1886. ] Editors’ Table. 141 
well known, that all the knowledge taught in the schools is the 
product of original research, and that all books of any value in 
libraries, excepting works of the imagination, are derived from the 
same source. Hence, it appears that the absence of schools of 
research is a phenomenon for which it is difficult to account. 
There are some schools of this kind which cover a limited part of 
the field of knowledge, such as the summer schools of biology on 
the coast; and there are some museums where a limited amount of 
research is conducted, as much as their financial and intellectual 
resources permit. But these institutions are either so limited in 
means, or so completely under the control of non-investigators, 
that they are ineffective at present, or offer rto prospect of pro- 
gression in the future. 
If any public-spirited citizen desires to erect for himself a unique 
and enduring monument, such can not be more effectively and 
usefully done than by the endowment of an Academy of Original 
Research. Such an institution would be a perpetual spring and 
source of knowledge and truth, and a living “nucleus” in the 
great organic body of society. 
An institution which should cover most of the ground might be 
organized on the following basis: Six departments might be 
established, namely: 1, Astronomy; 2, Physics; 3, Chemistry; 
4, Geology; 5, Vegetable Biology; 6, Animal Biology. For 
each of these departments the annual expenses would be as 
follows : 
For salary of director $3,500 
For salary of assistant . 1,000 
For material (apparatus and specimens) 3,500 
For books 500 
which is, for the six departments, $51,000. Then there should 
be $7,000 per annum for publications, leaving $2,000 for janitor and 
other necessary expenses. The total income of $60,000 represents 
an endowment of $1,000,000. Of course, the details might be 
varied according to probable necessities, etc. And for a smaller 
endowment, fewer departments might be created, but not without 
Seriously crippling the institution. Various details, such as the 
boundaries of the departments, the duties of assistants, etc., would 
have to be fixed. A certain number of lectures should be given 
by the directors, which should serve as an index of the charac- 
teristics of the workers and their work. | 
