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.
[Illustration: Edward S. Dana]
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).
[Illustration: Wolcott Gibbs]
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.