850 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



at points of average accessibility ; but, 

 as tbe policy of the Association em- 

 braces the whole country in the sphere 

 of its influence, and as it is designed, at 

 least partially, to encourage the popu- 

 lar interest in science by visiting suc- 

 cessively all the leading cities, it is well 

 that outlying places should not be ha- 

 bitually neglected. The strangers were 

 welcomed with the most hospitable en- 

 tertainment by the citizens of Minne- 

 apolis, and everything was done to 

 make their visit agreeable. 



The work of the American Associa- 

 tion on this occasion was excellent on 

 the whole, and does not suffer by com- 

 parison with that of previous gather- 

 ings. There was a large list of papers 

 of quite average merit, and some of 

 them of unusual interest. Able ad- 

 dresses were delivered by the chair- 

 men of the sections, and the one by Pro- 

 fessor Rowland, of Johns Hopkins Uni- 

 versity, before the Section of Physics, 

 we hope to give our readers in the next 

 number of the "Monthly." The retiring 

 president, Principal Dawson, of Mont- 

 real, gave an able address on " Some 

 Unsolved Problems in Geology," the 

 first part of which will be found in our 

 columns this month. It is mainly devot- 

 ed to a discussion of the evolution hy- 

 pothesis, of which Dr. Dawson can not 

 be claimed as an adherent, and he im- 

 proved the occasion to give a forcible 

 exposition of its difficulties from the 

 geological point of view. It is undeni- 

 able that these difficulties are many and 

 formidable, and it will, no doubt, take a 

 long time to clear them up, while the so- 

 lution of still unresolved problems will 

 very possibly result in important modi- 

 fications of the theory as now enter- 

 tained. But the establishment of the 

 doctrine of evolution as a comprehen- 

 sive law of nature is no longer depend- 

 ent upon its freedom from embarrass- 

 ments or that absolute completeness of 

 proof which will only become possiblo 

 with the future extension of knowledge. 

 Notwithstanding these drawbacks, the 



evidence for it is so varied, so consist- 

 ent, and so irresistible, as to compel its 

 broad acceptance by men of science, 

 who, while disagreeing upon many of its 

 questions, acknowledge that it is now 

 indispensable as a guide to the most 

 multifarious investigations. It is grati- 

 fying to observe that the spirit of pas- 

 sion, dogmatism, and prejudice, which 

 has been so rife in connection with this 

 discussion during the past generation, is 

 measurably subsiding, and that the con- 

 troverted questions that remain are con- 

 sidered with increasing calmness, can- 

 dor, and loyalty to truth. 



CONCERNING Q UA CKER T. 



Some offense has been taken at parts 

 of Dr. Shepherd's article on " Medical 

 Quacks and Quackeries," which ap- 

 peared in our June issue. The writer 

 ranked homoeopathy as a form of quack- 

 ery, and cited certain of the dogmas of 

 Hahnemann, founder of the school, in 

 justification of his charge. " The Pop- 

 ular Science Monthly " is censured for 

 lending the weight of its authority to 

 this accusation, and we have received 

 sundry replies to Dr. Shepherd's stric- 

 tures, of various merit, one of which, 

 from an eminent source, is herewith 

 printed. 



It seems hardly correct to charpe 

 the "Monthly" with lending its influ- 

 ence to partisan objects in this matter, 

 because the expression of an opinion on 

 the part of a contributor by no means 

 commits the magazine to it. Many pe- 

 riodicals advertise that the editors do 

 not hold themselves responsible for the 

 views of their writers: we have not 

 done this, because it seemed superflu- 

 ous. "We often print statements with 

 which we do not agree, and sometimes 

 express dissent; but it by no means fol- 

 lows that a failure to protest is to be 

 construed into an indorsement of all 

 that appears in our pages; while cer- 

 tainly no one would expect that we 

 should limit ourselves to printing only 



