magnitude and variety of the interests involved in its action, such system must of necessity be under the supreme control of Government. Science will never take its proper place among the chief elements of national greatness and advancement until it is acknowledged as such by that embodiment of the national will which we call the Government. Nor can the various institutions for its advancement develope duly their usefulness until the chaos in which they are now plunged gives place to such order as it is the proper function of Government to establish and maintain. But Government has already taken, and is continuing to take, action in various matters affecting elementary popular education and higher scientific education, and it would be difficult to arrest such action, even if it were thought desirable to do so. The only practical question to be considered is how the action of Government can be systematized so as to give free play to the natural forces which have to do the work." In expounding the present state of chemical science in the terms of the atomic theory, he said, "Every good analysis of a pure compound leads to results which approximate to those required by the atomic theory, and chemists trust so thoroughly to the truth of that guide that they correct the results of such analysis by the aid of it. The chemical idea of atoms serves for two purposes-1. It gives a clear and consistent explanation of an immense number of facts discovered by experiment, and enables us to compare them with one another and to classify them. 2. It leads to the anticipation of new facts by suggesting new compounds which may be made; at the same time, it teaches us that no compounds can exist with their constituents in any other than atomic proportions, and that experiments which imply the existence of any such compound are faulty. We have the testimony of the great Berzelius to the flood of light which the idea of atoms at once threw on the facts respecting combining proportions which had been accumulated before it was made known, and from that time forward its value has rapidly increased aş each succeeding year augmented the number of facts which it explained. Numberless new compounds have been discovered under the guidance of the idea of atoms, and in proportion as our knowledge of substances and of their properties becomes more extensive, and our view of their characteristics more accurate and general, we shall be able to perceive the outlines of their general arrangement, and to recognize the characteristics of various classes of substances. I wish I could have the pleasure of describing to you the origin and nature of some of these admirable discoveries, such as homologous series, types, radicals, &c.; but it is more to our purpose to consider the effect which they have had upon the idea of atoms-an idea which, still in its infancy, was plunged into the intellectual turmoil arising from a variety of novel and original theories suggested respectively by independent workers as best suited for the explanation of the particular phenomena to which their attention was mainly directed. Each of these workers was inclined to attach quite sufficient importance to his own new idea, and to sacrifice for its sake any other one capable of interfering with its due development. The father of the atomic theory was no more, and the little infant had no chance of life unless from its own sterling merits it were found useful in the work still going on. What, then, was the result? Did it perish like an ephemeral creation of human fancy, or did it survive and gain strength by the inquiries of those who questioned Nature and knew how to read her answers? Although anticipating my answer to these questions, you will probably be surprised to hear the

actual result which I have to record-a result so wonderful that the more I think of it the more I marvel at it. Not only did these various theories contain nothing at variance with the atomic theory; they were found to be natural and necessary developments of it, and to serve for its application to a variety of phenomena which were unknown to its founder. Among the improvements of our knowledge of atoms which have taken place I ought to mention the better evaluations of the relative weight of atoms of different kinds which have been made since Dalton's time. More accurate experiments than those which were then on record have shown us that certain atoms are a little heavier or lighter than was then believed, and the work of perfecting our observations is constantly going on with the aid of better instruments and methods of operation. But, apart from these special corrections, a more sweeping change has taken place, not in consequence of more accurate experiments interpreted in the usual way, but in consequence of a more comprehensive view of the best experimental results which had been obtained, and a more consistent interpretation of them." After giving some examples, he continued: "This change was brought about by what I may be permitted to call the operation of stock-taking. Dalton first took stock of our quantitative facts in a business-like manner; but the amount and variety of our chemical stock increased so enormously after his time that the second stocktaking absorbed the labours of several men for a good many years. They were men of different countries and very various turns of mind; but, as I mentioned just now, they found no other fundamental idea to work with than Dalton's, and the result of their labours has been to confirm the truth of that idea and to extend greatly its application." In advocating the merits of the atomic theory, however, the Professor was compelled to glance at its opponents. After dwelling on some technical details, he said, "I cannot quit this part of our subject without alluding to the fact that some few chemists, of such eminence as to be entitled to the most respectful attention, have of late years expressed an opinion that the idea of atoms is not necessary for the explanation of the changes in the chemical constitution of matter, and have sought as far as possible to exclude from their language any allusion to atoms. It would be out of place on this occasion to enter into any discussion of the questions thus raised; but I think it right to point out-1. That these objectors have not shown us any inconsistency in the atomic theory, nor in the conclusions to which it leads. 2. That neither those nor any other philosophers have been able to explain the facts of chemistry on the assumption that there are no atoms, but that matter is infinitely divisible. 3. That when they interpret their analyses these chemists allow themselves neither more nor less latitude than the atomic theory allows-in fact, they are unconsciously guided by it."

