March 18, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



463 



and a representative number were present at 

 an informal dinner arranged for the evening. 

 Tlie next meeting of the Mathematical So- 

 ciety will be held at Columbia University on 

 April 30. The Chicago Section will meet at 

 jSTorthwestern University, Evanston, 111., on 

 April 2. The San Francisco Section will meet 

 at Stanford University on April 30. 



F. N. Cole, 

 Secretary. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



CONVOCATION WEEK. 



The present multiplicity of scientific so- 

 cieties appears to have its origin in four 

 conditions : (1) in adaptation to the present 

 differentiating or specializing tendency in 

 science; (2) in adaptation to the magnificent 

 distances in this country; (3) in historical 

 peculiarities of origin, notably the former ex- 

 istence of both summer and winter meetings, 

 and (4) in sundry failings of human nature. 

 In so far as this multiplicity is due to the 

 first condition, it is inevitable, if not actually 

 desirable; in so far as it is due to the second, 

 it is necessary; in so far as it is due to the 

 third, it is susceptible to an appeal to reason 

 and public spirit; while as to the fourth, it 

 must be allowed for in any plans for improve- 

 ment of existing conditions. The other ex- 

 treme from the present multiplicity, viz., con- 

 solidation into a single great many-sectioned 

 society, seems to me, for the above reasons, 

 not only impracticable, but highly undesirable. 

 There is no real analogy between the condi- 

 tions of scientific progress, which depends 

 much upon individualism and little on organ- 

 ization, and the conditions of a great business 

 where organization is in itself of prime im- 

 portance; and it is a mistake to suppose that 

 the benefits of consolidation would be as great 

 in the one case as in the other. The real task 

 before us, I believe, is to seek and to achieve 

 that optimum in number and kinds of socie- 

 ties which lies somewhere between the present 

 uneconomical maximum and the unattainable 

 and undesirable minimum of a single society. 



Some of the essential conditions of this 

 optimum seem to me these. It must provide 

 for yearly meetings in each of the great 



natural divisions of the country, the eastern, 

 central, (and ultimately-) western and Pacific 

 sections; for, so great are the distances, and 

 so high the cost in money, time and effort 

 required to cover them at the midwinter 

 season, that a far greater aggregate attend- 

 ance on scientific meetings, with the result- 

 ant benefits, will be secured by this system 

 than can possibly be attained by any single 

 meeting, however central. Furthermore, it is 

 a mistake to suppose that the biggest meetings 

 are, other things being equal, necessarily the 

 best; there is much to be said for the greater 

 profit, as well as pleasure, of smaller meetings. 

 While, of course, a single great society could 

 meet in geographical divisions, it is certainly 

 wiser to utilize for this purpose the existent 

 arrangements, namely, local meetings organ- 

 ized imder the auspices of the American So- 

 ciety of Naturalists. There are other reasons, 

 also, why a second group of societies in addi- 

 tion to the American Association is desirable: 

 (1) A vigorous but friendly rivalry will be 

 distinctly advantageous, and much preferable 

 to a society monopoly, and (2) since the 

 American Association is unlimited as to 

 qualifications of membership, and must al- 

 ways have and care for a large semi-scientific 

 or popular element in its activity, there is 

 certainly a need for other societies which will 

 be strictly scientific in their membership and 

 able to conduct their affairs upon a purely 

 scientific basis. I think, therefore, it is very 

 desirable that both the American Association 

 and the American Society of Naturalists 

 should exist, the former meeting in different 

 sections of the country in different years, and 

 devoting itself to the more general aspects of 

 the sciences, and the latter forming a center 

 for the meetings of the more technical scien- 

 tific societies, and holding a meeting each 

 year in each of the great geographical divi- 

 sions of the country. The relations between 

 the two should be friendly and cooperative, 

 and that division of the American Society 

 within whose territory the American Associa- 

 tion happens to meet should always combine 

 with it in joint meetings, the other divisions 

 meeting in their own territory. It might be 

 advantageous at certain intervals, of not less 



