Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 59.djvu/316

306 sible for students of science and friends of science to meet together and take a common and intelligent interest in the scientific progress of the day. Somewhat later, however, the need became apparent for a more select national society. The local academies in the European capitals had become national institutions in a way that was not possible for the similar societies in the United States, owing to the lack of centralization. Our National Academy of Sciences was organized in 1863 with a membership at first limited to fifty, and still under one hundred. The Academy was intended to be the adviser of the Government in scientific matters, and has to a certain extent fulfilled this function. At first, when there were but few scientific men in the United States and their interests were more or less common, the National Academy was an organization fitted to its environment. But it has scarcely adjusted itself to the growth and specialization in science of the past twenty-five years.

The organization of science that was adequate for the third quarter of the century did not suffice for the fourth quarter. About twenty-five years ago it became necessary to meet the specialization becoming inevitable for scientific advance. Special societies and special journals were organized. The American Society of Naturalists, organized in 1883, and the 'American Naturalist,' established in 1867, covered a limited, but still wide field. 'Science,' a weekly journal, was established in 1883 to keep the sciences in touch with each other and men of science in touch with the general public. The American Chemical Society was organized in 1876, The American Ornithologists' Union in 1883, The Geological Society of America and the present American Mathematical Society in 1888, and there are now national societies for almost every science. Special journals were established during the same period—'The Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club' (1870), 'The Botanical Gazette' (1876), 'The American Journal of Mathematics' (1878), 'The American Chemical Journal' (1887), 'The American Journal of Morphology' (1887), 'The American Journal of Psychology (1887), 'The American Geologist' (1888), 'The National Geographic Magazine' (1888), 'The American Anthropologist' (1888) and so on, in increasing numbers, to the present time. A similar movement toward specialization is evident in the development of elective courses in our colleges, of advanced work in our universities, and in many other directions.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science did not fail to adjust its organization to the growth and differentiation of science. In 1875 a formal division was made into two sections, one for the exact and one for the natural sciences, and in 1883 nine sections were established. At this time, when the Association had fitted itself to existing conditions, it enjoyed a most prosperous period in its