136 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. IX., No. 210 



more ample description with figures of these interest- 

 ing parasites or commensals. 



EoBT. E. C. Steakns. 

 U. S. nat. mus., Washington, Feb. 2. 



National prosperity. 



My attention has been called to the comments of 

 Mr. C. H. Leete upon my January article in the 

 Century magazine. Mr. Leete objects to making the 

 year 1865 a basis for the comparison of progress. 

 The details of each year were given, and he could 

 choose for himself any year in the series from which 

 to date progress. Perhaps it may be interesting to 

 submit the enclosed more ample table, showing prog- 

 ress from 1870 up to the present date. In respect to 

 cotton, the ante-war crops are given as well as the 

 post-war crops. The gain subsequent to the war, as 

 compared to the twenty-one years previous to the 

 war, has been much greater than before, for the 

 reason that for every cent per pound added to the 

 price of cotton under the slave system, $100 was 



property insured against loss by fire, they represent 

 the progress of the million in the means of common 

 welfare rather than of the millionnaire in personal 

 wealth ; and that they give testimony to the benefi- 

 cent law of progress from, poverty. 



Edward Atkinson. 

 Boston, Pet). 7. 



Youthfulness in science. 



Your artice upon ' Youthfulness in science ' (^Sci- 

 ence, ix. No. 209) illustrates a most radical defect in 

 our educational system. It does not seem to be the 

 chief purpose to incite the student to weigh evidence 

 and secure accurate knowledge, prizing above every 

 thing the ability to form correct judgments in regard 

 to the significance of observed facts. It is not even 

 assumed that he can have any other feeling in his 

 studies than a selfish desire for personal renown or 

 advancement, respect for or love of truth and knowl- 

 edge for their own sake being entirely out of the 

 case. Instead of being tatight to profit by criticism, 



Per centum, of gain in population, production, wealth, and savings, 1870 to 1885, and on some items to 1886. 

 To 

 1885. 



1885: 



1886, 



population 48 ' 



production of grain 85 > 



consumption of cotton 86 ■ 



consumption of wool 88 ' 



production of hay 100 ■ 



deposits in savings banks of Massachusetts 102 ■ 



production of cotton 108 ■ 



deposits in savings banks of Massachusetts 115 - 



production of iron 143 ■ 



insurance of property against loss by fire 160 ■ 



miles of railroad 168 ■ 



miles of railroad 192 < 



production of iron 200 i 



added to the price of an able-bodied slave. The 

 planters could not buy labor fast enough to keep up 

 with the demand. This principle was completely 

 stated in De Bow's review ; and it was one of the 

 causes which induced the extreme pro-slavery men 

 of the south to attempt to re-open the slave-trade be- 

 fore the war. 



Mr. Leete calls attention to the retardation in the 

 gain of population since the war as compared to the 

 previous period from 1850 to 1860. It does not re- 

 quire much thought to comprehend the reason of 

 that retardation. 



Mr. Leete asks why progress and wealth may not 

 be predicated on the assessed value of real and per- 

 sonal property. I have endeavored to prove progress 

 in the accumulation of capital without including land. 

 People do not insure land against loss by. fire, only 

 property of other kinds. ^ Moreover, the census 

 figures of the past upon these points are all rubbish, 

 as every expert of the census well knows. 



It strikes me that Mr. Leete makes a good example 

 of the common saying about statistics, — that one 

 can twist the figures, if he chooses, so as to prove 

 any thing that he desires to prove. No one compre- 

 hends this better than the man who is accustomed to 

 compile statistics. The value of statistics depends 

 wholly upon the motive with which they have been 

 gathered, the purpose for which they have been com- 

 piled, and an exact regard to truth. 



In considering these relative gains, it will be ob- 

 served that they represent a constant gain in the 

 means of subsistence over population; that, with 

 the exception of the increase in personal wealth, 

 which is indicated by the increase in the amount of 



he is led to dread it. Moreover, he finds that his 

 educators, instead of admitting frankly that to err is 

 human, and that all alike must learn to profit by 

 their mistakes, are apparently most concerned in 

 seeking to maintain a reputation for infallibility by 

 contributing nothing whatever to the advancement 

 of knowledge. It is not strange that progress is 

 slow where such a spirit prevails. 



M. A. Veedek. 

 Lyons, N.Y.,"Feb. 5. 



Germ of hydrophobia. 



I have not observed in your columns a reference 

 to what appears to he an exceedingly important com- 

 munication by Professor Fol, of Geneva, to the Swiss 

 natural history society, with regard to the bacillus 

 of rabies, which he claims to have isolated. 



According to the Biologisches centralblatt (Dee. 

 51), Professor Fol finds that turpentine (even water 

 which has been shaken up with turpentine) acts as 

 an effective germicide when added to pure cultures 

 of this bacillus, and that it is even more effectual 

 than a one per cent solution of corrosive sublimate. 

 He considers, consequently, that turpentine might be 

 used as a substitute for the actual cautery in the 

 treatment of recent bites, especially in places such as 

 the face, where the cautery would produce great dis- 

 figurement. No suggestions are made as to applica- 

 tion, but if experiments on animals should justify 

 Professor Fol's view, it would be desirable to give it 

 as wide publicity as possible. 



B. Ramsat Wright. 

 Univers. coll., Toronto, Feb. 3. 



