374 



SCIEXCE. 



LVol. VII., No. 168 



Certain questions relating to national endow- 

 ment of research in this country, and their 

 importance. 



In reply to your able critic (W. S. N., in Science. 

 vii. No. 165) of my letter bearing the above title 

 (No. 164), permit me to refer him to my articles upon 

 science and the state, recently published in Mind in 

 nature, of Chicago, anrl, if his interest carry him 

 that far, to do me the simple justice of re-reading my 

 letter in Science which prompted his questions, — 

 questions which I will here endeavor to answer for 

 him. 



In the first place, let me most emphatically reiter- 

 ate my opinion, that I am fully in favor of the gov- 

 ernment endowing researchers in civil life, as well as 

 affording the proper opportunities for the successful 

 prosecution of the labors of those scientists upon her 

 own rolls. May I ask my critic to again peruse that 

 paragraph in my letter that is completed with the 

 following words, "I stand on the side of the King 

 of Denmark, in his principle as applied to Tycho 

 Brahe," and then ask himself if my being interro- 

 gated as to my convictions upon the question as to 

 whether or no it devolves upon the government to 

 aid researchers in civil life was necessary ; and I 

 think he will find, upon reconsideration, that there 

 is no difference of opinion between us upon that 

 point. 



As to the proper ones who should receive such aid 

 from the government, either in civil life or the ser- 

 vices, let my critic place the correct construction on 

 the word 'demonstrated,' when I say in the sentence 

 he quotes from my letter, "of those persons in her 

 employ who have from time to time demonstrated 

 their fitness to perform certain work," and I must 

 believe we will agree here also. Mind you, I am not 

 in favor of promptly affording assistance to any one 

 and every one, or to him who suddenly springs up, 

 and exclaims, " Lo ! I am a scientist, I can write a 

 book. I believe I am an investigator and a genius." 

 My advice to such a person would be, ' Demonstrate 

 it, my good friend.' As to the amount of assistance 

 the government should render to those exceptional 

 persons in this country who have demonstrated their 

 peculiar fitness to prosecute certain lines of research 

 with marked success, I concur fully in the opinion of 

 Professor Huxley, who says, "Now, the most im- 

 portant object of all educational schemes is to catch 

 these exceptional people, and turn them to account 

 for the good of society. No man can say where they 

 will crop up ; like their opposites, the fools and 

 knaves, they appear sometimes in the palace, and 

 sometimes in the hovel. But the great thing to be 

 arrived at, I was going to say the most important end 

 of all social arrangements, is to keep these glorious 

 sports of nature from being either corrupted by 

 luxury or starved by poverty, and to put them into 

 the position in which they can do the work for which 

 they are specially fitted." I quoted these excellent 

 words nearly three years ago in the New York Medi- 

 cal record, and again in my article upon science and 

 the state in Mind in nature : so there is some danger 

 of their becoming immortalized, though I considered 

 them immortal when they were first penned. I will 

 say, however, that, if occasion requires, I will quote 

 them again, — quote and quote, till they become even 

 the battle-cry of the socialists themselves. 



Regarding the progress of our nation, from an 

 evolutionist's point of view, as I do, I must consider, 



from the ^ery limpets in our fauna, through every 

 atom we lay claim to, our bodies and brains, our 

 minds and our works, our institutions and industries, 

 our opinions and our language, nay, through our 

 very government itself, — I must consider, I say, the 

 whole as one glorious growth and development. 

 During this growth, that limb of the common tree 

 which bore the crop of American scientists un- 

 doubtedly did encroach upon the government ser- 

 vice ; and to the extent of this encroachment only 

 do I " claim a monopoly of talent in government 

 employ." 



It was from this broad basis that I attempted to 

 write my letter upon national endowment, and I feel 

 pained that I should have failed in anybody's eyes. 

 My suggestions for a scientific corps for the army 

 and navy, my papers upon science and the state, were 

 prompted solely through the same sentiment. 



Is it too much to hope that some such re-organiza- 

 tion as the department of science that I have else- 

 where suggested, may some day be an idea realized, 

 or do I peer too far into the future, when I see other 

 zoological stations scattered along both of our exten- 

 sive coasts, repeating, and repeating again, the mag- 

 nificent national work that has been accomplished 

 by the staff at Wood's Holl ? Or, scanning the hori- 

 zon still farther, is it too much to hope that some- 

 where in the dim future that change may come o'er 

 the dream of the official mind, and it, too, see the 

 grand natural law that the nineteenth century has 

 wrested from nature's secrets, and that the principles 

 of evolution which are becoming more clearly defined 

 for us every day be turned to practical use, and a 

 little bending of the twigs be done by the govern- 

 ment, to the extent of utilizing these evolved prod- 

 ucts for the nation's good ? Then those who have 

 demonstrated their peculiar fitness will be taken up 

 by the government as one of her most powerful 

 weapons ; and room will be found for their strength, 

 in this very department of science, these zoological 

 stations on our coast, and similar zoological and 

 meteorological stations established, as they should 

 be, at suitable points all over our broad empire. 



E. W. Shufeldt. 



Fort Wingate, N. Mex., April 8. 



The American ornithologists' union code and 

 check-list of North American birds. 



By an unfortunate oversight, the committee of the 

 American ornithologists' union on classification and 

 nomenclature of North American birds omitted to 

 recognize in the preface of the ' Code and check-list ' 

 the important aid rendered the committee by the 

 gentlemen invited to share in its labors. Dr. L. 

 Stejneger, Dr. C. H. Merriam, and Dr. T. N. Gill 

 were present at numerous meetings, participated in 

 the discussions, and are entitled to grateful recogni- 

 tion by the committee for their services. 



Dr. Stejneger not only gave valuable assistance to 

 the subcommittee on species and subspecies, particu- 

 larly in relation to questions of synonymy, but was 

 also present by invitation at most of the meetings of 

 the whole committee, took an active part in its dis- 

 cussions, and contributed valuable assistance in the 

 formulations of the 'Code,' — assistance which the 

 committee is glad to gratefully acknowledge. 



Committee of the American ornitholo- 

 gists' UNION ON CLASSIFICATION AND 

 NOMENCLATURE. 



