December 18, 1885.] 



8CIEJSCE. 



531 



which are liable to come from the overlapping 

 of responsibilities and the confusion of purposes 

 can be obviated. Better modes of appropriating 

 money can be devised, and better assurances can 

 be given that those who devote themselves to the 

 government service shall not be inconsiderately 

 superseded. But we doubt whether any system 

 will be adopted which will secure the services of 

 an abler corps, or, on the whole, a more faithful 

 corps, than that which has superintended and 

 directed the governmental work in science during 

 the last twenty or thirty years. Any country 

 may well be proud of the investigations in geol- 

 ogy, in geodesy, in geography, in astronomy, in 

 meteorology, in natural history, and in ethnology, 

 which have been performed within that period by 

 a staff of civilians ; and to all their achievements 

 must be added the scientific researches and studies 

 of the able officers in the army and navy. 



Whatever measures may be adopted with respect 

 to re-organization, one principle should constantly 

 be borne in mind. Science cannot be carried for- 

 ward by prescribiug too definitely the tasks of 

 scientific men. They raay be bound by appointed 

 days and hours ; they may be told to perform 

 specific duties, — and if only the maintenance of 

 routiue work is required, such regulations may 

 secure fidehty and efficiency. But if knowledge 

 is to be advanced, if better methods of work are 

 to be discovered, if greater accuracy is desired, 

 if unkno^vn facts are to be ascertained and 

 recorded and discussed, and, in short, if there 

 is to be real progress, the methods of freedom 

 are to be employed, not those of petty regu- 

 lation. By this we mean that if the great un- 

 dertakings which the government has in charge, 

 if especially its surveys of the coast and of the 

 interior, are to go forward, discretion must be 

 given to the chiefs of bureau, and they must be 

 held to accountabihty for the aggregate success of 

 their work. Honesty, economy, clear and accu- 

 rate statement of accounts, are, of course, to be 

 demanded ia every office : nobody questions this. 

 But the determination of what shall be under- 

 taken in a given year, to whom it shall be as- 

 signed, what allowances shall be made for instru- 

 ments, books, and assistants, — these are questions 

 which experience and judgment must decide. 

 Somebody who has all the facts in mind must 

 make the determination, and he must not be too 

 quickly condemned, because the immediate results 

 of the investigations which he has undertaken 

 are not yet apparent. The highest personal char- 



acter should be found in every one who is called 

 upon to direct the labors of a scientific corps ; he 

 should be faithful, watchful, careful that all the 

 interests intrusted to him may be promoted ; but 

 he should be free within the hmitations of his 

 office to select his subordinates, determine their 

 duties, and prescribe their methods. Only by 

 such regulated freedom as this can the highest 

 results be obtained. Discretion with responsibility, 

 in all the higher work of science, wiQ bring the 

 best services from those whose moral attitude is 

 what it should be : no others should be intrusted 

 with the leadership. 



THE MEETING OF THE AMERICAN PUB- 

 LIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION. 



After the paper of Dr. Hunt at the morning ses- 

 sion, Tuesday, Dec. 8. {Science, Dec. 11), there was 

 presented a paper on forms of tables for vital statis- 

 tics, by Dr. J. S. Billings. Attention was called 

 to the diverse forms in use throughout this coun- 

 try and Europe, and to the difficulties of drawing 

 valuable deductions from a comparison due to this 

 diversity. The health officer of a city desires in- 

 formation of the diseases which are hable to be- 

 come epidemic, as to their location, relation to 

 nuisances in the neighborhood, etc, , in order that 

 he may know where sanitary work is most needed. 

 For this purpose tables are prepared which are 

 made the basis of his study. These tables are pub- 

 lished in the forms of bulletins or reports. Of 

 these there are three principal forms : the weekly, 

 the monthly, and the annual. As ordinarily 

 issued, the weekly bulletin is too elaborate : its 

 proper office is that of warning. If delayed, as 

 it must be if complete and joerfect statistics are to 

 be recorded in it, its very object is thwarted, and 

 its warning voice is not heard luitil after the need 

 for it has passed. The annual form should be 

 complete, and any reasonable delay in its issue to 

 accomplish this is no detriment. The weekly bul- 

 letins issued by boards of health have too much 

 the character of an annual report. It should con- 

 stantly be borne in mind that they are designed 

 for the information of the people : then- main pur- 

 pose is educational. They should state the total 

 deaths, by color, sex, age, and locality ; also those 

 for certain diseases, as phthisis, pneumonia, chol- 

 era, yellow-fever, and diphtheria. In this form 

 the unit of area is political usually, as by wards. 

 This ward division could oftentimes with advan- 

 tage be abandoned, and some other unit substi- 

 tuted. It is sometimes very important to have 

 the mortality recorded by blocks, and the deaths 

 which occur in a single tenement-house may not 



