Chapter XII: A Century of Zoology in America. Wesley R. Coe 391 (2)

Should we appear to take higher ground than becomes us, we find our
vindication in the fact, that we have heralded chiefly the doings and
the fame of others. The work has indeed borne throughout “the impress”
of editorial unity of design, and much that has flowed from one pen,
and not a little from the pens of others, has been without a name. The
materials for the pile, have however been selected and brought in,
chiefly by other hands, and if the monument which has been reared
should prove to be “_aere perennius_,” the honor is not the sole
property of the architect; those who have quarried, hewn and polished
the granite and the marble, are fully entitled to the enduring record
of their names already deeply cut into the massy blocks, which
themselves have furnished.

If a retrospective survey of the labors of thirty years on this
occasion has rekindled a degree of enthusiasm, it is a natural result
of an examination of all our volumes from the contents of which we
have endeavored to make out a summary both of the laborers and their
works....

The series of volumes must ever form a work of permanent interest on
account of its exhibiting the progress of American science during the
long period which it covers. Comparing 1817 with 1847, we mark on this
subject a very gratifying change. The cultivators of science in the
United States were then few—now they are numerous. Societies and
associations of various names, for the cultivation of natural history,
have been instituted in very many of our cities and towns, and several
of them have been active and efficient in making original observations
and forming collections.

A summary follows presenting some facts as to the growth of scientific societies and scientific collections in this country during the period involved: Then the striking contrast between 1818 and 1847 in the matter of organized effort toward scientific exploration is discussed, as follows (pp. xvi _et seq._):

When we began our Journal, not one of the States had been surveyed in
relation to its geology and natural history; now those that have not
been explored are few in number. State collections and a United States
Museum hold forth many allurements to the young naturalist, as well as
to the archaeologist and the student of his own race. The late
Exploring Expedition [Wilkes] with the National Institute, has
enriched the capital with treasures rarely equalled in any country,
and the Smithsonian Institution recently organized at Washington, is
about to begin its labors for the increase and diffusion of knowledge
among men.

It must not be forgotten that the American Association of Geologists
and Naturalists—composed of individuals assembled from widely separate
portions of the Union—by the seven sessions which it has held, and by
its rich volume of reports, has produced a concentration and harmony
of effort which promise happy results, especially as, like the British
Association, it visits different towns and cities in its annual
progress.

Astronomy now lifts its exploring tubes from the observatories of many
of our institutions. Even the Ohio, which within the memory of the
oldest living men, rolled along its dark waters through interminable
forests, or received the stains of blood from deadly Indian warfare,
now beholds on one of its most beautiful hills, and near its splendid
city, a permanent observatory with a noble telescope sweeping the
heavens, by the hand of a zealous and gifted observer. At Washington
also, under the powerful patronage of the general government, an
excellent observatory has been established, and is furnished with
superior instruments, under the direction of a vigilant and well
instructed astronomer—seconded by able and zealous assistants.

Here also (in Yale College) successful observations have been made
with good instruments, although no permanent building has been erected
for an Observatory.

We only give single examples by way of illustration, for the history
of the progress of science in the United States, and of institutions
for its promotion, during the present generation, would demand a
volume. It is enough for our purpose that science is understood and
valued, and the right methods of prosecuting it are known, and the
time is at hand when its moral and intellectual use will be as obvious
as its physical applications. Nor is it to be forgotten that we have
awakened an European interest in our researches: general science has
been illustrated by treasures of facts drawn from this country, and
our discoveries are eagerly sought for and published abroad.

While with our co-workers in many parts of our broad land, we rejoice
in this auspicious change, we are far from arrogating it to ourselves.
Multiplied labors of many hands have produced the great results. In
the place which we have occupied, we have persevered despite of all
discouragements, and may, with our numerous coadjutors, claim some
share in the honors of the day. We do not say that our work might not
have been better done—but we may declare with truth that we have done
all in our power, and it is something to have excited many others to
effort and to have chronicled their deeds in our annals. Let those
that follow us labor with like zeal and perseverance, and the good
cause will continue to advance and prosper. It is the cause of
truth—science is only embodied and sympathized truth and in the
beautiful conception of our noble Agassiz—“it tells the thought of
God.”

The preface closes with some personal remarks:

In tracing back the associations of many gone-by years, a host of
thoughts rush in, and pensive remembrance of the dead who have labored
with us casts deep shadows into the vista through which we view the
past.

Anticipation of the hour of discharge, when our summons shall arrive,
gives sobriety to thought and checks the confidence which health and
continued power to act might naturally inspire, were we not reproved,
almost every day, by the death of some co-eval, co-worker, companion,
friend or patron. This very hour is saddened by such an event,—but we
will continue to labor on, and strive to be found at our post of duty,
until there is nothing more for us to do; trusting our hopes for a
future life in the hands of Him who placed us in the midst of the
splendid garniture of this lower world, and who has made not less
ample provision for another and a better.

