1886] _ Editors’ Table. 4! 
The proposition to create an Academy of Sciences of the 
State of Indiana, suggests some reflections as to the future of such 
bodies in the United States. It has appeared to us desirable that 
each State should have, at some future time, its academy of 
sciences, but we have refrained from enlarging on the topic, since 
it is plain that, as regards the greater number of States, the time 
has not yet arrived. But Indiana now comes to the front, and if 
she succeeds in establishing a real academy of sciences, she will 
hold the place of honor in our history. There is no doubt that 
among the men of her leading schools, her geological surveys, 
etc., she has the material for the organization of such a body. In 
most of the States there is no material out of which to make an 
academy of sciences, and in none is there much material. 
Of course all are agreed that merit only shall be the test of 
membership in such a body; but all are not agreed as to what 
the test of merit ought to be. There can, however, be but one 
test, and that is the one which has been adopted in the old coun- 
tries, and by our own National Academy in recent years, and that 
is the test of meritorious work done. It may be that this is an im- 
perfect guide to the merits of some men, but it is the best we 
have, and the one open to the fewest objections. Moreover the 
estimation of the merit of work done should be guided by the 
attribute of quality rather than of quantity, and chiefly by the 
quality of originality or novelty. There are many meritorious 
compilations, but the best of them stand in the second rank o 
merit. The first rank is held by thé discovery of new truths. As 
the amount of truth yet to be learned far exceeds that which has 
been acquired hitherto, its discovery is the business of the scien- 
tific man. Since the truths that lie at the foundation of a major- 
ity of phenomena are yet unknown, the work of compilation had- 
better be left to those who for any cause whatever are incapable 
of original research. 
In the first organization of an academy of sciences, the seeds 
of its future success or failure are sown. The admission of per- 
sons to membership who regard science as a mere ornament, or 
amusement, will vitiate its future life. Still more will the entrance 
into its councils of persons who regard membership merely as a 
step to personal advancement. In many portions of this country, 
especially in some regions where intelligance is not wanting, the 
fact of the specialization of men’s abilities is not sufficiently ad- 
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