1897.] Editor’s Table. 211 
case now stands, it is not safe for any person to accept their statements in 
the department referred to, as truth. It is to be supposed that news- 
papers, with some conspicuous exceptions, prefer to publish the truth, 
and are fully impressed with the fact that their circulation depends 
largely on the trustworthiness of the statements which they make. 
The conspicuous announcement of false statements by newsboys may 
sell more copies on the street, but such publication can scarcely invite 
regular subscribers. We have, in previous numbers of THE NATURAL- 
Ist, selected a few cases where foreign scientific journals have been 
misled by some of the customary misstatements and fictions of the 
American press, and we regretfully allege that the only safe course for 
scientific journals to pursue is to ignore everything that proceeds from 
this source, unless it appear over some responsible signature. This 
state of affairs is regrettable, since, in many respects, American jonr- 
nalism is the best in the world. It should maintain this position by 
securing accuracy in the direction referred to. Popular interest in bi- 
ology was never greater than it is now, and a newspaper whose reports 
in this direction are reliable would certainly profit by it. This state- 
ment covers all cases, from the latest discoveries in bacteriology, paleon- 
tology, ete., down to descriptions of the habits of wild and domesticated 
animals. It would be better to publish nothing at all than the ficti- 
tious and inaccurate statements to which we are accustomed. These 
naturally diminish the respect in which the press is held, and reflect on 
our character as a people among the nations of the earth. 
—THE proposition to consolidate the scientific work done by the 
United States Government into a single bureau has been recently made. 
Such schemes are pleasing to the eye, but their practical bearing is of 
far greater importance both to the Government and to science. The 
Proposition has been opposed on good grounds, and such as should be, 
in our estimation, fatal to it. It is a good general rule not to “ put all 
one’s eggs into one basket,” when there is anything precarious about 
the basket. Moreover, it is obvious that different departments must 
ave their own scientific assistants, precisely as they have their own em- 
ployees in other directions, if their work is to go on without continual 
interruption and loss. The experience of the departments and bureaus 
with the Government printing office has been cited in proof of the evil 
effects of such consolidation. ‘The evil is becoming so apparent that it 
is now evident that the time has come for the work of that bureau to 
be restricted to congressional printing, and ‘that for departmental 
Printing each department shall have its own printing office. is 