_Editorial and financial._—The editorial labors on the Journal were carried by the elder Silliman alone for twenty years from 1818 to 1838. As has been clearly shown in his statements, already quoted, he was, after the first beginning, personally responsible also for the financial side of the enterprise. With volume =34= (1838) the name of Benjamin Silliman, Jr., is added as co-editor on the title page. He was graduated from Yale College the year preceding and at this date was only twenty-one years old. His aid was unquestionably of much service from the beginning and increased rapidly with years and experience. The elder Silliman introduces him in the preface to vol. =34= (1838) and comes back to the subject again in the preface to vol. =50= (1847). The whole editorial situation is here presented as follows:

“During twenty years from the inception of this Journal, the editor
labored alone, although overtures for editorial cooperation had been
made to him by gentlemen commanding his confidence and esteem, and who
would personally have been very acceptable. It was, however, his
opinion that the unity of purpose and action so essential to the
success of such a work were best secured by individuality; but he made
every effort, and not without success, to conciliate the good will and
to secure the assistance of gentlemen eminent in particular
departments of knowledge. On the title page of No. 1, vol. =34=,
published in July, 1838, a new name is introduced: the individual to
whom it belongs having been for several years more or less concerned
in the management of the Journal, and from his education, position,
pursuits and taste, as well as from affinity, being almost identified
with the editor, he seemed to be quite a natural ally, and his
adoption into the editorship was scarcely a violation of individual
unity. His assistance has proved to be very important:—his near
relation to the senior editor prevents him from saying more, while
justice does not permit him to say less.”

As is distinctly intimated in the preceding paragraph the elder Silliman was fortunate in obtaining the assistance in his editorial labors of numerous gentlemen interested in the enterprise. Their cooperation provided many of the scientific notices, book reviews and the like contained in the Miscellany with which each number closed. It is impossible, at this date, to render the credit due to Silliman’s helpers or even to mention them by name. Very early Asa Gray was one of these as occasional notes are signed by his initials. Dr. Levi Ives of New Haven was another. Prof. J. Griscom of Paris also sent numerous contributions even as early as 1825 (see =9=, 154, 1825; =22=, 192, 1832; =24=, 342, 1833, and others).

Some statements have already been quoted from the early volumes as to the business part of Silliman’s enterprise. The subject is taken up more fully in the preface to volume =50= (1847). No one can fail to marvel at the energy and optimism required to push the Journal forward when conditions must have been so difficult and encouragement so scanty. He says (pp. iii, iv):

This Journal first appeared in July, 1818, and in June, 1819, the
first volume of four numbers and 448 pages was completed. This scale
of publication, originally deemed sufficient, was found inadequate to
receive all the communications, and as the receipts proved
insufficient to sustain the expenses, the work, having but three
hundred and fifty subscribers, was, at the end of the year, abandoned
by the publishers.

An unprofitable enterprise not being attractive to the trade, ten
months elapsed before another arrangement could be carried into
effect, and, therefore, No. 1 of vol. =2= was not published until
April, 1820. The new arrangement was one of mutual responsibility for
the expenses, but the Editor was constrained nevertheless to pledge
his own personal credit to obtain from a bank the funds necessary to
begin again, and from this responsibility he was, for a series of
years, seldom released. The single volume per annum being found
insufficient for the communications, two volumes a year were afterward
published, commencing with the second volume.

The publishers whose names appear on the title page of the four numbers of the first volume are “J. Eastburn & Co., Literary Rooms, Broadway, New York” and “Howe & Spalding, New Haven.” For the second volume and those immediately following the corresponding statement “printed and published by S. Converse [New Haven] for the Editor.”

Silliman adds (p. iv):

At the conclusion of vol. =10=, in February, 1826, the work was again
left upon the hands of its Editor; all its receipts had been absorbed
by the expenses, and it became necessary now to pay a heavy sum to the
retiring publisher, as an equivalent for his copies of previous
volumes, as it was deemed necessary either to control the work
entirely or to abandon it. The Editor was not willing to think of the
latter, especially as he was encouraged by public approbation, and was
cheered onward in his labors by eminent men both at home and abroad,
and he saw distinctly that the Journal was rendering service not only
to science and the arts, but to the reputation of his country. He
reflected, moreover, that in almost every valuable enterprise
perseverance in effort is necessary to success. He being now sole
proprietor, a new arrangement was made for a single year, the
publishers being at liberty, at the end of that time, to retire, and
the Editor to resume the Journal should he prefer that course.

The latter alternative he adopted, taking upon himself the entire
concern, including both the business and the editorial duties, and of
course, all the correspondence and accounts. From that time the work
has proceeded without interruption, two volumes per annum having been
published for the last twenty years; and its pecuniary claims ceased
to be onerous, although its means have never been large....

Later in the same preface he adds (p. xiv):

It may be interesting to our readers to know something of the
patronage of the Journal. It has never reached one thousand paying
subscribers, and has rarely exceeded seven or eight hundred—for many
years it fluctuated between six and seven hundred.

It has been far from paying a reasonable editorial compensation; often
it has paid nothing, and at present it does little more than pay its
bills. The number of engravings and the extra labor in printer’s
composition, cause it to be an expensive work, while its patronage is
limited.

It is difficult at this date to give any adequate statement of the amount of encouragement and active assistance given to Silliman by his scientific colleagues in New Haven and elsewhere—a subject earlier alluded to. It is fortunately possible, however, to acknowledge the generous aid received by the Journal in the early days from a source near at hand. It has already been noted in another place that the dawning activity of science at New Haven was recognized by the founding of the “Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences,” formally established at New Haven in 1799 and the third scientific body to be organized in this country. From the beginning of the Journal in 1818, the Connecticut Academy freely gave its support both in papers for publication and at least on one occasion later it gave important financial aid. Upon the occasion of the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the Academy on October 11, 1899, Professor, later Governor, Baldwin, the president of the Academy, discusses this subject in some detail. He says in part:

To support his [Silliman’s] undertaking, a vote had been passed in
February [1818], “that the Committee of Publication may allow such of
the Academy’s papers as they think proper, to be published in Mr.
Silliman’s Scientific Journal.”

