236 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1077 



erected superstructures upon these foun- 

 dations whieh the civilized world is using 

 every minute with great advantage. And, 

 further, these structures, which are visible 

 in the daily life of the people, are the in- 

 centives which lead to the provision of 

 splendid opportunities for the extension of 

 the foundations. The value of science as a 

 factor in advancing the race depends' at 

 least as much upon the applied as upon the 

 theoretical side. There can be no durable 

 structure without the foundation, but the 

 foundation alone, possessing wonderful po- 

 tentiality, is largely a latent force. His- 

 tory confirms the view that real progress 

 in civilization is most rapid when applied 

 knowledge is not too far behind theoretical 

 knowledge. 



There is a valuable lesson in this prin- 

 ciple it seems to me, for the newly organ- 

 ized Pacific Division of the American As- 

 sociation ; and perhaps I, as a representative 

 of the most ideal of all the sciences, can 

 with propriety outline the lesson. It is a 

 fortunate thing that the astronomer, the 

 geologist, the psychologist, each regards his 

 pure science as the finest of all the sciences ; 

 it is easy to remember that medicine and 

 surgery are returning many fold the finan- 

 cial support extended to them, and that 

 agricultural science is a field of extreme 

 need and promise ; but what we should espe- 

 cially remember is this: a significant ad- 

 vance in science is not possible if the intel- 

 lectual life and the physical life of the Pa- 

 cific region people are seriously neglected. 

 "We should use the utmost endeavor to en- 

 courage the introduction of scientific 

 method into the fields, the factories, the 

 homes, the construction and care of roads, 

 the improvement of waterways, the build- 

 ing of cities. There is something which 

 every member of the Pacific Division can 

 do to carry the leaven of scientific method 

 into the life of his community. It is not 



excusable to be a pessimist, yet one can not 

 travel, one can not be thoughtful, one can 

 not be awake without seeing unscientific 

 methods prevailing on every hand. Recall 

 how often some one street in your town has 

 been torn up for repaving in the last 

 twenty-five years. Does the asphaltum on 

 all the streets in your city remain firm and 

 smooth, or does it become wrinkled and 

 bumpy under the summer sun 1 Were the 

 specifications for the asphaltum written by 

 a man of science — a real engineer — or were 

 the so-called improvements made under the 

 auspices of the politicians ? 



There are a great many problems in the 

 general government of our country, some 

 of them of extreme importance, which ought 

 to be solved along scientific lines and yet 

 are not. The friends of high protective 

 tariffs were in command of our government 

 during several decades following the civil 

 war. The friends of low tariffs, or tariffs 

 for revenue only, when placed in command, 

 made sudden reductions of considerable ex- 

 tent to meet their own views. Six years 

 ago the schedules were sent up to record 

 high levels, and four years later they were 

 sent down to record low levels. The sub- 

 jecting of business to such sudden changes 

 and strains is unscientific in the extreme. 

 "We should say in fairness that the voters do 

 not desire the schedules to fluctuate vio- 

 lently. No political party has received a 

 mandate from the people in the last thirty 

 years to revise the schedules to a new high 

 level or to an extreme low level. The un- 

 happy situation seems to be the fault of the 

 machinery of control. The problem is a 

 scientific one to which comparatively few 

 members of congress have given conscienti- 

 ous study. All of the forces of interstate 

 and international commerce are acting, not 

 simply once in four years when the admin- 

 istration changes, but monthly and con- 

 stantly. The schedules should be formu- 



