a 
_ ink have been wasted over the attempts to reconcile two 
nothing very surprising in this. In the case of two sci 
lieve that the one has been pillaging from the other. 
In the case of the discovery of vaccination, no serious 
"ever arose, and Jenner stands out alone without challenge 
pute. The same can be said with regard to the z 
122 The American Naturalist. 
EDITORIAL. 
EDITORS, E. D. COPE AND J. S. KINGSLEY. 
Now that the first excitement regarding the new remedy for 
tuberculosis has subsided, the time seems opportune to — 
glance back at the events of the past eighteen months, which | 
have proved rich in scientific research in relation to the tubercle — 
bacillus, and to place on record, not only for our own satis : 
tion, or even for those more immediately concerned, but espe 
for the benefit of succeeding generations, the announcements 
have been made public from time to time in regard to that 
crobe, and the means that have been discovered for combati its ; 
ravages on the animal economy. ; : 
The endless and often embittered controversies which f 9) 
stantly occupy the literary world almost invariably arise from 
fact that no plain contemporaneous record was made at the tir 
which would have placed the question beyond the range of argu- 
ment. To cite a case in point, the circumstances surroundin the 
sale by Oliver Goldsmith of the “ Vicar of Wakefield” have provee 
an inexhaustible field for conjecture and surmise, and gall 
ently conflicting accounts of that transaction. 
In almost all cases of discovery there are rival clai 
some instances, where the evidence seemed most coniiich 
has been afterwards proved beyond question that the same 
has come to two workers, hundreds of miles apart, at. ; 
identical moments. A little consideration will. show tha Me eis 
pursuing an investigation on similar lines and with x : 
goal in view, it is perfectly possible for them to hit upon ©” 
conclusion at nearly the same time, and for both of them 
4. 
$ 
