EDITOR'S TABLE. 



619 



" of the relative lengths of the ages 

 and periods, or their time-ratios," and 

 says " future discovery will probably 

 enable the geologist to determine these 

 ratios with far greater certainty and 

 precision. Although geology has no 

 means of substituting positive lengths 

 of time in place of such ratios, it af- 

 fords facts sufficient to prove the gen- 

 eral proposition that Time is long." 

 This " proof " we hold as demonstra- 

 tion; and the substitution of " relative 

 lengths of ages and periods " for " posi- 

 tive lengths of time " certainly justifies 

 the use of the term "incalculable" as 

 applied to them. 



We had said that "it is a demon- 

 strated truth of Nature that matter is 

 indestructible," and Dr. Deems asks: 

 " When, where, and how, was this ever 

 ' demonstrated ? ' Even if it be true that 

 matter is indestructible, can it be dem- 

 onstrated? Dare any but an infinite in- 

 tellect make such an assertion ? " It 

 was a theory held for thousands of years 

 that, in the workings of Nature, matter 

 is constantly created and destroyed 

 comes out of nothing and goes back to 

 nothing. Modern science brought this 

 theory to the test of experiment, and 

 showed that it was erroneous. No facts 

 were found to sustain it, but, on the 

 contrary, all the facts prove the truth 

 of the opposite theory, that the changes 

 of matter are changes of form, and that 

 matter itself is indestructible. A the- 

 ory is demonstrated when all the facts 

 verify it. Every experiment and ob- 

 servation in the whole body of sci- 

 ence, physical and chemical ; every fact, 

 induction, and deduction, reached by 

 the human mind, confirms the truth of 

 the indestructibility of matter, and 

 there is no shadow of evidence against 

 it. What is this but a demonstration? 

 And, if the proposition is sustained by 

 this high degree of proof, we fail to see 

 what there is of " daring " in giving it 

 a label that expresses the fact. 



There remains another important 

 point suggested by a question of Dr. 



Deems, which, for want of space, wo 

 put over to next month. 



PROFESSOR MORSE'S LECTURES. 



Prof. Moese has been quietly de- 

 livering a course of four lectures, in the 

 large hall of the Cooper Institute in 

 this city, on "Evolution." We say 

 quietly, because there has not been 

 much said about them by the press, as 

 they have been given in the admirable 

 series of free Saturday evening lectures 

 that run through the season, and have 

 become matters of course with the lect- 

 ure-going public. Yet these lectures 

 of Morse's might well have attracted 

 the prominent attention of our news- 

 papers, as they were unequaled in the 

 skillful presentation of biological facts 

 and principles commonly dry and for- 

 bidding, so as to be perfectly understood 

 and intensely relished by large audi- 

 ences of non-scientific people. Prof. 

 Morse has remarkable gifts as a lectur- 

 er, and in the field of science is without 

 a peer on the American platform. In 

 the first place, he knows his subject 

 thoroughly, and is charged to overflow- 

 ing with its latest and freshest facts 

 and illustrations. In the second place, 

 he has a faculty of rapid and accurate 

 delineation of the forms and structures 

 of life that he is dealing with, that is 

 unique and unapproachable by any 

 other man that we ever saw work with 

 the blackboard. He chalks as fast as 

 he talks, and while he talks,, and with- 

 out spoiling his talking; and by his 

 marvelous creations he holds his audi- 

 tors as closely through their eyes as 

 their ears. His manner as a speaker is, 

 moreover, free, colloquial, spirited, and 

 impressive, and his utterances vigorous, 

 pointed, and racy. These arts are, 

 however, all subordinate to the solid 

 work of instruction. The last lecture 

 of his course, although dealing appar- 

 ently with technical and formidable sci- 

 entific facts concerning the relations of 



