Decembee 24, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



885 



stricken out, receiving for the stroke an- 

 other payment of five dollars. That is all. 

 It is not known that the state has in any- 

 other way recognized the existence of the 

 academy. 



In nearly all enlightened countries there 

 is an organized body of scientific men, ex- 

 isting under a charter which gives it at 

 least a quasi-official standing and the scien- 

 tific knowledge or technical skill of its mem- 

 bers is assumed to be at the service of the 

 government whenever in legislative, admin- 

 istrative or judicial proceedings scientific 

 problems are encountered. In England 

 there is the Royal Society; in France the 

 Academic Franeaise; in Italy the Reale 

 Accademia dei Lincei — the "Royal Acad- 

 emy of the Lynx" — of which Galileo and 

 Colonna were early members, and in the 

 United States we have the National Acad- 

 emy of Sciences, which, though not yet 

 utilized by the national government as com- 

 pletely as would be desirable, has furnished 

 the material on which some of the most im- 

 portant and far-reaching legislation of Con- 

 gress rests. By the terms of its charter the 

 government may call upon the academy to 

 "investigate, examine, experiment and re- 

 port upon any subject of science or art." 

 The actual expense of such service is to be 

 paid by the government, but members re- 

 ceive no compensation. In some states of 

 the union in which there are chartered 

 academies of science a similar relation ex- 

 ists and state governments have greatly 

 benefited thereby, but in Ohio the state gov- 

 ernment has never yet asked its academy to 

 "investigate, examine and report" upon 

 any subject of science or art. This appar- 

 ent lack of appreciation of the merits of 

 the academy and the possibilities of its use- 

 fulness must be attributed to an indiffer- 

 ence or ignorance on the part of state offi- 

 cials for which the members themselves 

 may be largely responsible. Believing that 



it has thiis far failed in this, one of its most 

 important functions, I shall dwell a little 

 on what I conceive should be its proper re- 

 lation to the state in this respect. 



I would have the academy act, through 

 its properly constituted committees, as the 

 adviser and counsellor of the state in all 

 matters relating to science or the arts. The 

 necessity for such advice and counsel is be- 

 coming more and more evident every year 

 because the sciences and the arts are every 

 year playing a more and more important 

 part in all things affecting the well being of 

 both the state and the people of the state. 

 Eager to secure the benefits of applied 

 science, state and municipal governments 

 as well as private individuals have been 

 guilty of wasteful extravagance in their un- 

 reasoning haste to do good to themselves 

 before they know what really is good. 

 During the past few years we have ex- 

 pended many millions of dollars in the 

 building of what we hope will prove to be 

 good roads. Bad grades, lack of drainage, 

 collapsed foundations and crumbling bricks 

 already show that in many instances we 

 shall be grievously disappointed. That the 

 greater part of the enormous loss resulting 

 from such failures might have been avoided 

 is apparent to any one possessing even a 

 slight knowledge of the principles of high- 

 way construction. 



Several years ago laws were enacted af- 

 fecting the sanitation of our dwellings and 

 public buildings, fixing in great detail the 

 methods by which connection shall be made 

 with public water supply, sewers, etc. 

 These were supposed to be in the interest 

 of the individual as well as that of the 

 community at large, as a protection against 

 the spread of disease, and the importance 

 of many of them can not be denied. But 

 within a few years it has been proved that 

 many of the restrictions put upon us by 

 our boards of health are quite useless and 



