530 SCIENCE. 
secured with telescopes approaching the in- 
ferior limit in aperture, and take note of the 
amount of work, of much the same sort, 
remaining to be done, largely, to be sure, of 
a character not intended to elicit profuse ap- 
plause. : 
AMERICANS are less sensitive than formerly 
to foreign criticism, but a recent series of inci- 
dents would indicate that foreigners are be- 
ginning to be sensitive in respect to American 
criticism. Some six months ago a writer in 
Science called attention to the three principal 
currents of scientific work, — German, English, 
and French. He was critical in his comments, 
but his criticism was evenly distributed ; and 
American work did not escape his eve. On 
the whole, Germany was most praised, and 
France least praised. The article was copied 
into Natuve, and was translated for the Revue 
scientifique. The editor of the /.evuwe, Mr. 
Charles Richet, came to the defence of France 
against the writer in Science. Now comes 
the work of Father Didon, on German edu- 
cation (Les allemunds, Paris, 1884), which 
reprints a translation of the original article 
in Science, and Richet’s rejoinder. ‘The charge 
and the countercharge are thus brought into 
juxtaposition in a book which is likely to be 
widely read. 
_ Weare interested in Richet’s answer. ‘To 
the charge in Science that the French neglect 
foreign science, especially German, a flat 
denial is given; and a list of books translated 
from German into French within a short time 
past is printed. To the charge that the 
French are producing nothing new, reference 
is made to the current pages of the Comptes 
rendus. To the charge that ‘‘ science has 
never been so depressed in France as at 
present,”’ the chief attention is given. Mr. 
Richet points triumphantly to three names, — 
Pasteur, J. B. Dumas, and de Lesseps; and 
then, after asserting the distinction of these 
three leaders, the writer proceeds to look 
calmly at the situation. It is instructive to 
observe what he admits. In science, he says, 
France is like an army which has leaders, with- 
‘out soldiers enough. No French savant has 
around him a numerous group of students ; 
and consequently the selection of professors 
for chairs of science is constantly becoming 
more difficult. It is not so, he admits, in 
Germany. Why is it thus in France? Be- 
cause superior instruction is so poorly ‘paid. 
Millions are needed to place the country in 
the right condition. Professorships and labo- 
ratories should be established ; but, more than 
that, ideas must be changed, and larger num- 
bers of young men must devote themselves to 
researches which have no obvious practical bear- 
ing, — recherches scientifiques désintéressés. 
Much of Richet’s comment on France would 
apply to this country. The United States, 
like France, stands in need of more pro- 
fessorships, and more laboratories, devoted 
to the promotion of science. We need, also, 
more young men willing to renounce careers 
which will yield pecuniary returns, and ready 
to labor for the promotion of knowledge, and 
the enlargement of the boundaries of human 
thought. But no one should consecrate him- 
self to such a life, unless he has the assur- 
ance of support, or unless he is willing to 
face the restrictions of a poorly paid career. 
Tue tests of a theory are found not only in 
its accordance with facts known at the time of 
its proposal, but still more in its accordance 
with. conditions discovered afterwards. ‘The 
admirable studies of tornadoes now in progress, 
as described in our notes, are fertile in dis- 
coveries of the special conditions in which 
these destructive storms arise; and, as far as 
published, all of these newly found limitations 
of occurrence give the most direct support to 
the mechanical theory of tornadoes put forth 
by Mr. Ferrel a few years ago. The tornado 
district, as now determined, is one where warm 
air is overflowed by cold air: here is found 
the cause of the marked vertical differences of 
temperatures which the theory had accepted 
from less extended observations. The district 
is distinctly within a cyclonic, spiral circulation 
(Vor. IIL, No. "6a 
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