Sepikjjbeb 26, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



483 



followed should receive first attention. In 

 every branch of science is found a great 

 unknoAvn, an unexplored desert. Into 

 these regions scientific research should pene- 

 trate. 



The income of the Carnegie Institution 

 is indeed large, but small when compared 

 with the sum of private, public and gov- 

 ernmental endowments of scientific activity 

 in this country. 



It may be assumed that the Carnegie 

 fund will yield a half million dollars of 

 available money annually. This is only a 

 little more than one third of the income of 

 Harvard University ($1,416,000), although 

 the endowment of that institution is only 

 about three million dollars greater than the 

 Carnegie gift ($13,120,OOo"). 



The appropriation for the Bureau of 

 Standards for the present year is $71,060 ; 

 for the Coast and Geodetic Survey $828,- 

 525 ; for the Geological Survey $1,066,570 ; 

 and the total appropriation for the Agri- 

 culture Department is $4,488,960 not in- 

 cluding $720,000 for the agi'icultiu'al ex- 

 periment stations. 



The total income of the agricultural col- 

 leges from the Land Grant endowment 

 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901, 

 was $708,010.45, and from the direct ap- 

 propriation from the Federal Treasury 

 ($25,000 for each one) $1,200,000. These 

 colleges received from the several states 

 $3,683,162.34 and from tuition and other 

 fees $1,777,069.11, making a total income of 

 the agricultural colleges of this cotmtry 

 $7,386,241.60. The agricultural experi- 

 ment stations received during the same 

 time from the Congress of the United 

 States $720,000, and from the several states 

 and other sources $511,881.55, a total of 

 $1,231,881.55. Of all this sum, amounting 

 to $15,055,238.15, it is safe to assume that 

 fully one third is devoted exclusively to 

 scientific purposes— a sum ten times as 

 great as the total income from the Carnegie 



fund. In this total no account is taken of 

 the great endowments, public and private, 

 to foster scientific research and activity in 

 schools, colleges, universities and technical 

 institutions. 



It is seen from the above figures that the 

 trustees of the Carnegie Institution will 

 find a keen competition if they undertake 

 any line of investigations already carried on 

 under the auspices of the Government. In 

 fact, I may be permitted to say here that the 

 greatest danger,, in my opinion, which now 

 threatens the value of scientific work of 

 the Government is a plethora of available 

 funds. The best work of this kind is not 

 necessarily done with access to unlimited 

 supplies, and the res angustce which com- 

 pel a certain inventive ability to make 

 both ends meet are sometimes highly use- 

 ful in scientific research. The one mistake 

 therefore which the trustees of the Carne- 

 gie fund will be certain to avoid is the 

 granting of such bounties as will foster 

 that hebetude which springs from satiety. 

 If science should descend to the mere plane 

 of a money maker it would then be time to 

 form a trust to limit all activity and con- 

 fer the revenues upon a chosen few. But 

 that day is, happily, yet far ofP. 



It appears to me that the life of the na- 

 tion and its normal growth are the prob- 

 lems of supreme importance. Geography, 

 soil, climate and race have conspired to 

 make this nation the ruler of the world — 

 far more powerful than le Tocqueville and 

 Creasy ever imagined.* 



Wliatever our individual beliefs may be 

 oiir nation is committed to hold the first 

 place. "We are powerless in the path of 

 destiny. This means not only the polit- 

 ical hegemony which is inevitable but also 

 the physical force which that leadership 

 implies. In this direction lies a field 

 which the Carnegie trustees will find fer- 



* See battle of Saratoga in Creasy's ' Decisive 

 Battles of the World.' 



