752 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 99. 



onment, not stored away in our libraries. 

 Many would find life empty without its inher- 

 ited wealth of literature and of art, but the 

 function of these is as much to make us forget 

 as to make us remember. If the past could 

 not develop into a present better than itself, it 

 would ill deserve our study and imitation. 



Our ideal of a modern university is not a 

 place where the walls of the colleges crumble 

 while the dons drink their port. Eather we 

 admire William Morris, who would leave that 

 place and carry into the midst of the common 

 people the best of literature and of art. True 

 culture comes not from the elaboration of self, 

 but from the devotion of self to useful work. 

 Professor Wilson would have the modern uni- 

 versity ' a place removed, ' looking ' towards 

 heaven for the confirmation of its hope.' We 

 like to see the modern university in the midst 

 of men, looking towards earth, that it may 

 learn and teach. 



ACADEMIC FREEDOM IN RUSSIA. 



We referred recently to the enforced retire- 

 ment of Prof. Erismann (Jerismann) from the 

 University of Moscow. The Eussian corre- 

 spondep> of the Lancet gives some details from 

 which we may quote. 



The facts are briefly as follows : Political dis- 

 affection, or rather dissatisfaction with the pres- 

 ent regime in Eussia, with its anomalies and not- 

 infrequent injustices, is not rarely met with 

 among the students of Eussian universities. 

 Wherever it is met with it is put down with a 

 very stern hand. Sometimes, however, it hap- 

 pens that the not unnatural aspirations of the 

 students find sympathy and support from the 

 professors. This was the case two years ago 

 in the University of Moscow. A petition was 

 at that time drawn up and signed by forty -two 

 of the University professors and then presented 

 to the authorities. The petition drew attention 

 to certain wrongs suffered by the students, to 

 the harmfulness of the system of so-called ' ad- 

 ministrative exile ' (that is to say, exile for po- 

 litical opinions without any reasons being given 

 for the exile and without opportunity of appeal 

 from the sentence), and to the fact that the 

 present University Court, or governing body of 

 the University, which is appointed entirely by 



the government and not elected by the profess- 

 ors, cannot in all cases be just to the students. 

 The only result of this petition was a formal 

 censure, from the government, of all the forty- 

 two professors who had signed it and a severe 

 reprimand to four, of whom Prof. Erismann 

 was one. The reasons of Prof. Erismann' s en- 

 forced resignation of his chair are not at present 

 publicly known, but there is little cause to 

 doubt that the incident just narrated — or, 

 rather, the ' liberal ' leanings of Prof. Eris- 

 mann, of which the incident was, perhaps, one 

 out of many proofs — were the real reasons. 

 This explanation, which is the one most gen- 

 erally accepted, is further supported by the 

 rumor that two of the other three professors 

 who were reprimanded at that time have also 

 been requested to resign their chairs. The cir- 

 cumstances of Prof. Erismann' s resignation 

 were the following : It is the custom of the 

 Russian government every summer to send a 

 certain number of professors to foreign coun- 

 tries to study foreign methods and systems and 

 so to keep in touch with the progress made in 

 other countries. Among those sent this sum- 

 mer was Prof. Erismann. He visited Berlin 

 and then went to Switzerland. While there he 

 was oflicially informed that his services in the 

 chair of hygiene were no longer needed, the 

 retirement to date from July 1st. No reasons 

 were given, but three days were allowed during 

 which a voluntary resignation would be ac- 

 cepted. 



Prof. Erismann is eminent for his contribu- 

 tions to hygiene and the study of epidemics, 

 and had organized and equipped fine labora- 

 tories of pathology and hygiene in the Univer- 

 sity of Moscow. He was president of the re- 

 cent Eussian Pirogoff* Congress, and was to have 

 been general secretary of the International 

 Congress to be held in Moscow next year. 



SYSTEMATIC ZOOLOGY. 



The editor-in-chief of the American Naturalist 

 is a distinguished representative of the union 

 of extensive research in systematic paleontology 

 and zoology combined with wide biological and 

 philosophical interests. We quote from an edi- 

 torial article in the Naturalist an answer to cer- 

 tain captious criticisms of those engaged in the 



