IV NOTES BY THE EDITOR 



that mission which Bacon, the great father of modern science, ap- 

 pointed for it, when he wrote, that ' the legitimate goal of the sciences 

 is the endowment of human life with new inventions and riches,' and 

 when he sought for a natural philosophy which, not spending its energy 

 on barren disquisitions, ' should be operative for the benefit and endow- 

 ment of mankind.' 



" Looking, then, to the fact that, whilst in our time all the sciences 

 have yielded this fruit, I shall probably best discharge the duties of the 

 office I have the honor to fill by stating, as briefly as possible, the more 

 recent scientific discoveries which have so influenced the relations of 

 social life. 



" The history of man, throughout the gradations and changes which 

 he undergoes in advancing from a primitive barbarism to a state of 

 civilization, shows that he has been chiefly stimulated to the cultiva- 

 tion of science, and the development of his inventive powers, by the 

 urgent necessity of providing for his wants and securing his safety. 

 There is no nation, however barbarous, which does not inherit the 

 germs of civilization, and there is scarcely any which has not done 

 something towards applying the rudiments of science to the purposes 

 of daily life. 



" Again, if we compare man as he exists in small communities with 

 his condition where large numbers are congregated together, we find 

 that densely-populated countries are the most prolific in inventions, 

 and advance most rapidly in science. Because the wants of the many 

 are greater than those of the few, there is a more vigorous struggle 

 against the natural limitations of supply, a more careful husbanding 

 of resources ; and there are more minds at work. 



" Astronomy. Without tracing the details of the history of astro- 

 nomical science, we may notice that in more recent tunes astronomical 

 discoveries have been closely connected with high mechanical skill 

 in the construction of instruments of precision. The telescope has 

 enormously increased the catalogue of the fixed stars, or those ' land- 

 marks of the universe,' as Sir John Herschel terms them, ' which never 

 deceive the astronomer, navigator, or surveyor.' The number of known 

 planets and asteroids has also been greatly enlarged. The discovery 

 of Uranus resulted immediately from the perfection attained by Sir 

 William Herschel in the construction of his telescope. More recently, 

 the structure of the nebulas has been unfolded through the application 

 to their study of the colossal telescope of Lord Rosse. 



" Our knowledge of the physical constitution of the central body of 

 our system seems likely, at the present time, to be much increased: 

 The spots on the sun's disk were noticed by Galileo and his conteni- 