Free use was made of this authority, and a large part of the contents
of the Journal was for many years drawn from this source. In some
cases this fact was noted in publication;[2] but in most it was
not....

In 1826, when the Journal was in great need of financial support, the
Academy further voted to pay for a year the cost of printing such of
its papers as might be published in it. In Baldwin’s Annals of Yale
College, published in 1831, it is described as a publication
“honorable to the science of our common country,” and having “an
additional value as being adopted as the acknowledged organ of the
Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences.”

Many active campaigns were carried on over the country through paid agents to obtain new subscribers for the Journal and it was doubtless due to these efforts that the nominal subscription list was, at times, as already noted, relatively large as compared with that of a later date. The new subscribers in many cases, however, did not remain permanently interested, often failed to pay their bills, and the uncertain and varying demand upon the supply of printed copies was doubtless one reason why many single numbers became early out of print.

An interesting sidelight is thrown upon the efforts of Silliman to interest the public in his work, at its beginning, by a letter to the editor from Thomas Jefferson, then seventy-five years of age. The writer is indebted to Mr. Robert B. Adam of Buffalo for a copy of this letter and its interest justifies its being reproduced here entire. The letter is as follows:

Monticello, Apr. 11. ’18.

Sir

The unlucky displacement of your letter of Mar 3 has been the cause of
delay in my answer. altho’ I have very generally withdrawn from
subscribing to or reading periodical publications from the love of
rest which age produces, yet I willingly subscribe to the journal you
propose from a confidence that the talent with which it will be edited
will entitle it to attention among the things of select reading for
which alone I have time now left. be so good as to send it by mail,
and the receipt of the 1st number will be considered as announcing
that the work is commenced and the subscription money for a year shall
be forwarded. Accept the assurance of my great esteem and respect.

Th. Jefferson

Professor Silliman.

_Contributors._—An interesting summary is also given by Silliman of the contributors to the Journal and the extent of their work (vol. =50=, pp. xii, xiii); he says:

We find that there have been about 600 contributors of original matter
to the Journal, and we have the unexpected satisfaction of believing
that probably five-sixths of them are still living; for we are not
certain that more than fifty are among the dead; of perhaps fifty more
we are without information, and if that additional number is to be
enrolled among the “stelligeri,” we have still 500 remaining. Among
them are not a few of the veterans with whom we began our career, and
several of these are still active contributors. Shall we then conclude
that the peaceful pursuits of knowledge are favorable to long life?
This we think is, _cœteris paribus_, certainly true: but in the
present instance, another reason can be assigned for the large amount
of survivorship. As the Journal has advanced and death has removed its
scientific contributors, younger men and men still younger, have
recruited the ranks, and volunteers have enlisted in numbers
constantly increasing, so that the flower of the host are now in the
morning and meridian of life.

We have been constantly advancing, like a traveller from the
equinoctial towards the colder zones,—as we have increased our
latitude, stars have set and new stars have risen, while a few
planetary orbs visible in every zone, have continued to cheer us on
our course.

The number of articles, almost exclusively original, contained in the
Journal is about 1800, and the Index will show how many have been
contributed by each individual; we have doubtless included in this
number _some few_ articles republished from foreign Journals—but we
think they are even more than counterbalanced by original
communications without a name and by editorial articles, both of which
have been generally omitted in the enumeration.

Of smaller articles and notices in the Miscellany, we have not made
any enumeration, but they evidently are more numerous than the regular
articles, and we presume that they may amount to at least 2500.

Of party, either in politics or religion, there is no trace in our
work; of personalities there are none, except those that relate to
priority of claims or other rights of individuals. Of these
vindications the number is not great, and we could heartily have
wished that there had been no occasion for any.

_General Scope of Articles._—Many references will be found in the chapters following which throw light upon the character and scope of the papers published in the Journal, particularly in its early years; a few additional statements here may, however, prove of interest.

One feature that is especially noticeable is the frequent publication of articles planned to place before the readers of the Journal in full detail subjects to which they might not otherwise have access. These are sometimes translations; sometimes republications of articles that had already appeared in English periodicals; again, they are exhaustive and critical reviews of important memoirs or books. The value of this feature in the early history of the Journal, when the distribution of scientific literature had nothing of the thoroughness characteristic of recent years, is sufficiently obvious.

It is also interesting to note the long articles of geological description and others giving lists of mineral or botanical localities. Noteworthy, too, is the attempt to keep abreast of occurring phenomena as in the many notes on tornadoes and storms by Redfield, Loomis, etc.; on auroras at different localities; on shooting stars by Herrick, Olmstead and others.

