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indeed great beyond all calculation. It was the theory of 

 the true figure of the earth, which first led the discoverer of 

 a new world across the Atlantic, and conducted the sails of 

 commerce round the globe. It was the refined investigation 

 of the subtle nature and properties of heat, which put in 

 motion the gigantic powers of steam ; and, in its consequences, 

 has not only exalted this country to an unprecedented pitch 

 of prosperity and greatness, but has changed in every 

 quarter of the world the whole face of human afiairs. 



There is not one, among the various sciences cultivated by 

 this Society, which is not directly applicable to the uses of 

 LIFE. From mechanical inventions, and the discoveries of the 

 philosophical chemist, the greatest improvements in all our 

 manufacturing processes have been derived. The knowledge 

 of the structure of the earth, and of the properties of minerals 

 and plants, is closely connected with the arts of agriculture 

 and mining, of metallurgy and medicine ; and the studies of 

 the comparative structure, organization, and general economy 

 of animated nature, have thrown light on those dark subjects 

 of physiological enquiry, upon the development of which 

 the perfection of the art of healing depends. 



But it would be to take a very narrow view of the utility 

 of these pursuits, to contemplate them only in their direct 

 effects. The intellectual qualities which are formed by 

 such studies, even when they appear the least obviously use- 

 ful, are often productive of unexpected fruits. To a mind 

 educated in the school of natural history, and exercised in 

 minute and accurate observation, mankind are indebted for 



