464 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



itself. If a purpose really worthy has prompted to union, if, 

 avoiding faction, the best men have been put at the head, there is 

 no reason why attractive and profitable meetings should not be 

 held. On success here largely turns the success of the organi- 

 zation, for meetings should not only interest the membership, 

 but also the general public from whom support is sought, from 

 among whom recruits for active service must come. The judi- 

 cious management of such gatherings is therefore a matter of 

 some moment, and it well deserves more attention than it com- 

 monly receives. 



Of scientific bodies in the United States, one of the oldest and 

 in many respects the most typical is the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science, whose meetings in the main 

 have been the most popular scientific assemblies held in this 

 country. The association has suffered severely, and inevitably, 

 by the establishment of many societies for the prosecution of 

 branches of science, electrical, engineering, and what not, which 

 scarcely had a name at the time of the association's nativity, fifty- 

 three years ago. Then, too, the formation of the National Acad- 

 emy of Sciences has drawn off certain of the veterans who fail to 

 recognize the claims of the association on their allegiance, who 

 neglect the opportunity the association affords to repeat the last 

 word of discovery to the people. A wide variety of societies for 

 the promotion of this aim or the suppression of that evil have 

 done well to follow the association's lead in one or two directions. 

 First, in hospitality to all in sympathy with the object sought to 

 be furthered, without asking the candidate for membership what 

 he knows or what he has done. Of course, societies for advanced 

 study, such as the Societies of Morphologists and Anatomists, can 

 not set before everybody this open door, but bodies for work less 

 specialized find their account in creating honorary or associate 

 memberships which broaden their foundations in public sym- 

 pathy and support ; especially is this result desirable where the 

 research promoted is, let us say, astronomical, and bears in the 

 market-place no price. 



The American Association, too, has set a good example in mi 

 grating from place to place year by year, so as to kindle the 

 widest possible interest. To cite a case where visits of this kind 

 have borne fruit, Montreal has within the past ten years been 

 enriched by benefactions for education which give her rank with 

 the most highly favored cities of the continent. These founda- 

 tions, and the local response to the opportunities they offer, are in 

 no small measure traceable to the important scientific meetings 

 held since 1881 in the Canadian metropolis. In Canada, as in the 

 United States, there is much sound sentiment regarding the fast- 

 disappearing woodland wealth. This sentiment is largely to be 