The wide range of topics treated of is quite in accordance with the plan of the editor as given on an earlier page. Some notes, taken more or less at random, may serve to illustrate this point. An extended and quite technical discussion of “Musical Temperament” opens the first number (=1=, pp. 9–35) and is concluded in the same volume (pp. 176–199). An article on “Mystery” is given by Mark Hopkins, A.M., “late a tutor of Williams College” (=13=, 217, 1828). There is an essay on “Gypsies” by J. Griscom (from the Revue Encyclopédique) in volume =24= (pp. 342–345, 1833), while some notes on American gypsies are added in vol. =26= (p. 189, 1834). The “divining rod” is described at length in vol. =11= (pp. 201–212, 1826), but without giving any comfort to the credulous; on the contrary the last paragraph states that “the pretensions of diviners are worthless, etc.” A long article by J. Finch on the forts of Boston harbour appeared in 1824 (=8=, 338–348); the concluding paragraph seems worthy of quotation:

“Many centuries hence, if despotism without, or anarchy within, should
cause the republican institutions of America to fade, then these
fortresses ought to be destroyed, because they would be a constant
reproach to the people; but until that period, they should be
preserved as the noblest monuments of liberty.”

The promise to include the fine arts is kept by the publication of various papers, as of the Trumbull paintings (=16=, 163, 1829); also by a series of articles on “architecture in the United States” (=17=, 99, 1830; =18=, 218, 220, 1830) and others. Quite in another line is the paper by J. W. Gibbs (=33=, 324, 1838) on “Arabic words in English.” A number of related linguistic papers by the same author are to be found in other volumes. Papers in pure mathematics are also not infrequent, though now not considered as falling within the field of the Journal.

Applied science takes a prominent place through all the volume of the First Series. An interesting paper is that on Eli Whitney, containing an account of the cotton gin; this is accompanied by an excellent portrait (=21=, 201–264, 1832). The steam engine and its application are repeatedly discussed and in the early volumes brief accounts are given of the early steamboats in use; for example, between Stockholm and St. Petersburg (=2=, 347, 1820); Trieste and Venice (=4=, 377, 1822); on the Swiss Lakes (=6=, 385, 1823). The voyage of the first Atlantic steamboat, the “Savannah,” which crossed from Savannah to Liverpool in 1819, is described (=38=, 155, 1840); mention is also made of the “first iron boat” (=3=, 371, 1821; =5=, 396, 1822). A number of interesting letters on “Steam Navigation” are given in vol. =35=, 160, 162, 332, 333, 336; some of the suggestions seem very quaint, viewed in the light of the experience of to-day.

A very early form of explosive engine is described at length by Samuel Morey (=11=, 104, 1826); this is an article that deserves mention in these days of gasolene motors. Even more interesting is the description by Charles Griswold (=2=, 94, 1820) of the first _submarine_ invented by David Bushnell and used in the Revolutionary War in August, 1776. An account is also given of a dirigible balloon that may be fairly regarded as the original ancestor of the Zeppelin (see =11=, 346, 1826). The whole subject of aërial navigation is treated at length by H. Strait (=25=, pp. 25, 26, 1834) and the expression of his hopes for the future deserve quotation:

“Conveyance by air can be easily rendered as safe as by water or land,
and more cheap and speedy, while the universal and uniform diffusion
of the air over every portion of the earth, will render aërial
navigation preferable to any other. To carry it into effect, there
needs only an immediate appeal on a sufficiently large scale, to
experiment; reason has done her part, when experiment does hers,
nature will not refuse to sanction the whole. Aërial navigation will
present the works of nature in all their charms; to commerce and the
diffusion of knowledge, it will bring the most efficient aid, and it
can thus be rendered serviceable to the whole human family.”

A subject of quite another character is the first discussion of the properties of chloroform (chloric ether) and its use as an anæsthetic (Guthrie, =21=, 64, 405, 1832; =22=, 105, 1832; Levi Ives, =21=, 406). Further interesting communications are given of the first analyses of the gastric juice and the part played by it in the process of digestion. Dr. William Beaumont of St. Louis took advantage of a patient who through a gun-shot wound was left with a permanent opening into his stomach through which the gastric juice could be drawn off. The results of Dr. Beaumont and of Professor Robley Dunglison, to whom samples were submitted, are given in full in the life of Beaumont by Jesse S. Myer (St. Louis, 1912). The interest of the matter, so far as the Journal is concerned, is chiefly because Dr. Beaumont selected Professor Silliman as a chemist to whom samples for examination were also submitted. An account of Silliman’s results is given in the Beaumont volume referred to (see also =26=, 193, 1834). Desiring the support of a chemist of wider experience in organic analysis, he also sent a sample through the Swedish consul to Berzelius in Stockholm. After some months the sample was received and it is interesting to note in a perfectly fresh condition; it is to be regretted, however, that the Swedish chemist failed to add anything to the results already obtained in this country (=27=, 40b, 1835).

The above list, which might be greatly extended, seems to leave little ground for the implied criticism replied to by Silliman as follows (=16=, p. v, 1829):

A celebrated scholar, while himself an editor, advised me, in a
letter, to introduce into this Journal as much “_readable_” matter as
possible: and there was, pretty early, an earnest but respectful
recommendation in a Philadelphia paper, that Literature, in imitation
of the London Quarterly Journal of Science, &c. should be in form,
inscribed among the titles of the work.

_The Second, Third and Fourth Series._

The SECOND SERIES of the Journal, as already stated, began with January, 1846. Up to this time the publication had been a quarterly or two volumes annually of two numbers each. From 1846 until the completion of an additional fifty volumes in 1871, the Journal was made a bimonthly, each of the two yearly volumes having three numbers each. Furthermore, a general index was given for each period of five years, that is for every ten volumes.

