THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF ''FREE-WILL:' 745 



it was projected. It was of the same shade, uniform from one end to 

 the other, without any obscure border. It app'eared isolated and en- 

 tirely independent of the equatorial belt, from which it was separated 

 by a brilliant white band. In shade, its color was quite ditferent from 

 the pale rose-color of the equatorial belt, and from every other object 

 which the observer had ever seen on Jiipiter, and might be described 

 as a blending of vermilion and blue. Fig. 1 is a copy of the original 

 sketch made immediately after the observation, a a indicating the 

 red spot. After this observation, the return of the spot was noticed, 

 and it was drawn fifteen times. It was last seen on December 30, 

 1878, after which further observations were prevented by the proxim- 

 ity of the sun. The form of the spot changed somewhat during this 

 time : at first, it was long and narrow (Fig. 1, a a) ; finally (Fig. 2, b b), 

 it became shorter, considerably wider, and extended farther toward 

 the south. — Editor.] 



THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF "FREE-WILL." 



Br ALBEKT J. L EFFING WELL, M. D. 

 nrpROM the time when, as Milton tells us, the lost angels 



" . . . . Reasoned high 

 Of providence, foreknowledge, will and fate — 

 Fixed fate, free-will, foreknowledge absolute " — 



no problem has excited greater interest in the human mind than the 

 question. of free-will. Philosophy, whether pagan or Christian, athe- 

 istic. Catholic, or Protestant, has alike found in its consideration an 

 irresistible attraction ; and, if the world remains to-day of divided 

 opinions, it is not for lack of abundant argument. Seneca taught 

 that "the same necessity binds both gods and men ; divine as well as 

 human affairs proceed onward in an irresistible stream " ; while Pope 

 thought he had solved the problem by imagining a Deity 



" "Who, binding Nature fast in fate, 

 Left free the human will " — 



a flattering conclusion which the world finds it easy to accept. Theol- 

 ogy, fearful, on the one hand, of rendering Deity the cause of evil, and, 

 on the other, of limiting his due share in the government of the uni- 

 verse, usually teaches that necessity and free-will are alike true, 

 though not to be reconciled ; a conclusion w^hich would render all 

 reasoning on the subject inconsequential if not absurd. Some have 

 thought to retain their favorite theory by so defining it that no differ- 

 ence of opinion can exist ; as Dr. Haven, for instance, who, in his 



