i64 NATURAL SCIENCE. Sept., 



average cultured Briton regards as the failures of science. Probably 

 the root of the matter is this. With regard to any scientific subjects 

 but their own, scientific men are no other than average cultured 

 Britons. During our conduct of Natural Science this has been 

 thrust upon our notice. It is our endeavour to have subjects so 

 treated that the results of any research shall be intelligible to those 

 who are unfamiliar with the methods of that research. Of course we 

 receive much criticism, but, for the most part, it is not the average 

 cultured Briton who writes to say that a paper on biology, or on 

 geology, is unintelligible. It is the working geologist, apparently, 

 whose standard of the intelligible in biology is the lowest ; it is those 

 who are adding to our knowledge of plants and animals that find 

 most difficulty in comprehending what geologists say they are about. 

 Lord Salisbury's address dealt with three or four widely-different 

 branches of science, and we may take it that although his audience 

 included a large number of experts in various branches, yet the verdict 

 of the audience was not the verdict of science, but the verdict of 

 the average cultured Briton. Why, then, is average culture so 

 cheered by the exposition of " the great failures " of science ? 



An Unfounded Story. 



It is reported, in an entirely unveracious chronicle, that after the 

 discovery of America, Columbus returned to Spain and settled down 

 to a life of dignified ease. He became the lion of several seasons, 

 and, as the great discoverer of America, was the favourite of the 

 Court and the darling of the populace. He was invested with every 

 national and civic dignity, and grew a power in the land. When a 

 question of state was being discussed in the council of the king, the 

 king himself would command that the voice of the discoverer be 

 heard. When the populace was seething and troubled, and 

 demagogues shouted against the accredited rulers of the nation, the 

 words of the discoverer of America acted like a charm. But one day, 

 in a moment of expansion, Columbus remarked that there were, nO' 

 doubt, many undiscovered countries, and that, personally, he had a 

 longing to discover the North Pole. His words were taken up and 

 repeated upon all sides, and dissatisfaction grew with their repetition. 

 Finally, the king himself sent for Columbus, and said : — " Columbus, 

 we honour you greatly and have rewarded you, perhaps lavishly, for 

 your discovery of America ; but we must remind you that you have not 

 discovered the North Pole. There is but one America ; there are, 

 you tell us, two Poles. We will not bind you harshly to the 

 discovery of either or both. There are two Poles — discover us one of 

 them." And so Columbus, gathering an expedition, set out for the 

 north. When, after years of wandering, he returned, unsuccessfully, 

 he sank into an unhonoured grave, known not as the great discoverer 

 of America, but as the man who failed to find the North Pole. 