On the interesting subject of coal, Professor Phillips in the Geological Section said that to determine the extent of the British coal-fields, and the probable duration of the treasures which they yield, and to discover, if possible, other fields quite undreamt of by practical colliers, were problems which geology had been invited to solve; and much progress has been made in these important inquiries by private research and the aid of a public Commission. "The questions most interesting to the community--the extent to which known coal-fields reach beneath superior strata, and the situation of other fields having no outcrop to the surface-can," he said, "often be

answered on purely geological grounds, within not very wide limits of probability. If, for example, we ask how far to the eastward the known coalstrata may extend under the Vale of York, a reasonable answer is furnished by Mr. Hull and the Government Commission. The whole great coal deposit, extending from Bradford to Nottingham, passes under the magnesian limestone, and may be found for at least a few miles in breadth within attainable depths. It passes under a part of the Vale of York, probably south of the city. But before attempting to give a practical value to this opinion, it may be well to remember that, fully tried, the experiment would be too costly for individual enterprise, while if successful it would benefit more than a county; and that not only a large outlay must be provided for it, but arrangements made for persevering through several years in the face of many difficulties, and perhaps eventual disappointment. Still, sooner or later the trial must be made, and geology must direct the operation."

In a paper on the ethnology of Yorkshire, Dr. John Beddoe made some amusing practical observations. He said, "The breadth of the head is on the average somewhat greater in Yorkshire than in other parts of Britain; so we are informed by the hatters. In this the natives of Yorkshire agree with those of Denmark and Norway, who have rather broader heads than those of Sweden and of Friesland. As to the colours of the eyes and hair, the latter is on the whole lighter in Yorkshire than in most parts of England, but dull rather than bright shades prevail. In the east, at Whitby, Bridington, and Beverley, in Teesdale and Middle Airedale, light hair is particularly abundant; in Craven, as might have been expected, it is less so. As to the stature and bulk of the people, he had much and accurate information, through the kindness of numerous observers, some of them of repute as naturalists. The general result is," said Dr. Beddoe, “that in the rural districts they are remarkably tall and stalwart, though not, except in parts of the west, so heavy as their apparent size would indicate; but that in the towns, and especially in Sheffield, they are rapidly degenerating; and he concluded from the Haworth report that the same is the case in the manufacturing villages. In few parts of Britain does there exist a more clearly marked moral type. To that of the Irish it has hardly any affinity; but the Scotchman and the Southern Englishman alike recognize the differences which distinguish the Yorkshire character from their own, but are not so apt to appreciate the numerous respective points of resemblance. The character is essentially Teutonic, including the shrewdness, the truthfulness without candour, the perseverance, energy, and industry of the Scotch, but little of their frugality, or of the theological instinct common to the Welsh and Scotch, or of the imaginative genius, or the more brilliant qualities which sometimes light up the Scottish character. The sound judgment, the spirit of fair play, the love of comfort, order, and cleanliness, and the fondness for heavy feeding are shared with the Saxon Englishman; but some of them are still more strongly marked in the Yorkshireman, as is also the bluff independence a very fine quality when it does not degenerate into selfish rudeness. The aptitude for music was remarked by Giraldus Cambrensis seven centuries ago; and the taste for horseflesh seems to have descended from the old Norsemen, though it may have been fostered by local circumstances. The mind, like the body, is generally very vigorous and energetic, and extremely well adapted to commercial and industrial pursuits, as well as to the culti

vation of the exact sciences; but a certain defect in imaginative power must be admitted, and is probably one reason, though obviously not the only one, why Yorkshire until quite modern times was generally behindhand in politics and religion, and why the number of her sons who since Cadmon have attained to high eminence in literature is not above the average of England." Professor Allman delivered an address on the present aspects of biology and the method of biological study. He dwelt at length on the doctrine of evolution, because it has given a new direction to biological study, and must powerfully influence all future researches; and whether we do or do not accept it as firmly established, it is at all events certain that it embraces a greater number of phenomena and suggests a more satisfactory explanation of them than any other hypothesis which has been yet proposed. He did not, however, wish to shut his eyes to difficulties in the way of accepting it when carried to the extreme length for which some of its advocates contend, and he regarded as the chief of these the unbroken continuity of inherited life which it necessarily requires through a period of time whose vastness is such that the mind of man is utterly incapable of comprehending it. But even though we admit all these difficulties, it still remains as a working hypothesis, which, like certain algebraic fictions, may yet be of inestimable value as an instrument of research. For as the higher calculus becomes to the physical inquirer a power by which he unfolds the laws of the inorganic world, so may the hypothesis of evolution, though only an hypothesis, furnish the biologist with a key to the order and hidden forces of the world of life; and what Leibnitz and Newton and Hamilton have been to the physicist, is it not this which Darwin has been to the biologist? But even accepting as a great truth the doctrine of evolution, he would not attribute to it more than it can fully claim, for there remains a residual phenomenon still unaccounted for. No physical hypothesis founded on any indisputable fact has yet explained the origin of the primordial protoplasm, and, above all, of its marvellous properties, which render evolution possible-in heredity and in adaptivity, for these properties are the cause and not the effect of evolution. For the cause of this cause we have sought in vain among the physical forces which surround us, until we are at last compelled to rest upon an independent volition, a far-seeing, intelligent design. Science may yet discover, even among the laws of physics, the cause it looks for, but all this is only carrying one step back in the grand generalization. All science is but the intercalation, each more comprehensive than that which it endeavours to explain, between the great primal cause and the ultimate effect.