Much more important than this change was the addition to the editorial staff of James Dwight Dana, Silliman’s son-in-law. Dana returned from the four-years cruise of the Wilkes Exploring Expedition in 1842; he settled in New Haven, was married in 1844, and in 1850 was appointed Silliman professor of Geology in Yale College. He was at this time actively engaged in writing his three quarto reports for the Expedition and hence did not begin his active professional duties in Yale College until 1856. Part of his inaugural address was quoted on an earlier page.

Dana had already performed the severe labor of preparing the complete index to the First Series, a volume of about 350 pages, finally issued in 1847. From the beginning of the Second Series he was closely associated with his brother-in-law, the younger Silliman. Later the editorial labor devolved more and more upon him and the larger part of this he carried until about 1890. His work, was, however, somewhat interrupted during periods of ill health. This was conspicuously true during a year’s absence in Europe in 1859–60, made necessary in the search for health; during these periods the editorial responsibility rested entirely upon the younger Silliman. Of Dana’s contributions to science in general this is not the place to speak, nor is the present writer the one to dwell in detail upon his work for the Journal. This subject is to such an extent involved in the history of geology and zoology, the subjects of several succeeding chapters, that it is adequately presented in them.

It may, however, be worth stating that in the bibliography accompanying the obituary notice of Dana (=49=, 329–356, 1895) some 250 titles of articles in the Journal are enumerated; these aggregate approximately 2800 pages. The number of critical notes, abstracts, book reviews, etc., could be also given, were it worth while, but what is much more significant in this connection, than their number or aggregate length, is the fact that these notices are in a large number of cases—like those of Gray in botany—minutely critical and original in matter. They thus give the writer’s own opinion on a multitude of different subjects. It was a great benefit to Dana, as it was to science also, that he had this prompt means at hand of putting before the public the results of his active brain, which continued to work unceasingly even in times of health prostration.

This may be the most convenient place to add that as Dana became gradually less able to carry the burden of the details involved in editing the Journal in addition to his more important scientific labors, particularly from 1890 on, this work devolved more and more upon his son, the present editor, whose name was added to the editorial staff in 1875, with volume =9=, of the Third Series. The latter has served continuously until the present time, with the exception of absences, due to ill health, in 1893–94 and in 1903; during the first of these Professor Henry S. Williams and during the second Professor H. E. Gregory occupied the editorial chair.

The THIRD SERIES began in 1871, after the completion of the one-hundredth volume from the beginning in 1818. At this date the Journal was made a monthly and as such it remains to-day. Fifty volumes again completed this series, which closed in 1895.

The FOURTH SERIES began with January, 1896, and the present number for July, 1918, is the opening one of the forty-sixth volume or, in other words,—the one hundred and ninety-sixth volume of the entire issue since 1818. The Fourth Series, according to the precedent established, will end with 1920.

_Associate Editors._—In 1851 the new policy was introduced of adding “Associate Editors” to the staff. The first of these was Dr. Wolcott Gibbs of Cambridge. He began his duties with the eleventh volume of the Second Series in 1851 and continued them with unceasing care and thoroughness for more than twenty years. In a note dated Jan. 1, 1851 (=11=, 105), he says:

It is my intention in future to prepare for the columns of this
Journal abstracts of the more important physical and chemical memoirs
contained in foreign scientific journals, accompanied by references,
and by such critical observations as the occasion may demand.
Contributions of a similar character from others will of course not be
excluded by this arrangement, but I shall hold myself responsible only
for those notices which appear over my initials.

The departments covered by Dr. Gibbs, in his excellent monthly contributions, embraced chemistry and physics, and these subjects were carried together until 1873 when they were separated and the physical notes were furnished, first by Alfred M. Mayer and later successively by E. C. Pickering (from 1874), J. P. Cooke (from 1877), and John Trowbridge (from 1880). The first instalment of the long series of notes in chemistry and chemical physics by George F. Barker was printed in volume =50=, 1870. He came in at first to occasionally relieve Dr. Gibbs, but soon took the entire responsibility. His name was placed among the associate editors on the cover in 1877 and two years later Dr. Gibbs formally retired. It may be added that from the beginning in 1851 to the present time, the notes in “Chemistry and Physics” have been continued almost without interruption.

The other departments of science have been also fully represented in the notes, abstracts of papers published, book notices, etc., of the successive numbers, but as with the chemistry and physics the subject of botany was long treated in a similar formal manner. For the notes in this department, the Journal was for many years indebted to Dr. Asa Gray, who became associate editor in 1853, two years after Gibbs, although he had been a not infrequent contributor for many years previously. Gray’s contributions were furnished with great regularity and were always critical and original in matter. They formed indeed one of the most valuable features of the Journal for many years; as botanists well appreciate, and, as Professor Goodale has emphasized in his chapter on botany, Gray’s notes are of vital importance in the history of the development of his subject. With Gray’s retirement from active duty, his colleague, George W. Goodale, took up the work in 1888 and in 1895 William G. Farlow, also of Cambridge, was added as an associate editor in cryptogamic botany. At this time, however, and indeed earlier, the sphere of the Journal had unavoidably contracted and botany perforce ceased to occupy the prominent place it had long done in the Journal pages.

