March 6, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



377 



or lofty laboratory shelf, from which they 

 are never recovered. Such loss should be 

 prevented, and at this point the museum 

 comes forward and offers to care properly 

 for these materials. 



To do this effectively, however, there 

 must be genuine cooperation on the part 

 of the investigators. Such material is not 

 worth storage or arrangement unless ac- 

 companied by descriptive notes, notes so 

 complete that by the aid of them the ma- 

 terial may become really useful to a second 

 person. The museum can offer the oppor- 

 tunity, but the acceptance of this by the 

 investigator implies also the obligation we 

 have named, and it will be of interest for 

 Tis, in the course of years, to observe how 

 far the obligation will be met. Such is my 

 second example, and it completes the in- 

 stances which I desired to present. 



Before closing, however, allow me to 

 reenforce the general statement that aside 

 from the obvious occasions for simple co- 

 operation, which in a measure take care of 

 themselves, there also exist between in- 

 vestigators more complex relations which 

 offer special opportunities for cooperative 

 treatment. The examples given have been 

 selected as illustrations of such opportuni- 

 ties, and indicate how some of these may be 

 utilized not only for the general advance- 

 ment of biological research, but also for 

 the stimulation and assistance of the indi- 

 vidual biologist. 



Henry H. Donaldson 



Agitation in favor of cooperation and 

 coordination in scientific research has been 

 noticeable in recent years in many depart- 

 ments of science. It seems quite possible 

 that the importance of cooperation and 

 combination of effort has been borne in 

 upon us by recent demonstrations of the 

 effectiveness of such movements in indus- 

 trial enterprises. However this may be, 

 it is safe to assert that the general idea has 



come to the front repeatedly of late years, 

 and it is probable that as an outcome of 

 the discussions aroused some definite at- 

 tempts will be made to utilize this principle 

 more fully than has been done heretofore 

 in the advancement of science. Indica- 

 tions of such an effort may be seen in 

 astronomy in the organization effected for 

 the preparation of an astrographic chart, 

 and in the successful establishment of the 

 International Union for Cooperation in 

 Solar Research. As a matter of history, 

 we are all aware that the idea is not a new 

 one in science. This fact has been espe- 

 cially emphasized by Merz in his valuable 

 book upon "The History of European 

 Thought in the Nineteenth Century." He 

 states that cooperation formed the under- 

 lying principle upon which the great acad- 

 emies and scientific societies of Europe 

 were based. In the organization of the 

 Academie des Sciences, particularly, the 

 idea was kept clearly in mind, and, indeed, 

 was most successfully applied in various 

 important pieces of work, such as the meas- 

 urement of arcs of the meridian and the 

 determination of the variations of gravity 

 in different latitudes. We may believe, in 

 fact, that the recognition of the value to be 

 derived from combined effort on the part 

 of those interested in a common pursuit 

 explains the existence of such societies as 

 this which we are attending to-day. No 

 one probably is disposed to doubt the im- 

 portance of cooperation when the term is 

 interpreted in a broad way, but if we give 

 it a narrower connotation in the sense of 

 an intensive combination of the scattered 

 energies of many workers there is, perhaps, 

 room for differences of opinion in regard 

 to its value. The point for discussion, as it 

 presents itself to my mind, is whether or 

 not it is desirable and feasible in the actual 

 work of investigation to seek for an in- 

 telligent coordination of the activities of 

 numerous individuals, and to attempt to 



