Page:The Scientific Monthly vol. 3.djvu/595

 OUR DUTY TO THE FUTURE 589

Our present-day muBeiims contain many wonderful, curious, in- structive and interesting objects. The museum is a real factor in edu- cation, and the vast amount of labor and money spent on these treasure houses of art, history, science and industry has been in most instances well spent. Further, the value of the exhibits and collections has in- creased with the passage of time. In fact, it is almost axiomatic that the further we become removed in time from the moment of its fash- ioning the more valuable an object becomes. In but few instances, however, can we be said to be taking definite action to "preserve the present for the future.^' We have by great diligence acquired some knowledge of man as he lived before our time, with some of his relics, monuments and works of art. We take great pains to transport and preserve Egyptian obelisks and tombs, Babylonian inscriptions, Aztec gods, and even Libby prisons and presidential birthplaces. What is the future of these ? Will the coming generations fail to receive or acquire an interest in these things equal to our own ? It would seem probable that there will be men five or ten centuries hence who will have an in- terest in not only their own national history, but also that of peoples who seem ancient or semi-ancient to us. It would seem that our duty to the future lies in not only preserving our own present-day relies, but also in leaving some adequate and authentic account of our own times with such illustrative material as may be considered necessary or de- sirable.

It seems almost needless to point out that we ought to be beyond leaving our records and relics to the future in any indefinite or hap- hazard manner. Yet if we ask ourselves what we have done or are doing to safeguard our historical treasures and works of art, what answer is to be found ? Have we taken into account the possibilities ? Suppose this coimtry should be visited by some unprecedented and widespread series of disasters, originated by the forces of nature — what would be left? What is there that we now have that could with- stand earthquake, vulcanism, tornado, tidal wave, fire, ice or sand dune? Suppose our museums and monuments escape one or several of these destructive agents, are they able to withstand all? What is there that we may really call permanent, that we may set up to defy all the forces of nature until the next geologic era ?

Let us see if among the present known materials there may be found one that we may call the ideally resistant material. The rocks of the earth^s surface have always appealed to man as the very essence of endurance, changelessness and permanence. In the stone age man learned that some rocks were very hard, dense and durable; that others were soft or brittle; that some rocks could be shaped by using pieces of harder ones, and polished by the powder of others; that some were adapted to the fashioning of weapons and implements, idols, inscrip- tions, and ornamental designs ; that rocks resisted fire and the weather.

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