The San Francisco call., 1896-02-08
JORDAN ON THE ACADEMY,
He Says the Academy of Sciences
Needs a Lot More
Money.
Condition of the Old Institution, Which
Will Be Both Scientific and
Popular.

David Starr Jordan, the new president
of the California Academy of Sciences
talked yesterday about the condition and
possibilities of that somewhat venerable
| institution and gave his ideas about what
could and would be done. 1t has been
vaguely supposed by most people in
terested, that the academy would now
become more recent in its style and nature.
DR.. Jordan's first words were: 'The
Academy of Sciences has now an income
of about $50, ,0OO." He talked of money
right away. He was practical as usual.
During recent fierce political storms in
the institution, there was much brilliant
| talk about the good and great and pro-
| gressive things the academy ought to do
and be. DR.. Jordan is right out in
the skirmish line of educational and
scientific progress. but it is evident that
when the presidency was offered TO him
and the first thought about what might
be done, he at once asked: "How much
| money have your" He says that the
academy hasn't money enough to branch
| out much, and he hopes that the dying
| rich W i'll give it more.
He wants the original scientific work of
| the academy to be hustled to the best of
| its limited possibilities, and there are to be
| bi-monthly scientific lectures high in class,
! but so popular in theme and treatment
| that the lecture audiences of the academy,
which have for a generation ranged in at
tendance from 13 to 81, will constitute one
| of the most popular and valuable lecture
| courses of the City.
1.-The Academy of Sciences has now an
income of about $4,000. and can do certain
| things. The things the academy can do
appear to reduce themselves to three.
First, the publication of its proceed
ings. These publications consist OF state
| ments of additions to scientific knowledge
made by it's members or others engaged in
the study of its material or Of scientific
matters pertaining to this coast. Since
the development of the scientific staffs of
two u Universities there has been a great
amount of this material, so that during
the past two years the published proceed
ings of the academy have compared favor
ABLY with those OF any similar institution.
1.-The second item of the academy's
work is original Investigation by paid
curators working in certain fields. For
this there is but little money, / might
state that the academy's endowment is
about $500, 900, including mainly its build
ing and a mortgage for 100000 on Catalina
| Island. Its expenses are about as follows:
| Salaries, SIC, 800; taxes, S6350; publications,
5000; periodicals, $1,000; maintenance of
property, $4,000; books, materials, etc.,
| $4,000. So you see how th e work of original
investigation is limited. There is little
money for expeditions and special investi-
cations In either of the two universities
| the departments of physics and chemistry
| together spend yearly more money than
| the whole income of the academy.
1.-THE maximum salary paid any curator
is $1,000, while in similar position in one
| of the universities q man capable of teach
| ing and investigating would get $1,000 to
$2500. The curatorships are mainly tenn
| porary steps to bright young men. Pro-
| lessor Loomis, in charge of the depart
ment of ornith ology, is an exceptionally
| bright and capable man, and Others there
| are very good.
'sThe academy would like to extend its
worl, to geology, mineralogy, insects,
crabs and star-fshes, bacteria and man.
mails. But for ali this work there is no
money.
| Popular lectures are the third proper
work of the academy. They should be
statements by authority of what truth is,
| and their scope should be wide. covering
| all the applications OF science. We want
! to make these lectures intelligible to COM
mon audiences, and l would like to draw
| in the working men, if possible. There is
no reason why there should be only twenty
or thirty people to hear an Academy of
| Sciences lecture. / expect to arrange for
| an explanation and demonstra ton of the
recent discoveries by Professor Roentgen
and others working in similar lines. But
| little of such popular work has been done
| by any American academies of science.
In Europe, and especially in England,
they have gone much further. The pri-
| mary purpose of all such societies has
been the publication of original research,
but it has seemed to me that the publca-
tions might be one thing and the meet
ings another"