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the most of whom have been' able to give to this work and to their 

 studies onlj r the leisure moments snatched from their daily voca- 

 tions, we may well be astonished at the results it has accomplished 

 results which compare favorably in many respects with those 

 achieved by similar institutions, which for many years have been 

 sustained by the kingly governments of Europe. By fostering 

 science it has proven itself a benefactor of mankind. For the 

 labors of scientific men, though often but little heeded when first 

 promulgated, or looked upon as curious, and, it may be, as use- 

 less speculations, are really not lifeless germs. Like seed fallen 

 b} r the wayside, though neglected for a while, they nevertheless 

 spring up in due time and blossom and bear fruit ; like the tiny 

 brooks which feed the mighty river upon whose bosom the com- 

 merce of a great nation is ultimately to be borne, they find, at 

 length, a marvellous expression in the practical affairs of every-day 

 life. 



To appreciate properly the efforts of the Academy we should 

 contemplate for a moment what science has done for mankind, 

 especially during the last sixty }^ears. 



Look for a moment at savage man, who finds in his material 

 wants, the first incentive to the employment of his powers of ob- 

 servation in the acquisition of natural knowledge. Inferior to 

 many of the lower animals in the keenness of his senses, he has, 

 vastly more than the}', felt the pressure of the external world upon 

 him. The necessity of obtaining subsistence, providing shelter 

 against the weather, and means of defence against his enemies, 

 arouses his dormant intellectual energies. He begins to observe 

 how sunshine, rain, and wind affect the growth of the plants 

 around him, especially those supplying him with a portion of his 

 daily food ; how the germinating seed is developed into a plant ; 

 how the plant blossoms and bears fruit. He learns to distinguish 

 nutritive from poisonous plants, observes the effects of fire and of 

 natural forces, scans the starry heavens with eyes brimful of 

 superstitious wonder, and learns at length to couple the motions 

 of the heavenly bodies with the ever-recurring changes of the sea- 

 sons. Thus, face to face with the unalterable facts, the inexorable 

 laws of nature, his reason enters feebly upon that career of inquiry 

 which, though its immediate and pressing object is simply the 

 amelioration of his physical condition, is destined, after long ages, 

 to place him in possession of those classified groups of facts and 



