Febeuabt 5, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



233 



grasp the hand of Lewis H. Morgan. If such 

 men only knew how good the sight of them is 

 to young and longing eyes, they would make 

 sacrifices to give so much pleasure. 



Encourage specialization. The closest affili- 

 ation of specialists and aggregation into a 

 mutually helpful cooperation are necessary to 

 the intension of a science. It can not be too 

 compact or too lively. The moment they or- 

 ganize the institutional mind is born. 



But to the special societies let me say that 

 the beau ideal of learning is to know all about 

 some and some about all. In your meetings 

 the infimaj species of details, instruments and 

 processes are scrutinized and discussed; but 

 in your family gatherings all learn the re- 

 sults of the tedious labors of each. You ac- 

 quire the ability to read or listen intelligently. 

 Let me illustrate great things by small : There 

 is an old man in one of the dependencies of 

 the Smithsonian who was engaged to write 

 up the textile arts of the American aborigines. 

 Through its many agencies he was furnished 

 with overwhelming material from the whole 

 area between Point Barrow and Magellan 

 Strait; between Nova Scotia and Attn Island. 

 If he had possessed seven league boots, a 

 canoe that shot past the wild geese, the 

 hundred eyes of Argus Panoptes, the hands of 

 Briareus and the longevity of Methusaleh it 

 would have surpassed his powers to bring to- 

 gether so much. But no sooner had he sat 

 down among the stuff than he discovered his 

 lack of omniscience, a quality required of him 

 before taking the first step in so comprehensive 

 an industry. He must know chemistry for 

 dyestuffs, geology for horizons, geography and 

 meteorology for environments, botany thor- 

 oughly for plants, zoology for staples and im- 

 plements, ethnology for peoples, philology for 

 names, not to neglect mythology and folklore 

 for the charming symbolism. 



I will not worry you with the long list of the 

 Covilles, Merriams, Holmeses, Houghs, Ches- 

 nuts, Willoughbys, Boases, Dorseys, Mooneys 

 and more; nor of the many bureaus and 

 branches of the government that gladly put 

 themselves at his disposal; nor of the leading 

 museums, Peabody, American, Field-Colum- 

 bian, Golden Gate Park, with the rest, whose 



treasures illustrate his pages. The thing that 

 bothers him now is what name to put on the 

 title page. 



The lesson I would learn from this parable 

 is that the highest possible specialization only 

 makes the closest solidarity that much more 

 necessary. The council has my blessing and 

 best wishes and shall have my cooperation in 

 its endeavor. 0. T. Mason. 



January 19, 1904. 



SOIL WORK IN THE UNITED STATES. 



In the Beet Sugar Gazette, published on 

 December 5, 1903, on page 419 is given an 

 account of the trip of the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture through the beet sugar region of 

 Michigan. At Rochester the Secretary made 

 an address in which are found the following 

 words : 



" When I went to Washington I found that 

 we had no knowledge of the soils and I went 

 to work and organized a bureau of soils and 

 have over two hundred scientists engaged in 

 this work. I shall send a corps of soil phys- 

 icists next year to every sugar factory in 

 Michigan to examine the soils, and the infor- 

 mation which the Department of Agriculture 

 obtains is at your disposal." 



In many other public addresses the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture has given expression to 

 similar sentiments, and especially has he criti- 

 cized the colleges and universities of the 

 United States, because, as alleged, they fail to 

 train their students in such a way as to make 

 them valuable to the Department of Agricul- 

 ture. 



We all know that the Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture means well and does the best he can for 

 the interests over which he presides. Under 

 his energetic administration, the activity of 

 the Department of Agriculture has been ma- 

 terially increased, and its usefulness greatly 

 enhanced. He does not pretend to be a scien- 

 tific expert, and we must presume that his 

 ideas on scientific work are mainly the re- 

 sult of the environment in which he lives. 

 It, therefore, becomes an interesting ques- 

 tion whence has come to him the informa- 

 tion that the agricultural colleges fail to train 

 students usefully in agriculture ; that the uni- 



