THE PARALLEL ROADS OF GLEN ROY. 309 



shown itself. Should it do so, however, we may, perhaps, make ar- 

 rangements for elementary instruction in those subjects, under the 

 more immediate superintendence of Dr. Brooks, our associate in biol- 

 ogy, upon whose shoulders I must throw most of the burden of that 

 side of the work. We shall, at any rate, collect material and make 

 other preparations for such a course next year. After Christmas Dr. 

 Brooks will give a course of lectures on "Morphological Theories." 



For the present, too, we shall have in the laboratory several well- 

 trained zoologists and morphologists ; some engaged in prosecuting 

 advanced studies, others in research. I fancy all of them are (as they 

 ought to be) pretty well qualified to take care of themselves ; but Dr. 

 Brooks and myself will do our best to give them such assistance as 

 they may need, and to make arrangements by which they can be sup- 

 plied with such material as they require. 



In conclusion, let me say a word to those of you here present who 

 are to be the first workers with me in this laboratory. It behooves 

 you as well as me to recognize what a heavy responsibility lies upon 

 us. Upon the work that we do and the spirit in which we do it, upon 

 the character we give our laboratory at its start, much of its future 

 success or failure depends. If we all work honestly and thoroughly, 

 it will win esteem and reputation ; if we are careless and half-hearted, 

 it will become of low repute. Let us, then, each work loyally, ear- 

 nestly, truthfully, so that when the time comes, as it will come sooner 

 or later, in one way or another, to each of us, to depart hence, we 

 may carry with us a good conscience, and be able to say that in 

 our time no slipshod piece of work ever left the laboratory; that no 

 error we knew of was persisted in ; that our only desire was to know 

 the truth. Let us leave a record which, if it perchance contain the 

 history of no great feat in the memory of which our successors will 

 glory, will at least contain not one jot or one tittle of which they can 

 be ashamed. 



THE PAKALLEL ROADS OF GLEN" ROY. 



FROM a lecture recently delivered by Prof. Tyndall before the 

 Royal Institution, we gather the following facts in regard to 

 that natural wonder in Scotland, which for so long remained a puzzle 

 to all investigators. There is an unusual interest centred around its 

 history, from the time when the country-people explained it by their 

 crude and half-mythical theories, to the time when it became a labor 

 of love for the untiring efforts and acute observations of scientists. 



The earliest published allusion to these roads was made in a work 

 brought before the public a century ago, but no systematic descrip- 

 tion of them appeared before 1817. They are found in the district of 