This is not the place to present an appreciation of the truly magnificent work of Asa Gray. It may not be out of place, however, to call attention to the notice of Gray written for the Journal by his life-long friend, James D. Dana (=35=, 181, 1888). The opening paragraph is as follows:

“Our friend and associate, Asa Gray, the eminent botanist of America,
the broad-minded student of nature, ended his life of unceasing and
fruitful work on the 30th of January last. For thirty-five years he
has been one of the editors of this Journal, and for more than fifty
years one of its contributors; and through all his communications
there is seen the profound and always delighted student, the
accomplished writer, the just and genial critic, and as Darwin has
well said, ‘The lovable man.’”

The third associate editor, following Gray, was Louis Agassiz, whose work for science, particularly in his adopted home in this country, calls for no praise here. His term of service extended from 1853 to 1866 and, particularly in the earlier years, his contributions were numerous and important. The next gentleman in the list was Waldo I. Burnett, of Boston, who served one year only, and then followed four of Dana’s colleagues in New Haven, of whose generosity and able assistance it would be impossible to say too much. These gentlemen were Brush in mineralogy; Johnson in chemistry, particularly on the agricultural side; Newton in mathematics and astronomy, whose contributions will be spoken of elsewhere; and Verrill—a student of Agassiz—in zoology.

All of these gentlemen, besides their frequent and important original articles, were ever ready not only to give needed advice, but also, to furnish brief communications, abstracts of papers and book reviews, and otherwise to aid in the work. Verrill particularly furnished the Journal a long list of original and important papers, chiefly in systematic zoology, extending from 1865 almost down to the present year. His abstracts and book notices also were numerous and trenchant and it is not too much to say that without him the Journal never could have filled the place in zoology which it so long held. Much later the list of New Haven men was increased by the addition of Henry S. Williams (1894), and O. C. Marsh (1895).

Of the valuable work of those more or less closely associated in the conduct of the Journal at the present time, it would not be appropriate to speak in detail. It must suffice to say that the services rendered freely by them have been invaluable, and to their aid is due a large part of the success of the Journal, especially since the Fourth Series began in 1896. But even this statement is inadequate, for the editor-in-chief has had the generous assistance of other gentlemen, whose names have not been placed on the title page, and who have also played an important part in the conduct of the Journal. This policy, indeed, is not a matter of recent date. Very early in the First Series, Professor Griscom of Paris, as already noted, furnished notes of interesting scientific discoveries abroad. Other gentlemen have from time to time acted in the same capacity. The most prominent of them was Professor Jerome Nicklès of Nancy, France, who regularly furnished a series of valuable notes on varied subjects, chiefly from foreign sources, extending from 1852 to 1869. On the latter date he met an untimely death in his laboratory in connection with experiments upon hydrofluoric acid (=47=, 434, 1869).

It may be added, further, that one of the striking features about the Journal, especially in the earlier half century of its existence, is the personal nature of many of its contributions, which were very frequently in the form of letters written to Benjamin Silliman or J. D. Dana. This is perhaps but another reflection of the extent to which the growth of the magazine centered around these two men, whose wide acquaintance and broad scientific repute made of the Journal a natural place to record the new and interesting things that were being discovered in science.

The following list gives the names and dates of service, as recorded on the Journal title pages, of the gentlemen formally made Associate Editors:

Wolcott Gibbs (2) 11, 1851 to (3) 18, 1879
Asa Gray „ 15, 1853 „ „ 34, 1887
Louis Agassiz „ 16, 1853 „ (2) 41, 1866
Waldo I. Burnett „ 16, 1853 „ „ 17, 1853
George J. Brush „ 35, 1863 „ (3) 18, 1879
Samuel W. Johnson „ 35, 1863 „ „ 18, 1879
Hubert A. Newton (2) 38, 1864 to (4) 1, 1896
Addison E. Verrill „ 47, 1869
Alfred M. Mayer (3) 5, 1873 to (3) 6, 1873
Edward C. Pickering „ 7, 1874 „ „ 13, 1877
George F. Barker „ 14, 1877 „ (4) 29, 1910
Josiah P. Cooke „ 14, 1877 „ (3) 47, 1894
John Trowbridge (3) 19, 1880
George W. Goodale „ 35, 1888
Henry S. Williams „ 47, 1894
Henry P. Bowditch „ 49, 1895 to (4) 8, 1899
William G. Farlow „ 49, 1895
Othniel C. Marsh „ 49, 1895 to (4) 6, 1899
Henry A. Rowland (4) 1, 1896 „ „ 10, 1900
Joseph S. Diller „ 1, 1896
Louis V. Pirsson „ 7, 1899
William M. Davis „ 9, 1900
Joseph S. Ames „ 12, 1901
Horace L. Wells „ 18, 1904
Herbert E. Gregory „ 18, 1904
Horace S. Uhler „ 33, 1912

_Present and Future Conditions._

The field to be occupied by the “American Journal of Science and Arts,” as seen by its founder in 1818 and presented by him in the first number, as quoted entire on an earlier page, was as broad as the entire sphere of science itself. It thus included all the departments of both pure and applied science and extended even to music and fine arts also. As the years went by, however, and the practical applications of science greatly increased, technical journals started up, and the necessity of cultivating this constantly expanding field diminished. It was not, however, until January, 1880, that “the Arts” ceased to be a part of the name by which the Journal was known.

About the same date also—or better a little earlier—began an increasing development of scientific research, particularly as fostered by the graduate schools of our prominent universities. The full presentation of this subject would require much space and is indeed unnecessary as the main facts must be distinct in the mind of the reader. It is only right, however, that the large part played in this movement by the Johns Hopkins University (founded in 1876) should be mentioned here.

