January 38, 1887.] 



8CIENCE. 



95 



we have found some needed work beyond their in- 

 dividual attainment. A general convention, for 

 example, could hardly be received and cared for 

 by a single chapter ; nor could a wide range of lo- 

 cal observations be properly collated and discussed 

 by the inhabitants of a single town. It has there- 

 fore been deemed wise to bring about the union 

 of all the chapters of a city or a state into more 

 extended organizations than the single chapter. 

 These confederations of chapters are called ' as- 

 semblies ; ' the two most prominent at present be- 

 ing the Philadelphia assembly, and the State 

 assembly of Iowa. 



Embracing all the little chapters, binding into 

 one the larger and more powerful assemblies, and 

 making room also for individuals when chapters 

 cannot well be formed, is our Agassiz association. 

 There are 986 chapters, about 6 actual and 40 po- 

 tential assemblies, but only one association. And 

 the influence and prosperity of each assembly can 

 be increased and perpetuated by spreading every- 

 where we go a knowledge of our local work not 

 only, and of our local organization, but also, and 

 even with more emphasis, a knowledge of our en- 

 tire association, with its broader membership and 

 its farther-reaching aims. 



Our association is not by any means great or 

 powerful. As yet it is young, it is ignorant, it is 

 weak. We have no occasion for vain-glory. Yet, 

 on the other hand, while we have no excuse for 

 vanity, neither need we feel vexation of spirit. 

 Our purposes are good, our methods right. In 

 spite of our feebleness, in the face of our igno- 

 rance, critics have been indulgent, and we have 

 been more encouraged and praised for what we 

 have tried to do than derided for our failures or 

 censured for our faults. Scientific men of highest 

 repute, men like Ramsay of England, and men 

 like Agassiz, Hyatt, Winchell, Remsen, Gould, 

 Gilman, and Scudder of America, have extended 

 to us the hand of recognition. 



The press has almost always been indulgent ; 

 and, although we have often exposed ourselves to 

 fair attacks of satire, our real desire to do honest 

 work has somehow turned the most caustic pen to 

 kindness. 



In speaking of our helpers, I should be unjust 

 if I failed to mention with renewed gratitude and 

 honor the large number of scientists who have 

 voluntarily devoted their valuable time to the 

 cheerful and patient assistance of our needs. More 

 than fifty gentlemen representing all departments 

 of science hold themselves always ready to an- 

 swer the questions that puzzle us. Thanks to 

 their benevolence, the boy who lives in the re- 

 motest and smallest village can send his bit of 

 stone or his curious beetle to one of these men, 



and learn its name and history, and, better still, 

 be taught how he may best study by himself its 

 structure and its history. Some of these profes- 

 sors have even volunteered to conduct courses of 

 study in various branches. We have had courses in 

 botany, entomology, and mineralogy. The course 

 in mineralogy recently finished by Professor Crosby 

 of Boston has been especially successful. One 

 hundred and forty-four chapters or individuals 

 took this course, and completed it not only to our 

 satisfaction, but to our surprise and delight. 



It seems at first thought difficult, if not impos- 

 sible, to suggest any general principle of study that 

 can apply to the whole association, for it is com- 

 posed of elements so diverse. 



We are of all ages, of varying capacities and 

 differing desires, living in places widely distant 

 and strangely different. Some of us pick our vio- 

 lets in June, others in January. 



But there is a common ground on which all 

 stand, — love for nature, and desire to learn. And 

 there is one principle that underlies and deter- 

 mines the methods of our study. It is this : Na- 

 ture must be studied from her own book. 



While, therefore, we do not undervalue the 

 printed records of others' work, and while we 

 ever recognize in printed books and papers neces- 

 sary and cherished guides, yet we believe that our 

 first business is to meet Nature face to face. There- 

 fore we leave the confines of the library and 

 school, and go out under the open sky, — into the 

 forest, and along the stream. 



Forgetting theory and useless wrangling, it is 

 our purpose to see things as they are, and to re- " 

 cord them as we see them. It is the business of 

 the Agassiz association to live for the triith. 



Many of those who first joined our ranks are 

 growing out of childhood into manhood and wo- 

 manhood. Many adult chapters, too, are forming ; 

 and perhaps to-day one-quarter of our total mem- 

 bership may be over twenty years of age. What 

 can we do for this increasing class ? In the first 

 place, we can give them the opportunity to help 

 the younger, even as they themselves have been 

 helped while young. It is to them, the scientists 

 of the future, that we must soon look for special 

 help, instruction, and guidance. Meanwhile we 

 need them still among us to encourage us by their 

 example, and to aid us by their work. And we 

 want to help them too. We must provide higher 

 courses of study, — discover the best books for 

 students more advanced, and help those who need 

 it to secure the best instruction. I vras greatly 

 pleased this summer, while resting by the sea, to 

 find in the laboratory at Annisquam, among the 

 twenty-five earnest workers who were bending 

 day after day, and night after night, over the 



