January 16, 1885.] 



SCIENCE. 



51 



the character of their work, and they should be mem- 

 bers of the commission. 



2°. To approve in detail the methods of expendi- 

 ture of the appropriations. 



3°. To recommend such measures as they deem 

 necessary to the efficiency of the bureaus under their 

 supervision. It should, however, be understood that 

 this commission is not charged with purely admin- 

 istrative responsibility. It prescribes what shall be 

 done, and recommends any measures necessary to 

 secure that object, but does not concern itself with 

 administrative details. 



We submit the following as a suggestion for the 

 formation and personnel of such a commission : — 



The commission shall consist of, 1°, the president 

 of the National academy of sciences ; 2°, the secre- 

 tary of the Smithsonian institution; 3° and 4°, two 

 civilians of high scientific reputation, not otherwise 

 in the government service, to be appointed by the 

 president of the United States for the term of six 

 years; 5°, one officer of the corps of engineers of 

 the army; 6°, one professor of mathematics in the 

 navy, skilled in astronomy, — these two to be desig- 

 nated by the president of the United States for a term 

 of six years, — who, with, 7°, the superintendent of 

 the coast and geodetic survey ; 8°, the director of the 

 geological survey; and, 9°, the officer in charge of the 

 meteorological service, — shall constitute the commis- 

 sion of . The secretary of the depart- 

 ment shall be ex-officio president of the commission. 



The members of the commission, for their services 

 as such, shall each be paid by the United States com- 

 pensation in the sum of dollars per annum. 



Their necessary transportation and travelling ex- 

 penses shall be provided for as are those of officers 

 of the army and navy when travelling on public 

 business or duty, to be paid out of the appropriations 

 for the services under their supervision. 



The commission shall meet in Washington, D.C., 

 for the transaction of business, not less than four 

 times a year; but the president of the commission 

 may convene it whenever in his judgment the exi- 

 gencies of the service require a meeting. 



The commission shall be attached to the office of 



the secretary of the department of , and under 



his superintendence shall exercise a general control 

 over the plans of work of the coast and geodetic sur- 

 vey, the geological survey, and the meteorological 

 service, and shall have the charge and custody of all 

 the archives, books, documents, drawings, models, 

 returns, apparatus, instruments, and all other things 

 appertaining to the commission. 



The estimates of the heads of these bureaus or 

 offices shall pass through the commission for revision 

 and approval; and, after the annual appropriations 

 have been made, no money shall be expended under 

 them, except after revision and approval by the com- 

 mission of projects submitted by these bureaus in 

 compliance with such projects. 



If at any time public money is being spent by any 

 of these bureaus, not in accordance with the views 

 of the commission, the commission shall notify the 

 proper auditor of the fact. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SCIEN- 

 TIFIC WORK OF THE GENERAL GOV- 

 ERNMENT. 1 



In response to your oral request at the session of 

 yesterday to present to the commission my " opinions 

 relating to the organization of the scientific work of 

 the government on a comprehensive plan, by which 

 the work can be more thoroughly co-ordinated, more 

 systematically prosecuted, and more economically ad- 

 ministered, than at present," I beg leave to make 

 the following statement: — 



The scientific works prosecuted under the general 

 government of the United States, and in like manner 

 prosecuted by other nations, may broadly, but with 

 sufficient accuracy, be classed under two heads. In 

 the first class are constructive works, such as the 

 erection of public buildings, the improvement of 

 rivers and harbors, and the construction of light- 

 houses. In all of the operations of this class, in order 

 that the work may be properly executed, scientific 

 principles and methods must be observed; but such 

 works chiefly involve problems of applied science. 

 The second class of operations in which the govern- 

 ment of the United States, like all other civilized 

 nations, is engaged, involve in their nature original 

 investigation. They are designed, in large part, to 

 furnish needed information to the people; and they 

 not only involve questions of applied science, but, 

 that the purpose for which they are prosecuted may 

 be properly accomplished, new facts and principles 

 must be discovered. Such institutions are the geo- 

 logical survey, the coast and geodetic survey, the 

 signal-service or meteorological bureau, the fish-com- 

 mission, the national museum, the hydrographic 

 bureau, and the national observatory. The functions 

 of such bureaus cannot properly be performed with- 

 out scientific research, and their value depends upon 

 the wisdom and efficiency of the methods of investi- 

 gation pursued. It is to this second class, of purely 

 scientific institutions, designed for and necessarily 

 comprehending original research for the purpose of 

 giving information to the people, that I confine my 

 remarks. 



The operations of such institutions are exceedingly 

 complex, and, from their very nature, cannot be ante- 

 cedently planned and executed according to such 

 original plan. At every step of the work, plans must 

 necessarily be modified, as necessitated or suggested 

 by discovered facts. It is therefore impossible by 

 law to organize such operations; and, more, it is im- 

 possible for the directors or superintendents of such 

 work to lay out plans of operations which shall be a 

 full guide to their assistants. A clear conception of 

 the object to be attained, and a comprehensive 

 knowledge of the principles to be used in the guid- 

 ance of research, are necessary; and beyond that, 

 from time to time, as facts are discovered, and the 

 avenues of investigation are opened, the work is di- 

 rected in its details. It will thus be seen that it is 



1 From the testimony of Major J. W. Powell, director of 

 the U. S. geological survey, before a joint committee of both 

 houses of congress. 



