228 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVI. No. 403 



performance of this duty cannot, therefore, be easily avoided 

 Tby one who has been honored by his fellow-members in be- 

 ing called upon to preside over the deliberations of this asso- 

 ciation ; nor can it be lightly disposed of, when one realizes 

 the importance of the occasion, and recalls the long list of 

 his distinguished predecessors, each of whom in his turn has 

 brought to this hour at least a small measure of the work of 

 a lifetime devoted to the interests of science. 



The occasion is one which offers an opportunity and im- 

 poses an obligation. The opportunity is in many ways 

 unique, and the obligation is correspondingly great. In the 

 delivery of this address, the retiring president usually finds 

 liimselt in the presence of a goodly number of intelligent 

 people, representatives of the general public, who, knowing 

 something of the results of scientific investigation, have 

 little idea of its methods, and whose interest in our proceed- 

 ings, while entirely cordial and friendly, is often born of 

 curiosity rather than a full appreciation of their value and 

 importance. Mingled with them are the members and fel- 

 lows of the association, who have come to the annual gath- 

 ering laden with the products of many fields which they 

 have industriously cultivated during the year, eacli ready to 

 submit his contribution to the inspection and criticism of his 

 comrades, and all hoping to add in some degree to the sum- 

 total of human knowledge. 



The united presence of these two classes intensifies the 

 interest which naturally attaches to an occasion like this, 

 and not unnaturally suggests that a brief consideration of 

 the relations which do exist, and which should exist, be- 

 tween them may afford a profitable occupation for us this 

 ^evening. 



In the beginning it may be truthfully affirmed that no 

 other single agency has done as much to establish these re- 

 lations on a proper basis as the American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science. In the first article of its con- 

 stitution the objects of the association are defined as follows: 

 " By periodical and migratory meetings, to promote inter- 

 course between those who are cultivating science in different 

 parts of the United States, to give a stronger and more gen- 

 eral impulse and a more systematic direction to scientific re- 

 search iTi our country, and to procure for the labors of sci- 

 ■entific men increased facilities and a wider usefulness." So 

 perfectly do these words embody the spirit of the associafion, 

 that, when more than thirty years later the constitution was 

 thoroughly revised, none better could be found to give it ex- 

 pression. That it has been successful in promoting inter- 

 course between those who are cultivating science in different 

 parts of the United States, may be proved by the testimony 

 -of thousands who have come to know each other through 

 attendance at its meetings. In a country whose geographi- 

 cal limits are so extensive as ours, and whose scientific men 

 are so widely scattered, it is difficult to overestimate its value 

 in this particular. 



In giving a stronger and more general impulse and a more 

 systematic direction to scientific research in our country, it 

 has been singularly fortunate. Its meetings have been the 

 means of disseminating proper methods of investigation and 

 study throughout the land. Hundreds of young students, 

 enthusiastic but often not well trained, have found tliem- 

 selves welcome (sometimes to their own astonishment), and 

 by its infl-uence and encouragement have been moulded and 



guided in the utilization of their endowments, occasionally 

 exceptional, to the end that they have finally won a fame 

 and renown which must always be treasured by the associa- 

 tion as among its richest possessions. Wherever its migra- 

 tory meetings have been held, the pulse of intelligence has 

 been quickened, local institutions have been encouraged and 

 strengthened, or created where they did not before exist, and 

 men of science have been brought into closer relations with 

 an intelligent public. 



But it is in relation to the last of the three great objects 

 to accomplish which the association was otganized, — namely, 

 "to procure for the labors of scientific men increased facili- 

 ties and a wider usefulness," — that it has been, on the 

 whole, less successful. It is true that when we look at the 

 history of science in America during the past fifty years; 

 when we see at every point evidences of public appreciation, 

 or at least appropriation of scientific discovery; and, most 

 of all, when we observe the enlargement of older institutions 

 of learning to make room for instruction in science, and the 

 generous donations to found new technical and scientific 

 schools, together with an occasional endowment of research, 

 pure and simple, — in view of all these, I say, we are almost 

 constrained to believe that scientific men have only to ask, 

 that their facilities may be increased, and that their labors 

 could hardly have a wider usefulness. 



Unfortunately this pleasing picture is not a true reflection 

 of the actual condition of things. The attentive observer 

 cannot fail to discover that the relation between men of sci- 

 ence and the general public is not what it should be in the 

 best interests of either or both. In assemblages of the 

 former it is common to hear complaints of a lack of appre- 

 ciation and proper support on the part of the latter, from 

 whom, in turn, occasionally comes an expression of indiffer- 

 ence, now and then tinctured with contempt for men who 

 devote their lives and energies to study and re.search, the re- 

 sults of which cannot always be readily converted into real 

 estate or other forms of taxable property. It cannot be de- 

 nied that the man of science is at some disadvantage as com- 

 pared with his neighbor, the successful lawyer or physician, 

 when it comes to that distribution of confidence with re- 

 sponsibility which usually exists in any well-ordered com- 

 munity, although the latter may possess but a fraction of 

 the intellectual power and sound judgment which he can 

 command. To his credit it may be said that he is usually 

 considered to be a harmless creature, and to render him as- 

 sistance and encouragement is generally regarded as a vir- 

 tue. The fact of his knowing much about things which do 

 not greatly concern the g'eneral public is accepted as proof 

 that he knows little of matters which seriously affect the 

 public welfare. 



It is true that when the public is driven to extremities it 

 sometimes voluntarily calls upon the man of science, and in 

 this emergency it is often unpleasantly confronted with the 

 fact that it does not know where to find hirn. The scientific 

 dilettante, or, worse, the charlatan, is often much nearer 

 the public than the genuine man of science; and the inabil- 

 ity to discriminate sometimes results in disaster in which 

 both science and the public suffer. 



In venturing to suggest some possible remedies for this 

 condition of things, it will he logical, if not important, to 

 roughly define the two classes under consideration, — th«» 



