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SCIENCE. 



SCIENCE: 



A Weekly Record of Scientific 

 Progress. 



JOHN MICHELS, Editor. 



Published at 



229 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 



P. O. Box 3838. 



SATURDAY, JULY 17, 1880. 



To Correspondents. 



All communications should be addressed to the Editor — Box 3838, P. 

 O.. New York — with name and address of writer, not necessarily for pub- 

 lication without consent. 



Scientific papers and correspondence intended for publication, should be 

 written legibly on one side only of the paper. Articles thus received will 

 be returned when found unsuitable for the Journal. 



Those engaged in Scientific Research are invited to make this Journal 

 the medium of recording their work, and facilities will be extended to 

 those desirous of publishing original communications possessing merit. 



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 furnished must be signed by the Secretaries. 



Both questions and answers in " Notes and Queries " should be made 

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 may »e written in the form of an article. 



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CO-OPERATION IN SCIENCE. 



At this season of rest and recreation, naturalists are 

 now wandering on many a hill and dale or upon the 

 breezy shore, intent on collecting specimens which shall 

 employ their leisure hours in the Autumn and coming 

 Winter. From the close precincts of a city, who 

 would not be free and join the little band, who with 

 nets, bottles, corks and pins, are now seeking things 

 bright and rare, which Nature has so lavishly scattered, 

 and yet with such a cunning hand, that even the 

 search and gathering affords delight to those who dili- 

 gently seek. 



The number of collectors is steadily increasing, but 

 when we contemplate the immense ground to be cov- 

 ered, the necessity for increasing the force becomes but 

 too apparent. Not only have the depths of mighty 

 oceans to be explored, and the bottom of great seas 

 investigated ; but also tiny denizens of little rock pools 

 must be described and classified. The surface of the 



earth might seem too immense to be minutely 

 examined by the naturalist, but still he has to 

 descend many hundred feet into the bowels of the 

 earth to there find records of past life, so as to com- 

 plete the great catalogue of Nature's works. 



Earth, air, and water have thus to be surveyed, and 

 still another world of life and form which is invisible 

 to the natural vision of man. These microscopic 

 forms are not to be neglected, for they decimate popu- 

 lations and destroy the industry of nations, and are so 

 numerous, that the accumulation of their countless 

 numbers rear up mighty ranges of mountains. 



With such a work before collectors who are hope- 

 fully struggling to add to our garner of a knowl- 

 edge of Nature, who cannot desire that their number 

 may be increased. Yet how easily it might be done. 

 From the fact that some of our best collectors are 

 not scientific men, it would seem that a convenient 

 division of labor is here suggested, namely : the ama- 

 teur who collects, and the scientist who describes and 

 classifies. Some men possess special qualifications for 

 collecting, they discover localities which others would 

 never dream of, and they have a happy knack of 

 always finding what they are in search of. Such ex- 

 pertness may be largely due to constant practice, but 

 the professional scientist finds himself tied to his 

 study and laboratory, and has no time for these con- 

 stant perambulations ; he must therefore largely rely 

 on the amateur collector for his material, as the latter 

 must depend on him, for his technical and scientific 

 knowledge. 



If therefore, there are two classes who are depend- 

 ent upon each other for the extension of a great and 

 valuable work, let that co-operation be more distinctly 

 recognized and accepted, for such is far from being 

 the case at the present time, particularly in the United 

 States, where of all places it might be expected to 

 thrive. 



One of the best means of organizing an efficient 

 corps of amateur workers, is the establishment of local 

 scientific societies, and the circulation of moderate 

 priced but strictly first-class scientific journals. 



In Europe, and especially England, scientific 

 societies, chiefly supported by amateurs, are now doing 

 excellent work ; but in the United States (with a few 

 exceptions) they drag on a miserable existence of 

 poverty and inutility. What is the cause of this ? 

 Simply a want of co-operation between the amateur 

 and professional scientist, and a due regard for each 

 other's position. 



To be effective, the officers and council of a scien- 

 tific society should be taken from the best professional 

 scientists in the neighborhood — men able to command 

 and organize the work of the society, and give a 



