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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



tribunal which knew nothing about it, 

 against wild speculations degrading to 

 science, was able to depreciate and 

 suppress for a quarter of a century one 

 of the most solid and perfect theories 

 of natural phenomena that modern re- 

 search has produced. And, strange as 

 it may seem, the work was effectually 

 done ; for, although Young made a 

 masterly reply, but a single copy was 

 sold, and, as Tyndall remarks, " for 

 twenty years this man of genius was 

 quenched hidden from the apprecia- 

 tive intellect of his countrymen 

 deemed, in fact, a dreamer through 

 the vigorous sarcasm of a writer who 

 had then possession of the public ear." 

 Ilappily, the time is past when the 

 investigators of Nature can be thus 

 crushed out ; but still the old tactics 

 are imitated, and not without evil 

 effect for the time. The men of sci- 

 ence, to whom the question belongs, 

 are not left to pursue it in peace. The 

 press and the pulpit, with such scientific 

 help as it is not difficult to get, stir up 

 such a clamor of popular opprobrium 

 that biological students who hold to 

 evolution as the fact and law of Na- 

 ture, and guide their researches by 

 its light, do not choose to have it pub- 

 licly known that they are adherents 

 of the doctrine. We are behind Eng- 

 land in fair and tolerant treatment 

 of the Darwinian question, but may 

 expect the same improvement in this 

 respect that Huxley tells us has taken 

 place with the English. In a recent 

 article he remarks : "The gradual lapse 

 of time has now separated us by more 

 than a decade from the date of the pub- 

 lication of the ' Origin of Species ; ' and 

 whatever may be thought or said about 

 Mr. Darwin's doctrines, or the manner 

 in which he has propounded them, this 

 much is certain, that, in a dozen years, 

 the ' Origin of Species ' has worked as 

 complete a revolution in biological sci- 

 ence as the ' Principia ' did in astrono- 

 my and it has done so, because, in 

 the words of Helmholtz, it contains 



' an essentially new creative thought.' 

 And, as time has slipped by, a happy 

 change has come over Mr. Darwin's 

 critics. The mixture of ignorance and 

 insolence which, at first, characterized 

 a large proportion of the attacks with 

 which he was assailed, is no longer the 

 sad distinction of anti-Darwinian criti- 

 cism. Instead of abusive nonsense, 

 which merely discredited its writers, 

 we read essays, which are, at worst, 

 more or less intelligent and apprecia- 

 tive ; while, sometimes, like that which 

 appeared in the North British Review 

 for 1867, they have a real and perma- 

 nent value." 



TEE EDUCATIONAL CONVENTION AT 

 ELltlRA. 



Tiie national educational associa- 

 tion recently held at Elmira, 2sT. Y., 

 was of unusual interest, and evinced a 

 marked progress in the public method 

 of dealing with educational subjects. 

 "We have for some years refrained from 

 attendance upon teachers' conventions, 

 having been wearied with the narrow 

 technical range and pedantic pettiness 

 of the discussions. But the recent 

 meeting showed that educators are be- 

 ginning to outgrow their old profes- 

 sional limitations, and to consider the 

 various questions that come before them 

 in the light of broad principles, and in 

 the spirit of radical and rational im- 

 provement. Many men of ability, presi- 

 dents of leading colleges, eminent pro- 

 fessors, principals of high-schools, and 

 State and city superintendents, were 

 present, contributing valuable papers, 

 and giving strength and character to 

 the debates which followed them. 



President McCosh delivered an able 

 address on the higher education, and 

 maintained that the national Govern- 

 ment should not give the balance of its 

 lands to the agricultural colleges, nor 

 yet to other collegiate institutions, but 

 should appropriate them for the benefit 

 of high-schools and academies through- 



