272 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. IV., No. 85. 



association was doubtless, all things consid- 

 ered, the most successful yet held. The 

 work done in sections was, in general, of a 

 higher order than usual ; and we are, in turn, 

 indebted to the visiting members of the British 

 association for valuable assistance in ' bring- 

 ing up the average.' Many of them presented 

 papers, and took part in the discussions which 

 now and then arose in various sections. 



The greatly inferior quantity, if not quality, 

 of the work done by our special committees, is 

 unquestionably due, to a great extent, to a 

 fact already referred to in these pages. The 

 committees of the British association are aided 

 by grants of money, as much as $7,500 being 

 allowed at the Montreal meeting. Could the 

 committees of our association obtain such 

 grants, their work would undoubtedly be vastly 

 more satisfactory. Besides, being thus re- 

 lieved from the purely mechanical drudgery of 

 the work, the feeling of responsibility would 

 be much greater, and each committee would 

 recognize the necessity of justifying its exist- 

 ence, and of showing that the money given 

 as aid had been well invested. 



On the whole, it will be admitted that the 

 British association does its work upon a higher 

 plane than that occupied by the American. 

 Its sectional work shows more that is really 

 new and of lasting value, and less that is 

 trifling ; although there has been a stead}^ and 

 healthful improvement in the character of the 

 American association during several years 

 past. It may be well to remark here, that 

 there are at least a few of the ablest and best 

 men in American science who have continued 

 to exhibit no interest in the American associa- 

 tion ; and that, if the association is not precisely 

 what the} T believe it ought to be, the fault lies 

 at their own doors. No others should or could 

 be so influential in shaping its course and 

 moulding its character. 



It may be well, however, to turn from the 

 consideration of these graver differences be- 

 tween the two associations, and notice briefly 

 some of those distinctions which are more 

 personal in their nature, between the members 

 themselves. 



Our English cousins certainly possess an 

 enviable capachYy for recognizing the amusing 

 side of affairs. At Montreal one came to ex- 

 pect pleasant little outputs of the mildest 

 humor in the midst of the profoundest scien- 

 tific dissertations. Your formula might be torn 

 to shreds by severe criticism, but your fun was 

 welcomed without examination. 



In the matter of paying compliments, and 

 moving thanks in an easy and graceful man- 

 ner, our English cousins have the advantage 

 of us. It is the almost universal custom for 

 the chairman of the section to thank the reader 

 of a paper, and often in elaborate terms. This 

 consumes a good deal of time, and it is a ques- 

 tion whether such wholesale compliment is 

 desirable. It was observed, however, that 

 the distinguished and genial presiding officer 

 of one of the sections made use of two quite 

 different formulae for expressing his appreci- 

 ation of the merits of the paper : in one case 

 hoping "that the section would join him in 



thanking Professor for his interesting 



and important communication upon this sub- 

 ject ; " and in another, "that the section would 



join him in thanking Professor 



for his 



communication upon this interesting and im- 

 portant subject." The importance of the 

 proper arrangement of words was never shown 

 to better advantage. 



The undemonstrative character of the Ameri- 

 can as compared with the Englishman was 

 exhibited in the public meetings of the two 

 associations. The American association has 

 seldom had so felicitous an address from a 

 retiring president as that of Professor Young, 

 and the probability that it was not generally 

 heard throughout the vast academy of music 

 was the only excuse for the fact that its many 

 good points failed of that recognition which 

 they so richly deserved. This failure was 

 commented upon by an Englishman in a 

 remark to the writer, that such an address 

 would have been much more frequently ap- 

 plauded in England. "We constantly inter- 

 rupt a speaker to applaud him," he said, "if 

 for no other reason than to afford him a 

 breathing-spell." 



