June 3, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



847 



continiTed work and the careful mental 

 training required to continue making dis- 

 coveries in an old field, are seemingly self- 

 evident. In geographical explorations, the 

 discoverer of a new land has a virgin field 

 before him^ concerning which the most 

 trivial notes are of value. As exploration 

 progresses, however, and more and more is 

 known concerning a newly discovered land, 

 the problems to be attacked become more 

 and more difficult, require deeper thought, 

 better equipment and broader preparation 

 on the part of the would-be discoverer. 

 But old fields yield rich retiirns, even to 

 the geographer, as is shown by the con- 

 spicuous advances made in physiographic 

 studies in the older portion of America 

 during the past decade. 



The increased difficulties of discovery as 

 advances are made might be emphatically 

 illustrated by any one of the older sciences. 

 In astronomy, for example, as every one 

 knows, greater precision has demanded bet- 

 ter instruments. While the moon yielded 

 abundant returns when observed with the 

 small telescope of Galileo ; to resolve the 

 distant nebulte, measure the motions of 

 double stars and map the heavens, requires 

 instruments of vastly greater power. To 

 the work of observing and measuring, the 

 astronomer has added the study of the 

 physical condition and chemical composi- 

 tion of the matter composing the heavenly 

 bodies, measurements of the heat emitted 

 by the stars, etc., and in sever".! divisions 

 of his task assistance is had from photog- 

 raphy. The increased accuracy demanded 

 and the broadening of the scope of astron- 

 omy, particularly by the addition to it of 

 spectroscopic work, has vastly augmented 

 the expense of equipping and maintaining 

 observatories, and also demanded greater 

 and more varied preparation on the part of 

 the men who explore the realm of distant 

 space. 



The increase in the size and excellence of 



the instruments required by astronomers 

 is well known. The great observatories 

 are in sight and open to the public. The 

 beauty and costliness of the modern tele- 

 scope, so complex with its many attach- 

 ments that it might well be termed an 

 astronomical engine, are apparent even to 

 the casual observer. Both the interesting 

 methods of observation and the startling 

 results of astronomical study are described 

 from time to time in newspapers and pop- 

 ular magazines. From these and other 

 sources the growing needs of the astron- 

 omer as his work progresses are at least 

 recognized, and to a great extent appreci- 

 ated by the public, and broad-minded citi- 

 zens have in many instances contributed 

 money freely for the betterment of the 

 tools Avith which he works. 



The increase in size and in costliness of 

 astronomical instruments and the broaden- 

 ing of the scope of astronomy, are but an 

 illustration of what has taken place and is 

 increasing from day to day, in every de- 

 partment of human thought. The chemist, 

 physicist, biologist, meteorologist, geologist 

 and explorers who are following other 

 paths of learning are meeting with greater 

 and greater difficulties and are demanding 

 better facilities, in the way of laboratories, 

 collections, libraries, etc., as their work ad- 

 vances. These demands, although in many 

 instances less obvious to the public than 

 those of the astronomer, are none the less 

 pressing, and fully as important. In each 

 of these departments of research and, as 

 has been stated, in all branches of knowl- 

 edge, as advances have been made, greater, 

 and greater skill and more and more thor- 

 ough preparation are necessary on the part 

 of the persons engaged in the work. To 

 continue research and place in the hands 

 of inventors, manufacturers, teachers and 

 others still more efficient means for con- 

 ducting their tasks, it is evident that com- 

 munities, in order to reap still greater har- 



