168 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 344. 



eous condition. Like Dewar's work at the 

 low temperatures, it appears that a refine- 

 ment of skill will secure all elements in a 

 gaseous condition. Thus all matter, that 

 is, elemental, may exist in the three phys- 

 ical states. 



In the domain of physics, observation of 

 tihe marvelous effects of the Eontgen rays, 

 Becquerel rays, the characteristic property 

 of certain old and some recently discovered 

 elements, as barium, thorium, radium and 

 polonium, show new things undreamt of. 

 We cannot say that these discoveries, 

 praise-deserving and wonder-creating as 

 they are, will give us final proof of the 

 truth of our premise as put forth, yet they 

 do point in that direction. 



All forms of energy are interchangeable, 

 hence we have but one force, whether it ex- 

 hibit itself as heat, electrical energy, chem- 

 ical force, or what not. These new rays, 

 active and specific in their demonstration, 

 are but altered forms of the one force. Why 

 not therefore a one matter ? Having reached 

 that point we may con within reason Ost- 

 wald's dictum, that all is force, there is no 

 such thing as matter. We may well con- 

 clude by repeating the query of the elder 

 Biichner, that aberwitzig youth : " Is it a 

 duty to believe things that can not be 

 proven ? " 



Charles Baskerville. 



FOBMATIVE MUSEUM PERIOD* 

 Scientific activity developed more slowly 

 and was less encouraged in New York in 

 the earlier years of this century than in its 

 neighboring rivals Boston and Philadelphia 

 The expression of a mercantile, or more 

 harshly described as that of a money-mak- 

 ing city was early acquired, and baffled or 

 obscured the spirit of scientific research. 

 In a measure this suggestion, applied to the 

 miscellaneous avenues of enterprise and the 

 accumulation of wealth, was sensibly de- 

 ceptive. It would be quite impossible to 



stifle the incentives to the study of nature 

 in a population of nearly one million peo- 

 ple, and the limited consideration given to 

 physical, chemical and geological science 

 in the colleges, high-schools and seminaries, 

 which aroused unfailingly increased interest 

 in the objects of nature, led to their collec- 

 tion, and stimulated local societies in their 

 study and record. 



An examination of the decade immedi- 

 ately prior to the establishment of the 

 American Museum of Natural History, and 

 by implication a reference to the conditions 

 somewhat earlier, show us the formative 

 stages shaping public needs for its appear- 

 ance and public appreciation of its value. 



Philanthropic and social designs, histor- 

 ical research, theological learning, medical 

 study and literary invention were signifi- 

 cant in the more intellectual life of New 

 York City from 1830 to the date of the 

 foundation of the Museum in 1870 ; the 

 active participation in education of three 

 colleges, a normal school for women, two 

 medical schools, and numerous lesser cen- 

 ters of learning, including the invaluable 

 services of the Cooper Institute with two 

 seminaries devoted to religious instruction, 

 were distinctive evidence that New York 

 was notobliviousto theclaim of knowledge.* 

 But science in its purer forms and espe- 

 cially the study of nature in its animal and 

 vegetable life, received scant recognition in 

 the curriculse of instruction. Two socie- 

 ties, the New York Academy of Sciences, 

 later (1876) the Lyceum of Natural His- 

 tory, and the Torrey Botanical Club (1870), 

 were the guardians and shrines of the 

 scientific life of the city, and collected in a 

 compact coterie the separated enthusiasts 



* Columbia University (King's College) dates from 

 the last century (1754); the New York University 

 was opened 1831 ; the College of the City of New 

 York (Free Academy) in 1849 ; The Normal College 

 in 1855 ; Union Theological Seminary in 1836 ; General 

 in 1817. 



