8 
Teans ACTIONS Texas Academy of Science. 
great ifnnd of man^s information, to leave posterity an inheritance of 
value. 
QUACKS AND PEBTENDERS. 
But following in the footsteps of such a man is an army of quacks and 
charlatans — imen who hesitate not to appropriate the work of others, men 
who keep themselves in the public eye until in a dazed and bewildered 
state, worthy folk are unable to distinguish between the true man and the 
impostor. 'And the public press, with shame I 'confess it, and even the 
dignified publishers of books, lend themselves to this deception. Think 
of an adventurer, with some patent nostrum or microbe annihilator ad- 
vertising himself in company with Huxley or Helmholtz ! Like a great 
tidal wave, the public seems to lag behind, and the appreciation showered 
upon ^^scientific frauds^^ is due not to real adoration, but to ignorance. 
He who can distinguish between the false and the true can not fail to be 
impressed with the genuine worth of the scientific men of the day ; yet, 
how sharp the contrast, not infrequently thrust upon our view, when 
we behold the vast array of fraud and delusion pressing forward for the 
seats of honor, national, state, educational, pushing ruthlessly aside, it 
may be, their true occupants. 'This is a species of savagery still tolerated 
in many ^Aivilized’^ communities, where in violation of all moral obliga- 
tions, ‘^‘^might makes righfi^; but, as surely as darkness fiees from light, 
so surely must these degenerate growths wither and decay under ’the 
scorching rays of the intellectual sun. 
That shams exist we all know; that they are greater to-day than ever 
before may be questioned; that they are permitted to exist, when their 
true character and purpose is recognized, is a refiection — and it can not 
be construed otherwise — upon the morals and integrity of the people. If 
the masses be ignorant, it is the duty of the few who know to teach them, 
though the blare of the brazen may attempt to drown modest worth. 
Truth, and Truth only, is destined to survive. Untruth, though its fol- 
lowers number legions, will surely perish, but not in our day and genera- 
tion; therefore, it behooves every educated person to consider well the 
banner he follows, whether it be that of 'Truth or that of Sham; whether 
that of the rabble jeering at true worthy or that of the earnest seekers 
after knowledge. 
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION. 
To be specific: From the standpoint of the Man of Science, the 
searcher for truth, the advocate of truth, public indifference to fraud is 
pitiful. For years in many of our states the practice of medicine, for 
example, has been poorly regulated, or practically not regulated at all. 
The veriest ignoramus, 'the owner of a %ogus diploma,’^ the graduate of 
