NOTES BY THE EDITOR. XIII 



of living things by the operation of laws impressed upon them at 

 the beginning. The * derivative hypothesis ' of Owen, detailed on 

 pp. 267-270, apparently meets the approval of naturalists more 

 generally than any other; this maintains the incessant new de- 

 velopment of living beings out of non-living material, and sees 

 the grandeur of creative ]30wer, not in the exceptional miracle of 

 one or few original forms of life, but in the daily and hourly call- 

 ing into existence many forms by conversion of chemical and 

 physical into vital modes of force ; his conclusion is that, from the 

 magnet which chooses between steel and zinc, to the philosopher 

 who chooses between good and evil, the difference is one of de- 

 gree, not of kind, and that there is no need of assuming a special 

 miracle to account for mental phenomena. * Natural selection ' 

 also is operative in the case of men, among whom there is a per- 

 petual survival of the fittest ; in the most barbarous conditions of 

 mankind the struggle is almost entirely between individuals ; in 

 proportion as civilization has increased among men, it is easy to 

 trace the transference of a great part of the struggle, little by lit- 

 tle, from individuals to tribes, nations, leagues, guilds, corpora- 

 tions, societies, and similar combinations ; and accompanying this 

 transference has been undeniably the development of the moral 

 qualities and of social virtues. 



*'The Social Science Associations are actively working out the 

 great problems of moral and physical evils incident to civilization, 

 especially those pertaining to hygienic or sanitary reform. The 

 first step in the moral elevation of a community has been found to 

 be the diffusion of knowledge of sanitary laws ; cleanliness and good 

 health are recognized as the best foundations of public prosperity. 

 Hence science is constantly progressing in attempts to secure for 

 the masses of the people cheajD and wholesome food, pure air and 

 pure water, ventilation of public buildings and the crowded dwell- 

 ings of the poor ; the removal of sewage, so as not only not to 

 contaminate the earth, air, and water, but to convert it, even in 

 our own houses, into an inodorous and valuable fertilizer, has 

 been successfully accomplished. Fire-extinguishing and life-saving 

 apparatus, both on land and sea, have reached a high degree of 

 efficiency ; man is gradually obtaining the mastery over the epi- 

 demic diseases which have for ages decimated the human race ; 

 and the return from human to vaccine lymx)h direct from the cow 

 will restore the wavering faith of the public in the efficacy of vac- 

 cination, and eventually put a stop to the ravages of small-pox. 



The recent successful employment of chloral as an anaesthetic, 

 2 