As a result of this movement, which has been of great benefit in stimulating the growth of science in the country, many new journals of specialized character have come into existence from time to time. Further localization and specialization of scientific publication have resulted from the increased activity of scientific societies and academies at numerous centers and the springing into existence thereby of new organs of publication through them, as also through certain of the Government Departments, the Carnegie Institution, and certain universities and museums.

As bearing upon this subject, the following list of the more prominent scientific periodicals started in this country since 1867 is not without interest:

1867– . American Naturalist.

1875– . Botanical Bulletin; later Botanical Gazette.

1879–1913. American Chemical Journal.

1880–1915. School of Mines Quarterly.

1883– . Science.

1885– . Journal of Heredity.

1887– . Journal of Morphology.

1887–1908. Technology Quarterly.

1888–1905. American Geologist.

1891– . Journal of Comparative Neurology.

1893– . Journal of Geology.

1893– . Physical Review.

1895– . Astrophysical Journal.

1896– . Journal of Physical Chemistry.

1896– . Terrestrial Magnetism.

1897–1899. Zoological Bulletin; followed by

1900– . Biological Bulletin.

1901– . American Journal of Anatomy.

1904– . Journal of Experimental Zoology.

1905– . Economic Geology.

1906– . Anatomical Record.

1907– . Journal of Economic Entomology.

1911– . Journal of Animal Behavior.

1914– . American Journal of Botany.

1916– . Genetics.

1918– . American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

The result of the whole movement has been of necessity to narrow, little by little, the sphere of a general scientific periodical such as the Journal has been from the beginning. The exact change might be studied in detail by tabulating as to subjects the contents of successive volumes, decade by decade, from 1870 down. It is sufficient, here, however, to recognize the general fact that while the number of original papers published in the periodicals of this country, in 1910, for example, was very many times what it was in 1825, a large part of these have naturally found their home in periodicals devoted to the special subject dealt with in each case. That this movement will continue, though in lessened degree now that the immediate demand is measurably satisfied, is to be expected. At the same time it has not seemed wise, at any time in the past, to formally restrict the pages of the Journal to any single group of subjects. The future is before us and its problems will be met as they arise. At the moment, however, there seems to be still a place for a scientific monthly sufficiently broad to include original papers of important general bearing even if special in immediate subject. In this way it would seem that “Silliman’s Journal” can best continue to meet the ideals of its honored founder, modified as they must be to meet the change of conditions which a century of scientific investigation and growth have wrought. Incidentally it is not out of place to add that a self-supporting, non-subsidized scientific periodical may hope to find a larger number of subscribers from among the workers in science and the libraries if it is not too restricted in scope.

The last subject touched upon introduces the essential matter of financial support without which no monthly publication can survive. With respect to the periodicals of recent birth, listed above, it is safe to say that some form of substantial support or subsidy—often very generous—is the rule, perhaps the universal one. This has never been the case with the American Journal. The liberality and broad-minded attitude of Yale College in the early days, and of the Yale University that has developed from it, have never been questioned. At the same time the special conditions have been such as to make it desirable that the responsibility of meeting the financial requirements should be carried by the editors-in-chief. At present the Yale Library gives adequate payment for certain publications received by the Journal in exchange, though for many years they were given to it as a matter of course, free of charge. Beyond this there is nothing approaching a subsidy.

The difficulties on the financial side met with by the elder Silliman have been suggested, although not adequately presented, in the various statements quoted from early volumes. The same problems in varying degree have continued for the past sixty years. Since 1914 they have been seriously aggravated for reasons that need not be enlarged upon. Prior to that date the subscription list had, for reasons chiefly involved in the development of special journals, been much smaller than the number estimated by Silliman, for example, in volume =50= (p. xiv), although there has been this partial compensation that the considerable number of well-established libraries on the subscription list has meant a greater degree of stability and a smaller proportion of bad accounts. The past four years, however, the Journal, with all similar undertakings here and elsewhere, has been compelled to bear its share of the burden of the world war in diminished receipts and greatly increased expenses. It is gratifying to be able to acknowledge here the generosity of the authors, or of the laboratories with which they have been connected, in their willingness not infrequently to give assistance, for example, in the payment of more or less of the cost of engravings, or in a few special cases a large portion of the total cost of publication. In this way the problem of ways and means, constantly before the editor who bears the sole responsibility, has been simplified.

It should also be stated that as those immediately interested have looked forward to the present anniversary, it has been with the hope that this occasion might be an appropriate one for the establishment of a “Silliman Fund” to commemorate the life and work of Benjamin Silliman. The income of such a fund would lift from the University the burden that must unavoidably fall upon it when the responsibility for the conduct of the Journal can no longer be carried by members of the family including the editor and—as in years long past—a silent partner whose aid on the business side has been essential to the efficiency and economy of the enterprise. Present conditions are not favorable for such a movement, although something has been already accomplished in the desired direction. At the present time every patriotic citizen must feel it his first duty to give his savings as well as his spare income to the support of the National Government in the world struggle for freedom in which it is taking part. But, whatever the exact condition of the future may be, it cannot be questioned that the Journal founded by Benjamin Silliman in 1818 will survive and will continue to play a vital part in the support and further development of science.

