5 SCIENCE. 
tific, or shall the speculative, sentimental, and 
poetic sides of things be allowed to appear? 
Shall its chronicles of progress consist of the 
briefest possible memoranda of all important 
current researches, each duly labelled for ref- 
erence, or shall a selection be so made that 
each account shall be prepared with a state- 
ment of the origin, place, and object of the 
research, with a view of making its true signifi- 
cance known? In the case of scientific arti- 
cles, where shall we draw the line between what 
belongs to this journal and what to those in- 
tended for the publication of original re- 
searches? These are merely a few of the more 
important questions which the projectors were 
obliged to meet, and which they have endeav- 
ored to decide in the way best fitted to give 
general satisfaction. ‘The result is seen to a 
certain extent in the present number ; but some 
aspects of the subject may be profitably con- 
sidered from a broader field of view. 
The difficulty arising from the technical na- 
ture of scientific researches admits of being 
partially resolved, so far at least as the gen- 
eral principle is concerned, by a very obvious 
consideration. Science must be almost as 
much popularized, to be made accessible to 
all scientific readers, as to be readable by the 
educated public who were never in a labora- 
tory. A new formula in thermodynamics is as 
incomprehensible to a botanist as to a member 
of Congress. ‘The average physicist knows as 
dittle about a brachiopod as the average mer- 
chant. What the most modest well-read cler- 
gyman may fairly think he knows about 
Darwinism far exceeds all that the common 
run of chemists really do know. The obvious 
conclusion is, that, should we seek to make dis- 
cussions of current scientific researches accessi- 
ble to all scientific readers, we cannot avoid 
being somewhat popular in style. 
On the other hand, if the journal should 
present to its readers only that class of read- 
ing-matter which they get for nothing in the 
daily papers, its very existence would be a 
superfluity. To justify the publication of any 
periodical devoted to a specialty, it must pre- 
sent its readers with a kind of matter which 
they cannot find in the public prints. 
The term ‘ popular science’ is often made to 
include a class of discussions quite different 
from the presentation of scientific truths in 
common language. Science at the present 
day is the ideal of democracy. Its work and 
its honors, from the highest to the lowest, are 
thrown open, without restriction, to all men. 
There is no authority which can say to the 
humblest worker, ‘‘ 1 know this, and you do 
not: I am therefore above your criticism, and 
you must accept my statements without essay- 
ing to inquire into the validity of their founda- 
tion or the soundness of their application.’’ 
There is no tribunal in the scientific world 
which has the power to proclaim what is and 
what is not proved; what problems are and 
what are not solved. To one who has never 
considered this state of things, the’first im- 
pression felt is, that it must imply universal 
anarchy ; thatina community where every one 
has equal authority —that is, no authority at 
all — there can be no such thing as permanent 
and widely received opinions. But the very 
opposite is the truth. A system which requires 
every doctrine to stand on its own merits, and 
to maintain itself only by being proof against 
every assault, is the very one under which truth 
stands the best chance of showing its perma- 
nency. A long-established scientific doctrine 
stands like the Matterhorn, not through being 
protected from assault, but by being able to — 
resist the storms of ages. 
Now, there is in every civilized country a 
class of writers who avail themselves of this 
principle of equality to discuss subjects of 
which they have no accurate knowledge, to pro- 
pound new theories, and to attack old ones. 
A voluminous literature thus arises which is 
the work of the lay element in the scientific 
community, and which is therefore sometimes 
called popular science. Such productions must 
stand on their merits as much as the proposi- 
tions of the professional scientific man, and 
are entitled to consideration only according to 
their merit. The policy of Science is to admit 
nothing to its pages which does not belong to 
the domain of knowledge, excluding with es- 
pecial care speculations upon subjects like the 
nebular hypothesis in which many active minds 
are so fond of indulging. 
After a careful consideration of the form in 
which the results of current researches should 
be presented, it has been decided to substitute 
for the weekly summary heretofore presented 
brief discussions of current work which shall 
be of more interest to the general reader. To 
combine brevity with perspicuity in such cases 
is often a very difficult problem, in which the 
golden mean affords the only solution. 
The form in which Science is now presented 
has been to a large extent the result of care- 
ful inquiry among its accessible friends and 
patrons. 
be developed in a single number ; but we hope 
that a few weeks will show our purpose to 
make Science of greater value than heretofore + 
to our widening circle of readers. 
Manifestly, the plan in view cannot — 
