popular Science 

 Monthly. 



then of the theoretical or deductive economists 

 are the limitations of nature's gifts, and the 

 economic man. The newer school of induc- 

 tive economists concerns itself minutely with 

 the ailairs of the past as well as the present, 

 and is known also as the historical school. 



Professor Edward A. Pace, of the Catholic 

 University, spoke on 'Psychology.' He pointed 

 out that the subject is now in a transition 

 state. The older psychology, based on intro- 

 spection, was inductive, but dealt only with 

 mental operations. The newer science has 

 three methods or fields of research: It investi- 

 gates the relations between mental and phys- 

 ical phenomena, the development of mental 

 life, and abnormal psychic phenomena. There 

 is a striking parallelism between many 

 psychic and physical phenomena, and one of 

 the great questions of the science is regarding 

 a causal nexus between the two groups. 



Dr. Lester P. Ward, speaking for ' Sociology,' 

 defined it as the science of society or of social 

 phenomena. It is based on the study of large 

 groups of men, not of individuals. Tylor's. 

 ethnographic parallelisms prove a uniform 

 law of psychic developm.ent ; primary wants 

 are the same and are similarly supplied every- 

 where; governments and religions have more 

 in common than in diversity; history is every- 

 where the same except the names. Sociology 

 can be a science only as it depends on phe- 

 nomena; and these are due to causes. These 

 causes may be grouped as (1) environment 

 (climate, nature of country, etc.) and (2) sub- 

 jective environment or character. The old 

 doctrines of free will made man a lawless be- 

 ing, not a rational one. The law of parsimony 

 runs through all life. 



Chaeles K. Wead, 



Secretary. 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 352d regular meeting was held on Sat- 

 urday evening, March 22. 



W. C. Kendall presented some 'iSTotes on 

 the Sticklebacks,' briefly sketching the habits 

 and habitats of these little fishes and stating 

 that in spite of their insignificant size they 

 occurred at times in such vast numbers as to 

 be used for fertilizer, as food for cows and 



