May 2, 1902.] 



SCIENCE, 



699 



Philadelpliians, and all of these were mem- 

 bers of the American Philosophical Society. 

 Its first president was one of your number 

 as well as one of your presidents — Alex- 

 ander Dallas Bache ; and the man who was 

 intrusted with the treasurership was an- 

 other Philadelpliian, and a member of your 

 society — Fairman Rogers. More than half 

 its members to-day are members of your 

 Society. There is every reason why the 

 two societies should be strongly affiliated; 

 they are both working in the same spirit 

 and in similar departments of research, 

 and for a similar purpose— the advance- 

 ment of science; and in that advancement 

 of science the question is never asked 

 whether it will be for the benefit of man 

 or not. Cherished beliefs are shaken, 

 dreadful doubts are engendered, but 

 mysterious is the fact that the advance- 

 ment of truth and knowledge tends to the 

 bettering of man's condition. The dura- 

 tion of human life has been lengthened, the 

 hours of labor shortened and an advance 

 in human comfort has been attained. 

 Plag'ues have been confined to those coun- 

 tries where fetich worship takes the place 

 of observation. These, however, are trite 

 and well-worn statements. What we should 

 ask ourselves is, have the sister societies 

 any other duties beside those of accumula- 

 ting museiun material and publishing trans- 

 actions? With the knowledge embodied in 

 these publications should we not in some 

 way convey the results of our methods to 

 the masses? 



The aggressive actions of the temperance 

 advocates have gone so far as to prepare 

 and cause to be introduced into our com- 

 mon schools text-books urging their cult in 

 a way that, considering the mission of the 

 societies, is decidedly intemperate. Follow- 

 ing their example we shall have forced 

 upon us by ignorant school boards pleas 

 for anti-vaccination. With the record of 

 a hundred thousand astrologer's almanacs 



sold in London last year and the cultured 

 city of Boston supporting astrologers and 

 clairvoyants by the score, as attested by 

 the advertising space accorded them in the 

 daily press we may look forward for text- 

 books on palmistry, astrology and the like 

 in the near future. Should not an effort 

 be made to formulate principles which 

 underlie phenomena? Quetelet insisted 

 upon the value of large numbers whether 

 in measurements or statistics. A child 

 should be made to understand the value 

 of averages, the importance of a curve. Let 

 us have a text-book on civil service reform. 

 On the hundredth anniversary of your in- 

 corporation, in 1880, one of your members, 

 Mr. Snowden, Chief of the United States 

 Mint, made an admirable address on the 

 necessity of civil service. This was 

 buried in the records of that great meeting. 

 Consider how graphically the principles he 

 urged could be placed before the grammar 

 school classes. Such an exposition would 

 be prefaced by the great principle of 

 natural selection with its fascinating illus- 

 trations from the animal kingdom. The 

 economy of civil service could be shown in 

 that we directly select the fittest without 

 first killing nine tenths of the population. 

 It would not be amiss to show how near 

 we are to the barbarian in many ways, in 

 that we do not profit by example. We 

 contemplate with delight the perfectly 

 governed cities of Birmingham and Berlin, 

 we see the great reduction in the death rate 

 by the introduction of pure water in 

 Munich and in ten great cities of Great 

 Britain, yet, with an equally intelligent 

 population in our country, consider the 

 management of some of our great cities in 

 these matters. 



In some way should be brought to the 

 comprehension of the masses the relation 

 of quantity and quality. I have elsewhere 

 called attention to the absurd contrasts 

 often made in the public press to illustrate 



