Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
October,  1904.  / 
Editorial. 
497 
EDITORIAL. 
THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ARTS  AND  SCIENCE. 
Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  scope  and  purpose  of  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  Exposition,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  International 
Congress  of  Arts  and  Science,  held  under  its  auspices,  was  most 
successful,  not  only  in  the  attendance,  but  also  in  the  character  of 
the  work  done.  The  Congress  was  well  managed,  and  as  a  result 
was  attended  by  a  very  large  number  of  the  most  eminent  leaders 
of  thought.  During  the  six  days  of  meeting,  from  September 
19-24,  128  sectional  meetings  were  held,  in  which  there  were  at 
least  two  principal  addresses,  these  being  followed  in  some 
cases  by  brief  communications. 
It  appears  that  the  idea  of  an  international  congress  originated 
at  the  Paris  Exposition  in  1889.  This  was  followed  by  the  World's 
Congress  Auxiliary  at  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  held  in 
Chicago  in  1893,  and  by  that  of  a  series  of  congresses  held  at  the 
Paris  Exposition  in  1900.  In  all  these  congresses  the  main  object 
was  to  bring  together  the  most  eminent  men  of  the  world  to  discuss 
the  results  already  attained  in  their  respective  fields  of  research.  The 
Congress  in  St.  Louis  was  more  comprehensive,  the  purpose  being  to 
have  an  assemblage  "  at  which  leading  representatives  of  theoretical 
and  applied  science  shall  set  forth  those  general  principles  and  funda- 
mental conceptions  which  connect  groups  of  sciences,  review  the 
historical  development  of  special  sciences,  show  their  mutual  rela- 
tions and  discuss  their  present  problems." 
It  is  doubtful  if  such  a  gathering  of  eminent  men  of  science  was 
ever  held  before.  Perhaps  the  mention  of  a  few  of  the  names  ot 
those  who  were  in  attendance  will  verify  this  statement.  Of  the 
some  ninety  foreign  scientists  and  men  of  letters  present  we  mention  : 
Prof.  Wilhelm  Ostwald,  University  of  Leipzig ;  Prof.  Henri  Poincare, 
of  the  Sorbonne,  Paris ;  Sir  William  Ramsay,  of  the  Royal  Institution, 
London  ;  Prof.  Henri  Moissan,  of  the  Sorbonne,  Paris  ;  Prof.  J.  H. 
Van  t'Hoff,  University  of  Berlin  ;  Prof.  Svante  Arrhenius,  University 
of  Stockholm;  Prof.  Hugo  de  Vries,  University  of  Amsterdam; 
Prof.  F.  O.  Bower,  University  of  Glasgow  ;  Prof.  Karl  F.  Goebel, 
University  of  Munich;  Prof.  Julius  Wiesner,  University  of  Vienna; 
Prof.  Oskar  Drude,  of  the  Kbn.  Technische  Hochschule,  Dresden; 
Prof.  Oskar  Hertwig,  University  of  Berlin  ;  Prof.  Max  Verworn, 
