EVOLU'rioN OK THE SCTENTIKIC I NNESTlGA'iOll. 231 



ill llic ('.\])("rini('nls (licv wci'c conducted in ojkmi session of (he 

 Mciidcniy. (hus o-ii;irdinif :iu':iins( (lie daniiHM' of .-iny one nienilxM' oh- 

 (ainiiii:- for lii^ exclusixc personal use a possible elixer of life. A 

 wide ranu'e of (he animal and ve«>-e(al)le kiiiii-doni. includinji," cats, 

 doys. and birds of various si)ecies, were (hus analyzed. The ])ractice 

 of di>sec(ion was ind'oduced on a lari^'e scale. That of the cadaver 

 of an elei)han( occupied several sessions, and was of such in(erest (ha( 

 (he monarch himself was a spec(ator. 



To (he -aiue epoch with (he foi'uudiou and firs( woi'k of tliese (wo 

 l)odies l)elon<>"s the invention of a nia(hema(ical mediod which in its 

 impor(ance (o (lie advance of exact science may be classed with the 

 inxcnlion of the alphabet in its I'elation to the progress of society 

 at lai'ii'c. The use of alii'ebraic symbols to represent (imintities had 

 its origin bcd'ore the couunencement of the new" era, and <i"radually 

 •i'l-ew into a hiii'hly developed form durinij^ the first two centuries 

 of (hat era. But this method could represent (juantities only as lixed. 

 It is (rue that the elasticity inherent in the use of such symbols per- 

 mitted of their being applied to an}^ and every quantity; yet, in any 

 one application, the (juantity was considered as fixed and definite. 

 But most of (he magnitudes of natnre are in a state of continual vari- 

 a(ion; indeed, since all motion is variation, the latter is a universal 

 cliarac(t'ris(ic of all phenomena. No serious advance could be made 

 in (he a})[)lica(ion of algel)raic langiuige to the expression of physical 

 phenomena until it could be so extended as to ex})ress variation in 

 (|uan(i(ies, as well as the qnantities themselves. This extension, 

 workecl out in(hqxMidently by Newton and Leibnitz, may be classed 

 as tlie most fruitful of conceptions in exact science. With it the way 

 was opened for (he unimpeded and condnually accelerated progress 

 of the two last centuries. 



The fea(ure of (his j)eriod which has the closest reLition to the 

 l)urpose of our coming together is the seemingly unending sub- 

 (iix'ision of knowledge into speciaUies, many of which are becoming 

 so minu(e and so isolated that (hey seem (o ha\'e no in(erest for aii}^ 

 but (heir few pursuei's. Happily science iiself has afi'orded a cor- 

 rective for its own tendency in this direction. The careful thinker 

 will see that in (hese seemingly di\-erging branches connuon elemen(s 

 and common ])rinciples are condng more and more to ligld. Thei-e 

 is an increasing rec()giu(i()n of mediods of research and of deducdon 

 which are common (o large branches or (o (h" whole of science. We 

 are more and more recognizing (he pi'inciple (hat progress in knowd- 

 v(\<yv imi)lies i(s reihulion (o moiv exact forms, and (he expression 

 of i(s ideas in language more or less ma(hema( ical. The jM-obleni 

 before the organizers of (his congress was. (herefore, to bring (he 

 si'iences (ogether and seek for (he nni(y which we believe inulerlies 

 their infinite di\'ersitv. 



