20 Report S.A.A. Advancement of Science. 



these subjects, and tens of thousands with sufficient knowledge to 

 raise the plane of their aspirations, to unite them in bonds of sym- 

 pathy with others of like tastes, and thus to brighten their enjovment 

 of life. 



Nay, more than this, there is no ordinary thinker or worker in any 

 •of these fields who may not at some time contribute an original 

 idea, \yhich, in the hands of genius, may later be fashioned into the 

 great and beautiful. 



If these things be true of Literature and Art how much more are 

 they so in regard to Science. To the Colonist Science appeals, or 

 .should appeal, with a double force. It is not only a source of 

 intellectual elevation and a high form of enjoyment to all who suffi- 

 ciently interest themselves in its pursuit, but it also lies at the 

 foundation of our civilization, and even of our existence. To it we 

 owe conveniences, comforts, and the possibility of activities which 

 have insensibly become to us the necessities of life ; and more than 

 this, it is not too much to say that, without the advantages of defence 

 and inter-communication given to us by the applications of Science, 

 the very existence of a scattered white population in South Africa 

 would be impossible ; and it is mainly to the applications of Science 

 that we must look for the development of those natural resources 

 with which this Sub-Continent has been so abundantly endowed. 



There is a type of self-called practical man who forgets these 

 things. He adopts the results and methods of Science, but too 

 often cares and knows nothing of the processes by which these 

 results have been obtained or the principles which underlie their 

 attainment. Do you understand the electric telegraph ? " Oh, yes ! 

 You have only to write your message, give it to the man at the 

 •counter, and pay a shilling. '" That, really, with little exaggeration, 

 is typical of the attitude of mind to which I refer, and with which 

 too many people regard the thousand amenities that Science has 

 brought into modern life. 



Too often indeed there is an assumed antagonism in many minds 

 between Science and Commerce — or, as others put it. between theory 

 and practice. 



Bear, however, this in mind, that between true theory and true 

 practice there never can be any discordance. The laws of Nature 

 do not change in capricious ways, and, therefore, in regard to any 

 mechanical or natural process about which the laws and facts are 

 absolutely known, the results of theory and practice must coincide. 



By what process, then, can we attain to true theorv ? I cannot 

 put the matter better than in the words of Dr. Whewell in an address 

 delivered by him before the meeting of the British Association held 

 .at Cambridge in 1833. He said: 



" Without attempting any nice or technical distinctions 

 between theory and hypothesis, it may be sufficient to observe 

 that all deductions from theory for any other purpose than that 

 of comparison with observation are frivolous and useless exercises 

 of ingenuity, so far as the interests of physical science are con- 

 cerned. Speculators, if of active and inventive minds, will 



