EDITOR'S TABLE. 



841 



munities in which they may exist only 

 in lesser degree on their guard. 



Mr. Barnett has also made a few ob- 

 servations in this country. He found in 

 San Francisco a form of government " so 

 democratic as to leave hardly a griev- 

 ance for the most ardent demagogue." 

 And yet "the poor increase, and the 

 talk is as the talk of East" London about 

 starvation cases and the inadequacy of 

 the poorhouse; the demand is for laws 

 to prevent vagrancy, to reduce rents 

 and limit immigration." There is abun- 

 dant charity; the officer of the Associ- 

 ated Charities, We are told, "confessed 

 that it was impossible to control the 

 impulses of the rich men of the city ; 

 and if he complained that gifts did mis- 

 chief, the answer was, 'What is that 

 to me?"' 



In Boston there is a very perfect 

 system for the organization of charity ; 

 but when Mr. Barnett inquired whether 

 the clergy and philanthropic persons 

 made use of the records kept in the cen- 

 tral office, the answer was, " No." Here, 

 as elsewhere, "private charity is way- 

 ward and willful; gifts go as passing 

 emotion directs, institutions are created 

 which represent the fancy rather than 

 the sympathy of the creators." Then, 

 when gifts are found to be of no avail, 

 repressive legislation is resorted to — laws 

 against drinking and even cigarette- 

 smoking. The drink must be taken in 

 a perpendicular position, and the cigar- 

 ette must not be smoked by any person 

 under a certain age. Mr. Barnett's ar- 

 ticle is good reading, and as a capital 

 appendix to it we recommend the chap- 

 ters on Negative and Positive Benefi- 

 cence Mr. Spencer's last volume. The 

 philosopher is justified by every wide 

 and impartial survey of the facts. 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 

 MEETING AT MADISON. 



Expeeiexce shows the American As- 

 sociation that it can have a large at- 

 tendance at its meetings only by keep- 



ing to the main highways of travel, 

 and by choosing large cities. With the 

 World's Fair as a magnet, drawing and 

 holding hundreds of its members, the 

 association was fortunate in assembling 

 as many as it did, some two hundred 

 and ninety, at Madison. Those who 

 attended were rewarded by good papers 

 and stimulating discussions, and if the 

 sectional meetings were smaller than 

 usual, they were uncommonly earnest 

 and interesting from the absence of the 

 distractions not to be avoided when a 

 multitude gathers together. Hospital- 

 ity was hearty ; the people of Madison — 

 a city, by the way, of singular beauty — 

 with the University of Wisconsin, rev 

 newed the best traditions of the Asso- 

 ciation in manifold opportunities for 

 bringing old friends together, for pre- 

 senting beginners in science to leaders 

 grown gray in the service of truth. 



In his opening remarks President 

 William Harkness, of Washington, 

 touched on a practice of the Academy 

 of Sciences of France well worthy of 

 imitation in America — the conferring 

 membership upon those of its friends 

 who, while not themselves men of sci- 

 ence, provide financial aid for research. 

 At Nice, for example, an observatory of 

 world-wide repute has arisen as a gift 

 of Mr. Bischoffsheim, a banker, whose 

 name is rightfully enrolled beside those 

 of the astronomers whose labors he has 

 lightened and promoted. 



Evolution was the keynote in the 

 addresses of the vice-presidents in the 

 Sections of Zoology, Botany, and Eco- 

 nomics. Prof. H. F. Osborn, in sketch- 

 ing the Ascent of the Mammalia, traced 

 the succession of typical species plainly 

 derived one from another. Exploration 

 within recent years, he said, has but 

 served to confirm Prof. O. 0. Marsh's 

 demonstration of the horse's genealogy 

 through forms with which Prof. Hux- 

 ley in his American lectures has made 

 the world familiar. 



Prof. Charles E. Bessey, in his ad- 

 dress on Evolution and Classification, 



