Febrtjaet 5, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



229 



the workers in other fields than their own. 

 The value of such gatherings is not so much 

 in listening to papers or addresses, though 

 these are often profitable, but in social inter- 

 course, coming into contact with minds not 

 cast in our own mold. It is particularly- 

 stimulating to younger men thus to meet with 

 those who have already won their spurs, and 

 is it not the duty as well as privilege of the 

 latter to give this inspiration to their younger 

 colleagues? The discovery of a man may be 

 as important as the discovery of a theory. 



How then shall such an ideal be brought to 

 pass? We have such a society, covering the 

 general field of science, the American Asso- 

 ciation; what should be its function and what 

 the character of its meetings? 



1. In its journal, for such we may call 

 Science, it is actually accomplishing much 

 to prevent narrowness in specialization. In 

 an hour each week I get a glimpse of what is 

 going on in the world of science. It seems 

 to me that no specialist can afford not to at 

 least glance through the carefully prepared 

 papers on special branches, yet of general in- 

 terest, the discussions and correspondence, the 

 reviews of literature, the current notes on spe- 

 cial sciences (would there were more of 

 them!) and the general notes and news. 



2. As regards meetings. Each society 

 should have its regular annual meeting in the 

 summer, for the presentation of papers, for 

 excursions, for study or for whatever is of 

 most value to the membei^s as specialists. Tor 

 many of the societies summer is the most fa- 

 vorable time for such purposes. These meet- 

 ings should be held by each society without 

 regard to the meetings of any other society, 

 as to either date or place. In winter there 

 should be a convocation week meeting of all 

 the scientific societies, together with the Amer- 

 ican Association. At this meeting it seems 

 to me that no papers of restricted interest 

 should be read, but rather presidential ad- 

 dresses and lectures should be given, and sec- 

 tional discussions (carefully prepared by a 

 limited number of leaders) on topics of gen- 

 eral sectional interest. No inconsiderable at- 

 tention should be devoted to the social side of 

 these annual meetings, but the time should be 



so apportioned daily that there should be no 

 conflict; that is, a certain portion of each day 

 should be set apart for each general purpose. 



All this would necessitate points of adjust- 

 ment between the sections of the American 

 Association and the various societies. The 

 functions of the sections and the societies are 

 in many respects similar, and the question 

 may well be asked, as it has been many times 

 in the past, as to whether there is a place for 

 both. Would it not be better for the asso- 

 ciation to become merely a federation of the 

 scientific societies of the country? As it is 

 at present, many members of the different so- 

 cieties attend the meetings and enjoy all the 

 privileges of the association, except holding 

 office and receiving the Proceedings of the 

 association and Science, and contribute noth- 

 ing to the treasury. Then there is always 

 more or less friction in arranging the sec- 

 tional programs where there is this dual con- 

 trol. In case of federation, with the council 

 made up, perhaps exclusively, of representa- 

 tives chosen by the societies, all this would be 

 obviated. The chief difficulty would probably 

 be arranging for the financial support of the 

 federated association. Yet this would be by 

 no means insuperable. It could be provided 

 that each member of the societies should be 

 charged the present dues of three dollars for 

 the support of the federation, receiving there- 

 for Science as now. Since the addresses 

 would be printed in Science, the Proceedings 

 could be discontinued, and a collective list of 

 members printed in addition to the lists of 

 members of each society now published. The 

 reduced expense would in the end probably 

 amount to as much as the income received 

 from initiation fees, a source of income de- 

 pendent upon growth in the association. Of 

 course, such a plan would necessitate a certain 

 amount of altruism on the part of the feder- 

 ated societies, but I can well believe a ma- 

 jority of the members of every society would 

 be willing to sacrifice something for the gen- 

 eral good of science, even outside of their own 

 specialties. 



Such a winter gathering should be held in 

 a large and easily accessible center, in order 

 to insure the largest possible attendance. Here 



