596 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
declined to pay. But we can beat that record hollow. Tue New 
ZEALAND JOURNAL OF SCIENCE includes not only clergymen among its 
subscribers, but even Bishops, and among the Bishops no less than 
66 per cent. have hitherto evaded payment! This would be a huge 
joke, if it were not unfortunately true. We feel inclined to say with 
Spencer ‘that the evidence goes to show that increase of intellectual 
culture is associated with decrease of conscientiousness.” But far be 
it from us to single out any one class as specially responsible for our 
deficit. Our example only shows the extreme carelessness in money 
matters and want of consideration which are such prevalent features 
even among the class whose duty it is to lead the community in 
matters of morality. If they don’t pay their debts, who, we may ask, 
will? We are glad to say that the really scientific portion of our 
subscribers have done their part well. 
One noticeable feature in the history of the Journal has been 
that it was entirely supported by private subscription, none of the 
scientific societies aiding it to any further extent than by taking each 
a single copy. We mention this, because the Societies are themselves 
only held together by an annual parliamentary grant, barely large 
enough to meet the cost of production of the annual volume of 
Transactions. This grant has usually to be supplemented to a small 
extent by contributions levied from the affiliated societies. It was 
partly hoped in starting the Journal, that the Proceedings of the 
different societies—which are usually only of subordinate importance 
—might have been published only in our columns, which would 
thus have become the recognized mouthpiece of the Societies, and 
would thus have had the number of its subscribers much increased. 
The hope was a perfectly legitimate one, for the extra cost of 
publishing the “Transactions” —which frequently leads to the call 
upon the funds of the affiliated societies—would probably be avoided 
were the Proceedings left out. This expectation was not realized 
however. 
It has been urged by some friends to the undertaking that the 
Journal would have been a success if it had been more popular in its 
aims. Perhaps so, but in that case it would not have fulfilled its 
intentions. ‘The thing called Popular Science is an offence to the 
scientific man. The latter, if he is anything at all, is a worker, and 
he finds his pleasure and recreation, as well as his work, in following 
out some line of research. But the popular scientist—as he is 
termed—is a mortal who wants his pabulum supplied to him in very 
mild doses. Technicalities are beyond him, or he will not take the 
trouble to find out their meaning. It was never intended to meet 
the wants of such quasi-scientific people, and though a publication 
might have been issued to meet such a class, we very much doubt 
whether it would have succeeded. 
In conclusion, we hope that ere long the scientific workers of 
New Zealand will have so increased in numbers and cohesion—a 
quality rather lacking at present—as to enable them to support a 
periodical of their own, and we shall not be sorry if it perpetuates the 
title which our pages have borne. But we wish it a longer life and a 
more extended sphere of usefulness. 
MarTrHeEws, BaxtErR & Co., Printers, Dowling Street, Dunedin. 
