Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/35

 prAKY, S, 1889.]

��Bin physics, Fourier's theorem enables ue, fVotn certain Tneosuiemenls of lemperature, lo deterroiiie what will be the probable heat of the earth some time in the future. What we need iu psji;hology is a psyebical theorem, relrt^ressive in its character. The surround- ings of man daily grow more varied ; and his rt'seiiiblances to his animal ancestors, it is claimed, are fast disappearing. Now is the time to sound a warning note. Our original psychical sources are disappearing- Instead of weighing a liiety African who will li|> the scales at n hundred kilograms, ne shall soon be reduced to weighing ^ veridical phantasms ' which we suppose must be below a fraction of n milligram. Back to the original sources, say we ! This is the cry of all scholars, and psycbists can form do exception to the general rule.

^^^^f The functionB of expeiiment-BtatdoiiB.

^^^^KKPKRHISO to the editorial commenli on this sub- 5*M iu Ibe issue of Science i<1 Dec. 8, I cannot omit lA Interpose a demurrer to what appears tn me lo be a tomewliat narrow view of the proper functions of eiperErnpnl-ntatloni iu tbis country, and one which, if anderstood to be the prcvnlllnii one, would quickly pnt an end to the popular demand for the establlsli- ment of such station!, especially In the newer slate!>. if it U not one of the eiseiiUal and primary objects of BSTicultural experiment-stations to render lo the ajpricnltiiral population the scientific aid which Ihey so sorely need when brought face lo face with new and untried conditions anil factors In a new country, in order to afford thetn relief from the alow tentative

��LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

��EeWrMpOHi/

��indeed, the rufimn iTlitre of audi eslabllabmentf be seriously questioned in all but Ibe older Btaien, where the olium eum dl'inilnle of purely scientific Invest! gat I ouB can be Indulged in witJiout leaving un- doi» tblngi Ihat iiw^ht first to be done.

U the experiment- stations do not do this work for the fanner, who is tij do It ? It i» not certainly the function of the agilcultural colleges as such, al- though in very many cases their grealeiit present nse- (iitn«M aBsnredly lies In that direction; since their direct influence through the fewstudents who hasten IfaroD^b a superbclal course in tbeir bnlls will long remain Insensible, unless supplemented bj such prac- tical demonsirallon of the usefulness of agricultural science as the experiment-stalicm work can afford. From both the practical and the educational point of view, then, those functions to which the article in qaestion allots a second place, should, in my view, be placet] fitsi.

��Again: it le said that to unite the two functions of an experimenl'Station — the scientific and the prac- tical — in one Institution and under one management is of doubtful propriety. So fai- from admitting this, I hold that nowhere can sclentlUc investigation be more fruitful than where. In this direct connection with practice, it Is brought face to face with new con- ditions, and therefore with new phases and aspects of old problems. 1 Ihinic It would be a grave mistake to segregate the two branches of the work, whether in space or time, and most especially to intrust the solution of practical problems to persons of inferior qiiallBcalion!, as is too commonly done, lo the detri- ment of the cause of science, and lo the dlseusl of those engaged in pushing it in the face of the dilBcul- lies it naturally encounters In a new country. There is a limit to the usefulness of differentiation, when eacli of the segregated lirancbes is thereby Itimmed down to narrowness, and want of proper co-ordiuai ion with the other. In <iur widely varied domain, each location affords peculiar advantages for the prosecu- tion of some branch of bothpiire and applied agricul- tural science; and those in charge of the several stations should know, or carefully consider, in wblch direction their greatest usefulness (In the widest sense of the word] lies.

deftiiiiion of the proper duties and

��adapt Its mode and scope of operations to the sur- rounding circums Lai ices; and the gond judgment exercised in determining these points will In a great measure determine also the scientific as well as the practical usefulness of such an establishment. With any thing like an adequate endowment, the two branches are not only cunipotlble, hut will fertilize each other, as does the combination of Investigation and instruction in the case of teachers. The abstract invesiigator will rarely shape and express bis Ideas as clearly as the one who Is habitually compelled to put them Into the proper firm for the understanding of others; and the same Is measurably true of the ex- periment-stations, in wblch scientllic work, and that Intended for the direct instruction of the contempo- rary population, should go hand in hand. It do«

��If It be contended that a different pulley should be adopted in this country, the onui of showing the reasons therefor certainly devolves upon the advocales of the new doctrine. E. W. HiLc.tun.

UnlTFrtltyofCallfomlo.

��In Science. No. 87, p. 5:i4, Professor ("a rh art [lolnts out an oversight of mine (No. 94, p, 477) in leaving out the cost of waste heat in the conductors as a part of the economy In the Kdi-on three-wire system, and also a mistake In eslimullng Its amount; in l>otb of which 1 am glad to he corrected. But Professor Car- hart has not. 1 think, quite reached the most econom- ical result, for the reason that we have the interest on II conductors, but beat developed in onl^ two of them; and, as it seems worthwhile to develop the cnmpleie solution for this Interesting system, I further submit the following: —

Suppose the slie of conduclors in the two-wire sys- tem to be such that the Interest on their cost equals that of the heat'energv developed in them {CR,

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