IOWA ACADEMY OP SCIENCES. 39 



sciences, but it is already very great. To take a concrete 

 example, we, who first studied Philosophy as a system about 

 twenty years ago, are surprised to find in the most influ<;nlial 

 text-book of the day, written by an idealist. Psychology intro- 

 duced by long discussions of the anatomy and functions of the 

 brain, and the physical basis of habit", and the mind-stuff theory, 

 and to find everywhere physiology insisted upon as the foun- 

 dation of psychology, and the mental powers discussed on the 

 basis of evolution. 



We are surprised to find the terms "Innate Ideas," "Intu- 

 itions, " " Instincts, " omitted entirely, or shorn of their original 

 meanings, and the things they represent referred to purely 

 natural origins. We are surprised to find that right is a rela- 

 tive thing, and conscience is the result of evolution in experi- 

 ence. We find the old problem of egoism versus altruism 

 neatly solved, by making society the unit in ethics, as the 

 species is in biology. The individual is nothing apart from 

 society, its highest interests are his highest interests, and, 

 therefore, the most refined egoism finds itself in the most per- 

 fect altruism. 



But the glory of science lies no more in its past achievement 

 than in its promise for the future. However difficult the con- 

 ception, and however impossible it may b i to predict the devel- 

 opments of the future, the legitimate inference from the past 

 is, that the developments of the next century will be quite as 

 great as those of the present one. We know that much remains 

 to be done, and we have a right to expect that scientific thought 

 will continue to broaden and d.epan, leading ever toward a 

 fuller knowledge of the physical universe and a truer 

 Philosophy. 



