962 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 286. 



The applications of the principles of physics 

 and chemistry to the living body, and the 

 development of the doctrine of evolution 

 awakened a lively interest, as they seemed 

 to many to controvert not only generally 

 accepted doctrines but even religion itself. 

 But as heat was converted into light, as 

 science found its due place in education and 

 in modern life and settled down to the 

 steady routine of laboratory and field, as 

 each science became technical and required 

 for economy and accuracy a special ter- 

 minology, not only was there a decrease in 

 popular interest, but the workers in one 

 department could not be expected to be 

 familiar with science as a whole. 



The American Association has naturally 

 reflected the progress of science. At the 

 meetings held at Buffalo and Burlington at 

 the close of the civil war there was an at- 

 tendance of only about seventy-five mem- 

 bers. Then the Association steadily grew 

 until the meetings at Boston (1880), Mont- 

 real (1882) and Philadelphia (1884) were 

 attended by about one thousand members. 

 A stationary condition or perhaps a decline 

 then occurred, which seems to be explained 

 by increasing specialization and decreasing 

 popular interest. These conditions are now 

 being met by an adjustment to the altered 

 environment. In 1875 separate sections 

 were organized for the physical sciences 

 and for natural history, and in 1882 nine 

 sections were established, but it was not 

 until 1893 that botany was separated from 

 zoology. In the meanwhile separate socie- 

 ties have been organized for nearly all the 

 sciences, meeting the needs of modern spe- 

 cialization. Some of these societies, not find- 

 ing a proper place in the Association, have 

 joined in a Christmas session, but others 

 have chosen the time and place of the meet- 

 ing of the American Association. At first it 

 was feared that these special societies would 

 injure the parent Association, but it was 

 found that the simultaneous meeting of the 



American Chemical Society made the sec- 

 tion for that science the strongest in the 

 Association. The many special societies 

 meeting this year in New York will prob- 

 ably bring together more men of science 

 and contribute more to the advancement of 

 science than any scientific gathering ever 

 held in America. At the same time the 

 membership of the Association will be larger 

 than it has ever been before. 



With the approval of the Council, the 

 local committee for the New York meeting 

 has confined its attention to arranging for 

 the scientiSc work of the sections. There 

 is much to be said for leaving the general 

 arrangements for the meetings in the hands 

 of a central administration and the cost 

 to the Association, and for abolishing free 

 luncheons, free excursions, etc. Mission- 

 aries may be fed on charity, but business 

 men prefer to pay their own bills. The 

 Association can no longer hope to carry 

 science to the houses of the people, at least 

 not in a city such as New York, but meets 

 to promote its own interests and the in- 

 terests of its members. The fact that these 

 interests are identical with the interests of 

 society is certainly a reason for satisfaction 

 and pride and should lead to the conduct 

 of the meeting with added dignity. 



The fact that the Association will be 

 welcomed to New York by the local mem- 

 bers rather than by the citizens of the city 

 and that the excursions will be scientific 

 rather than sight-seeing in character will 

 probably not detract from the social inter- 

 course which is one of the important func- 

 tions of such meetings. Men of science 

 wish to see and hear each other rather than 

 on-lookers and outsiders, and they are 

 competent to decide what they wish to see 

 in a city such as New York. The head- 

 quarters at the Hotel Majestic overlooking 

 Central Park, is within convenient reach 

 of Columbia University and the American 

 Museum of Natural Historj-, where the 



