1897.] A Chapter in the History of Science. 863, 
Cope covered a field as extensive as any of the three. His 
knowledge of structural details of all the classes of Vertebrates 
was probably more symmetrical than that of any of those with 
whom he is compared; his command of material was greater 
than that of any of the others; his industry was equal to 
Owen’s; in the clearness of his conceptions he was equalled 
by Huxley alone; in the skill with which he weighed dis- 
covered facts, in the aptness of his presentation of those facts, 
and in the lucid methods by which the labor of the student 
was saved and the conception of the numerous propositions 
facilitated, he was unequalled. His logical ability may have 
been less than than that of Huxley and possibly of Cuvier. 
He has been much blamed on account of the constant changes 
of his views and because he was inconsistent. Unquestion- 
ably he did change his views very often. Doubtless some of 
those changes were necessitated by too great haste in formula- 
tion and too great rashness in publication. The freedom to 
change which he exercised, and which was exercised too little 
by at least one of his predecessors, was an offset to his rash- 
ness. He exercised.a proper scientific spirit in refusing to be 
always consistent at the expense of truth. 
His reputation at present is much inferior, at least among 
the people at large, to those of the men with whom he has 
been compared. Immediate reputation depends on various 
circumstances, some of which are quite adventitious, and it is 
often long before men find their true levels. It is scarcely” 
premature to prophesy that Cope’s reputation will grow and 
that in the future history of science his place will be at least 
as large as that of any of his predecessors. 
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