NATURAL SCIENCE. ^'^,^» 



1B92. 



Both naturalists and the pubHc liave suft'cred in consequence. 

 The former ha\e lost the stimulus ol popular sympathy and criticism, 

 and the contraction of the recruiting ground has diminished the 

 number of the unattached local workers upon whose efforts progress 

 in certain departments ultimately depends. Moreover, an ever- 

 increasing proportion of the new recruits have entered upon their 

 work with minds cast in the mould of one of the orthodox universities 

 or schools, and carry it on rather as a means of livelihood than of any 

 special enthusiasm for the cause. Hence Science has had to suffer, on 

 the one hand, from a certain degree of lukewarmness, and, on the 

 other, from a conservatism that has had its origin in impatience at 

 unsympathetic and ignorant control. 



The result, while it has been detrimental to Science, has been 

 no less injurious to the cause of popular education. Tennyson, in his 

 " Despair," represents, with powerful pathos, the condition of a man 

 whose peace of mind had been shattered by the teachings of a science 

 which he woefully misunderstood : it had destroyed the foundations 

 of his old beliefs without substituting anything in their stead : it had 

 broken the old moorings, and left the man to drift aimlessly instead 

 of endowing him with the strength and stability with which to use 

 the intellectual liberty he had gained. The history of our literature 

 shows that this case has been by no means a rare one. 



It is the hope of extending the knowledge of the general 

 principles of Natural Science, of which the influence on con- 

 temporary education should be not only to stimulate, Init also to 

 moderate and strengthen, that leads to the issue of the present 

 Review. It will be our constant aim to expound and deal in 

 a critical manner with the principal results of current research 

 in Geology and Biology that appear to be of more than limited 

 application. Original articles referring to the " existing status of 

 certain special branches of Natural Science, with suggestions for 

 further development, will be a prominent feature. Periodical sum- 

 maries of the latest results in the various departments are contem- 

 plated. Reviews of the more important new books will be not 

 merely critical, but also descriptive. Special attention will be given 

 to the latest news concerning the work of all the principal societies 

 and institutions throughout the world devoted to scientific and 

 educational matters; and the correspondence columns will be open 

 both for the discussion of the latest problems and for the purpose 

 of replying to enquiries as to the literature of any special subject 

 in Natural Science on which information is desired. 



Such, briefly, is our ideal. We invite the co-operation of all 

 contributors to the progress of Natural Science in striving towards 

 its realisation. 



