August 16, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



223 



have produced in the field of literature the 

 most distinguished work of an idealistic 

 tendency, and, finally, one share to the person 

 who shall have most or best promoted the 

 fraternity of nations and the abolishment or 

 diminution of standing armies and the forma- 

 tion and increase of peace congresses." 



In face of these explicit directions statutes 

 have been drawn up, apparently with the sanc- 

 tion of the King of Sweden and others high in 

 authority, providing that only sixty per cent, 

 of the income need be used for the prizes and 

 that they need be awarded only once in five 

 years. The balance of the income — except 

 perhaps in the case of the prize for the pro- 

 motion of peace, regarding which information 

 is lacking — is now used for the support of 

 certain laboratories and libraries at Stock- 

 holm. These are doubtless needed, possibly 

 more than the prizes established by Nobel, but 

 they have been founded in dishonor. The 

 clause establishing the laboratory of physics 

 and chemistry is unpleasantly disingenuous. 

 It says that it is to be " established primarily 

 for the purpose of carrying out, where the 

 respective Nobel committees shall deem, requi- 

 site, scientific investigation as to the value 

 of those discoveries in the domains of physics 

 and chemistry which shall have been proposed 

 as meriting the award of Nobel prize to their 

 authors. The institute shall, moreover, as far 

 as its means allow, promote such researches in 

 the domains of the sciences named as promise 

 to result in salient advantage." The prizes 

 have so far been awarded annually, but it is 

 to be feared that when the money is needed 

 in Sweden, it will be kept there in accordance 

 with the provision of the statutes that when 

 a prize is not awarded the money may be used 

 for funds " to promote the objects which the 

 testator ultimately had in view in making his 

 bequest in other ways than by means of 

 prizes." 



The administrators of the Nobel foundation 

 have violated the conditions of the bequest in 

 other ways which, though not so discreditable 

 as the conveying of the money to local pur- 

 poses and men, can not be regarded as justi- 

 fiable. Nobel expressly stipulates that the 

 prizes shall be awarded to those " who shall 



have contributed most materially to benefit 

 mankind during the year immediately pre- 

 ceding." The statutes hedge, as follows : " By 

 the proviso in the will to the effect that for the 

 prize competition only such works or inven- 

 tions shall be eligible as have appeared " dur- 

 ing the preceding year" is to be understood 

 that a work or invention for which a reward 

 under the terms of the will is contemplated 

 shall set forth the most modern results of 

 work being done in that of the departments, as 

 defined in the will, to which it belongs; works 

 or inventions of older standing to be taken 

 into consideration only in case their im- 

 portance has not previously been demon- 

 strated." 



In no single case has the award been made 

 for work accomplished or published during the 

 preceding year. The prizes have been given 

 to men of eminence, most of whom accom- 

 plished their important work long ago. It 

 would certainly be difficult to select each year 

 the work most beneficial to mankind, and mis- 

 takes would undoubtedly be made; but the 

 effort to make such a selection and to award 

 the prize without regard to nationality, age 

 or eminence would be a great stimulus to 

 research, far greater probably than the 

 methods adopted. But the question is not 

 which method is the better, but for what pur- 

 poses Nobel made his bequest. The terms of 

 the will have also been violated by dividing 

 the prizes and by awarding them to institu- 

 tions, and its spirit has been especially ignored 

 by giving the power of nomination and de- 

 termination chiefly to Swedes. It does not of 

 course follow that the dead hand should for- 

 ever control. But Nobel died only ten years 

 ago. He might be given his will for a little 

 while at least, and under the special circum- 

 stances of the case it would seem only just to 

 submit any provisions which proved imprac- 

 ticable or unwise to international considera- 

 tion. 



There is a certain lack of courtesy in thus 

 criticizing actions sanctioned by the Swedish 

 government and by those Swedish men of 

 science at least who are accepting gratuities 

 from the fund. Neither can we as a nation 

 regard ourselves as fit to cast stones when we 