The present year of 1918 finds the world at large, and with it the world of science, painfully crushed beneath the overwhelming weight of a world war of unprecedented severity. The four terrible years now nearly finished have seen a fearful destruction of life and property which must have a sad influence on the progress of science for many years to come. Only in certain restricted lines has there been a partial compensation in the stimulating influence due to the immediate necessities connected with the great conflict. One hundred years ago “the reign of war” was keenly in the mind of the editor in beginning his work, but for him, happily, the long period of the Napoleonic wars was already in the past, as also the brief conflict of 1812, in which this country was engaged and in which Silliman himself played a minor part. We, too, must believe, no matter how serious the outlook of the present moment, that a fundamental change will come in the not distant future; the nations of the world must sooner or later turn once more to peaceful pursuits and the scientific men of different races must become again not enemies but brothers engaged in the common cause of uplifting human life. The peace that we look forward to to-day is not for this country alone, but a peace which shall be a permanent blessing to the entire world for ages to come.

NOTE.—The portrait which forms the frontispiece of this volume has been reproduced from the plate in volume =50= (1847). The original painting was made by H. Willard in 1835, when Silliman was in Boston engaged in delivering the Lowell lectures; he was then nearly fifty-six years of age. The engraving, as he states elsewhere, was made from this painting for the Yale Literary Magazine, and was published in the number for December, 1839.

It is interesting to quote the remarks with which the editor introduces the portrait (=50=, xviii, 1847). He says:

The portrait prefixed to this volume was engraved for a very different
purpose and for others than the patrons of this Journal. It has been
suggested by friends, whose judgment we are accustomed to respect,
that it ought to find a place here, since it is regarded as an
authentic, although, perhaps, a rather austere resemblance. In
yielding to this suggestion, it may be sufficient to quote the
sentiment of Cowper on a similar occasion, who remarked—“that after a
man has, for many years, turned his mind _inside out_ before the
world, it is only affectation to attempt to hide his face.”

_Notes._

Footnote 1:

The statements given are necessarily much condensed, without an
attempt to follow all changes of title; furthermore, the dates of
actual publication for the academies given above are often somewhat
vaguely recorded. For fuller information see Scudder’s “Catalogue of
Scientific Serials, 1633–1876,” Cambridge, 1876; also H. Carrington
Bolton’s “Catalogue of Scientific and Technical Periodicals,
1665–1882” (Smithsonian Institution, 1885). The writer is much
indebted to Mr. C. J. Barr, Assistant Librarian of Yale University
Library, for his valuable assistance in this connection.

Footnote 2:

The following footnote accompanies the opening article of the first
volume of the Journal. “From the MS. papers of the Connecticut
Academy, now published by permission.” Similar notes appear elsewhere.
Ed.

II
A CENTURY OF GEOLOGY.—THE PROGRESS OF HISTORICAL GEOLOGY IN NORTH
AMERICA

By CHARLES SCHUCHERT

_Introduction._

The American Journal of Science, “one of the greatest influences in American geology,” founded in 1818, has published a little more than 92,000 pages of scientific matter. Of geology, including mineralogy, there appear to be upward of 20,000 pages. What a vast treasure house of geologic knowledge is stored in these 194 volumes, and how well the editors have lived up to their proposed “plan of work” as stated in the opening volume, where Silliman says: “It is designed as a deposit for original American communications” in “the physical sciences ... and especially our mineralogy and geology” (=1=, v, 1818)! Not only is it the oldest continuously published scientific journal of this country, but it has proved itself to be “perhaps the most important geological periodical in America” (Merrill). It is impossible to adequately present in this memorial volume of the Journal the contents of the articles on the geological sciences.

Editor Silliman was not only the founder of the Journal, but the generating center for the making of geologists and promoting geology during the rise of this science in America. For nearly three decades, the workers came to him for counsel and help, and he had a kind paternal word for them all. This influence is also shown in the many letters which were addressed to him, and which he published in the Journal. A similar influence, paternal care, and constructive criticism were continued by James D. Dana, and especially in his earlier career as editor.

Not including mineralogy, there are in the Journal upward of 1500 distinct articles on geology. Of these, over 400 are on vertebrate paleontology, about 325 on invertebrate paleontology, and 90 on paleobotany. Of articles bearing on historical geology there are about 160, and on stratigraphic geology more than 360. In addition to all this, there are more than 2000 pages of geologic matter relating to books and of letters communicated to the editors Silliman and Dana. We may summarize with Doctor Merrill’s statement in his well-known Contributions to the History of American Geology:

“From its earliest inception geological notes and papers occupied a
prominent place in its pages, and a perusal of the numbers from the
date of issue down to the present time will, alone, afford a fair idea
of the gradual progress of American geology.”

Before presenting a synopsis of the more important steps in the progress of historical geology in America, it will be well to introduce a rapid survey of the rise of geology in Europe, for, after all, American geology grew out of that of England, France and Germany. This dependence was conspicuously true during the first four decades of the previous century. With the rise of the first New York State Survey (1836–1843) and that of Pennsylvania (1836–1844, 1858), American geology became more or less independent of Europe. Finally, this article will conclude with a survey of the rise of paleometeorology, paleogeography, evolution, and invertebrate paleontology.

_The Rise of Geology in Europe._

_Mineral Geology._—The geological sciences had their rise in the study of minerals as carried on by the German chemist and physician George Bauer (1494–1555), better known as Agricola. Bauer originated the critical study of minerals, but did not distinguish his “fossilia,” the remains of organisms, from the inorganic crystal forms. Mineral geology endured until the close of the eighteenth century.