In the Geographical Section Mr. Clements Markham strongly advocated further Arctic exploration with Government aid. The event, he said, which, during the present year, has added most powerfully to the arguments in favour of an Arctic Expedition by way of Smith Sound, is the news of the remarkable success of Captain Hall's Expedition. That intrepid explorer sailed in a wooden river gun-boat of 387 tons, without the aid of naval discipline or of experienced officers, and with a crew consisting partly of Esquimaux and their wives. Yet, during the month of August, 1871, he sailed up the long strait or channel, the entrance to which is alone called Smith Sound, and reached a latitude of 82° 16' N. This is the most northern point that any vessel has ever yet reached. Here the little steamer was beset, but there was a water horizon to the north-east,

Y

and this point had been attained without check or obstacle of any kind Captain Hall died during the winter, and has the glory of finding a final resting-place in the midst of his discoveries. A current of about a knot an hour carried the vessel out into Baffin's Bay, and disasters followed, which are exclusively referable to the organization of the expedition, and would no have occurred to a ship commanded by naval officers and manned by man-ofwar's men. On this point, after the experience of the " Polaris," Mr. Robeson, the American Secretary of the Navy, is fully in accord with all English Arctic authorities. He says, "There is little of either success or safety in any trying, dangerous, and distant expedition which is not organized, prosecuted, and controlled under the sanctions of naval discipline. This voyage of the "Polaris" is very encouraging. We know now that a mere river steamer of small power passed up Smith Sound, without any check, for a direct distance of 250 miles. If she could make such a voyage without difficulty, it may fairly be anticipated that a properly equipped expedition, consisting of powerfully-built steamers thoroughly adapted for ice navigation, would do more. Another most important feature in this voyage is the fact that the "Polaris" was safely drifted out into Baffin's Bay from a high northern position in the strait. This proves that the current keeps the ice in motion, and carries it south, thus preventing any long interruption of navigation. A third feature in the voyage of the "Polaris is that at the winter quarters in 81° 38′ N. the climate was milder than it is further south, and animal life abounded, including musk oxen. This account corroborates that of Dr. Hayes, who was able to supply his men with plenty of fresh provisions in the less hospitable region near the entrance of Smith Sound, A Government Expedition, with properly organized hunting parties, will thus be able to obtain considerable supplies of fresh meat, and thus add to the prospect of keeping the men in health and vigour. These considerations add force to the already convincing arguments in favour of Arctic exploration by a naval expedition. All disasters of late years have been due to expeditions being equipped by private persons without proper means, and without the advantage of naval discipline. Thus none of the brave Americans who have attempted to explore Smith Sound have even been sailors, and Dr. Kane's vessel was so badly equipped that his crew was actually living on salt meat. But, in a well-supplied vessel, under naval auspices, the Arctic regions have proved to be of all seas visited by men-of-war the most healthy. It is to increased knowledge in naval hygiene, to the attention paid to the cleanliness, warmth, and ventilation of the ships, to the good quality of the provisions, and, above all, to the preservation of discipline and cheerfulness among the crews, that this immunity from sickness is due. In ten expeditions engaged in the search for Sir John Franklin, out of 1878 men the percentage of deaths was only 1.7. This is lower than on any other naval station, and proves that the risk from climate and accidents, which is run during an Arctic Government Expedition, is not greater than that which the " Challenger ” will incur during her cruise round the world.

The subject of the origin of life, which came prominently into notice in our last year's scientific summary, was taken up by Professor B. Sanderson, who read a paper entitled "Remarks on Professor Huizinger's Experiments on Spontaneous Generation." He said the controversy upon Dr. Bastian's celebrated infusions had now waxed so warm that the advocates upon each