HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



12" 



or too frequent visits of anserine guests. At Clifden, 

 however, the people were more fully clothed, and 

 the houses better and cleaner, whitewash being fre- 

 quently indulged in, and this we were glad to see, for 

 in Connemara whitewash and prosperity are said to 

 go together. 



THE EFFECT OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES 

 UPON OUR NATIONAL CHARACTER. 



By F. W. Morriss. 



THIS subject is one of great importance, and well 

 worthy of the attention of all connected with 

 scientific societies. In considering the subject it is 

 needful to form a clear idea of the noblest character 

 a nation can possess. 



The word " righteousness " seems to me to convey 

 the best idea, as being the result of the right use of 

 reason, the primary cause being the proper education 

 of the mind. 



The national character is neither derived from the 

 rich, nor from the poor alone. All grades of society, 

 from the royal household to the ploughman's cottage, 

 perform their part, and are engaged in the construc- 

 tion of that vast edifice, the beauty and safety of 

 which will be according to style of workmanship and 

 quality of material employed. Every individual has, 

 more or less, his or her share in the work. The 

 working-man is generally dependent upon himself for 

 the amount of true happiness that falls to his lot, that 

 is to say, the business which provides for himself and 

 family their necessary daily wants, is bound to be 

 performed on honest grounds ; for on the one hand, 

 he finds the laws of his country demand it, and on 

 the other, his friends would desert him if he were 

 dishonest, and poverty would be his reward. So the 

 working-man has a certain amount of restriction to 

 endure in his business hours which forces him to 

 adorn his character in a becoming manner, to suit his 

 employers or customers. Now, in his recreative 

 hours there is not materially the same amount of re- 

 striction upon him as in his working hours. It is for 

 him to use his spare time as to him seems best. It is, 

 then, in his recreation we find all the influences of vice 

 and folly offering themselves in disguise to his mind. 



On tracing the history of humanity from the time 

 when Rome was mistress of the world, to the present 

 day, we may notice how greatly the national charac- 

 ter depends upon what man does in his recreative 

 hours. The Roman youth, who were given more to 

 the study of their bodily improvement, produced a 

 nation for a time to be feared by all the known world ; 

 but this was only for a very, very short time. The 

 present and more enlightened generation have found 

 there must be something far more substantial than a 

 rod of iron. 



It is not for me to name the many noxious habits 

 man is so liable to fall in love with in his spare time, 



but our great authorities are ever telling us of many 

 things which, in their sight, they consider liable to 

 diminish our good character. Lovers of microscopy 

 often find that this science utterly drives away cares, 

 which a short time before were attempting to sadden 

 their days. The mind is made to receive knowledge, 

 and the weakest will endeavour to gain a certain 

 share of it. To examine and unravel the mysteries of 

 the infinitely small and the infinitely large ; to be- 

 come acquainted with the varied flowers that strew 

 the fields, and the tiny insects that fill the air with 

 their vibrations ; to search the rocks and there find 

 engraved the past history of the world, are fountains 

 of knowledge for the mind — the pursuit of these 

 studies also performs an influential part in securing 

 healthy exercise for the body. 



In comparing the exercise of our reasoning faculties 

 with the gymnastic exercises of the body one very 

 great difference is discernible — while the mind is 

 being subservient to the process, it is at the same 

 time unconsciously receiving food, while the body 

 can only perform one feat at a time. Happily the 

 study of natural science has the property of giving 

 needful exercise in conjunction with mental nourish- 

 ment. It is in youth, when all the faculties of the 

 mind are vigorously expanding, that we find the 

 foundation of a man's future character. It is to youth 

 we have to look for the future national character. 

 We may ask if our various scientific societies are 

 receiving the attention they deserve ? Are our men 

 of science doing all that lies in their power to en- 

 courage those, in a lower social position than them- 

 selves, to give their minds to scientific pursuits ? 



Scientific knowledge taught at school is learned 

 with various success. Still, many a youth who has 

 spent weary hours over his Latin, Greek, and Euclid, 

 has only by the study of natural science been made a 

 man of high mental powers. I do not agree with a 

 recent communication to the "English Mechanic," in 

 which a correspondent expresses a decided objection 

 to the idea of our scientific societies being made 

 scientific schools. 



The effect of a scientific society upon its individual 

 members depends greatly, in the first place, upon 

 those who occupy the most prominent position. 



There must be experienced in its workings that 

 vital energy of its officers and original members which 

 makes itself felt by all connected. The young man 

 of business who has his attention particularly drawn 

 to the microscope or any other of the sciences is so 

 greatly impressed with the new field of thought so 

 brightly dawning upon him, that he invariably desires 

 to gain more knowledge upon the matter — to see 

 further^into those secrets, and the more he sees the 

 greater becomes his curiosity. At a certain stage in 

 his study, however, he is no longer able to get on 

 without company, and should he be so successful as 

 to live in the neighbourhood of a society he has there 

 his wants supplied. 



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