Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/67

 JAKOAW IS, 18B5.] SCIE

proper i« nearly completed, ajid eliould be Oiiished by Uie present organization. When thus QnUhed, the work of the coa«l-surve; on tani) will b« praclU cally ended, bat the hydrographic operatloDB must be permanently conllnueil. In this hydrographic work a large I'orps of naval officers and seamen are em- t>loyed nnderthe cnost-survey ; and the navy ia also engBgeil. under the organization of the bydragrapliic bureait, in coDductlng researches of like and related character off the coast It is evldeut that this hydro- graphic worh prosecuted by the coast and geodetic survey is pre-eminently a naval work, from the fact that officer? and seamen of Mie navy are employed ia Its prosecatioD. The officers of the navy are neces- Hrily, and should be, the geographers of the sea. Stal^mcn sgree, that, even in time of pence, a naval eiuhlishmeat must be maintained. A school is sup- ported by the general government for the education and irHlning of officers to command its navies. This training should be continued by practical operations at sea, not by engaging in unnecessary war, but in the iiaTlgatiun of the sens and the management of Tess«ls; and, while thus engaged, the navy may be appropriately and economically employed in the study of oceanic geography. I am therefore clearly of the opinion that the bydrographic work of the coast and geodetlf! survey should be transferred to the hydro- graphic bureau of the navy. As thus organized, it wonid uecessarily have a military administration, and could not properly be placed with the other scientific bureau* enumerated aliove under one common man- agement. There would yet neceasai'ily be relations existing tietwecn the bureau of navigation and the other tclentiSc bureaus; but they would be of a much less fundamental character, and would be limited In scope, and the few relations thus existing could be properly adjusted by convention.

If (he signal-service ia to have a military organiza- tion, it would be unwise to directly associate it with bureaus with civil oi^auiiations, for reasons already stated. Should it be deemed wise to include It in the group of scientific institutions, it should then be re- otganiied on a civil basil.

The various lines of research enumerated in char- acterieing the scientific bureaus above are such as properly pertain to the functions of government in the common judgment of maukind. The warrant for this statement exists in the fact that the leading civiliied govemmenta of the world do, In tact, pro- vide tor the prosecution of such operations. The subject of the endowment of such research by govern- ment has been widely dtecussed by statesmen and by scltolars in America and in Europe alike ; and the wisdom of such endowment, and the fundamental principles that should control such work, hare been again and again clearly enunciated. Tlie actual prac- tice of the several governments engaged in this work is lo a lai^e extent barmonious, but In some impor- tant particulars there ia diversity of methods. In the British government a part of the scientific re- search l> controlled by organizations in the executive departments: another part is controlled by aclentific IB organiznl under royal charters, and receiv-

���ing grants of money from the general g In the German states various methods are adapted, one of the most important of which is that the uni- versities receive grants from the general government for scientific research. This latter method largely prevails ill Russia; but in all of these countries the methods adopted in the United States are steadily gaining ground, and the practice of European govern- ments ia rteadily following the precedents established in the United States.

The questions submitted by act of congress to the deliberation of this commission affect profoundly all of the important industries of the land. You are to decide for the people the best methods of utilizing the results of all icIentiSc research, as they pertain to the welfare of the people of the United States; and your action, should it be confirmed by congress, will ulti- mately affect the deepest interests of all the people; and the InSueuce of your action will be exercised in promoting or retarding scientific research itself, which is the chief agejicy of civilization, and the results of which constitute the chief elements of civilization.

��At a meeting held In Boston, Jan. 8, the organiza- tion of the society was completed. The conduct of the aSairs of the society is by the constitution placed in the hands of a council of twenty-oue, wlilch con- sists of Prof. G. Stanley Hall of Baltimore ; Mr. Gleor^e S. Pullerton of Philadelphia ; Dr. William James, Prof. E. C. Pickering, Prof. J. M. Peirce, of Cambridge; Mr. Coleman Sellars of Philadelphia; MajorA.A.Woodhiill of New York; Prof esaor Simon Newcomb of Washington ; Dra. C. S. Minot and H. P. Bowdltch, and Messrs. W. H. Pickering and C. C. Jackson, of Boston; Col. T. W. Uigginson and Mr. N. D. C. Hodges, of Cambridge ; Prof. George F. Barker of Philadelphia ; Mr. 8. H, Scudder and Prof, C, C. Everett, of Cambridge; Mr. Morefleld Storey of Bos- ton; Professor John Trowbridge of Cambridge; Mr, William Watson of Boston; and Professor Alpheus Hyatt of Cambridge. Professor Newcomb has been chosen by the council as president of the society, sod Profs. Hal, Fullerton, B. C. Pickering and Drs. Bowdltch and Minot, as vice-presidents; Mr. Watson, treasurer; and Mr. N. D, C, Hodges, secretary.

After the organization was completed. Professor Pickering, who waa in the chair, referred briefly to the work of the committee on orgatii/ation, which has had the matter in chai^ since last fall, and said that the details of organltalion would bear a small part in the work of the society; that there was now need of co-operation among all members in order that there might be some fruitful investigations carried on. He urged all membets to look about among their friends for suitable subjects; Professor Pickering's opinion being that it would be much safer and more satisfactory to ex[ieriment on people of good stand- ing, who might exhibit powers of mi nil-reading, or

�� �