At his first opypt'rtxinity of leisiu-i>,l\e produced oomo 

 bulbs of gluss, in wliich hehxmg; tlie most delicately 

 poised vanos, and ho tried to exhaust the air to 

 measure the extent of the vibration. He found 

 that when the vacuum was perfect enough certain 

 influences from without affected the movement of 

 these vanes. Then he constructed a little mill 

 Avith fans of the most delicate character — the 

 little radiometers which may be seen spinning 

 round in opticians' windows when the sun shines 

 upon them. W<'11, now here was something that 

 nobody could understand. Crookes himself could 

 not understand it. It was rather humiliating that 

 no explanation was forthcoming ; but Crookes did 

 not stop there, he went on with liis invest! gat ion^ 

 and construet^^d other more elaborate bulbs of 

 glass. He showed that a new state of matter had 

 been disco vered,tliat under highvacuuni conditions 

 the molecules or particles could be made to go 

 from one end to the other and strike the wall with 

 such tremendous force as to make the wall red hot. 

 I am reminded as I stand here that twenty-five 

 years ago, with Crookes' tubes, I gave a demon- 

 stration in tliis very room, and I believe that was 

 the first scientific lecture delivered here. This 

 radiant matter, for so he called it, was taken up 

 and investigated by others as well as himself, and 

 now it seems as though we have discovered some- 

 thing which will upset, to borrow a plu*ase, 

 the name at present given to " the mighty atom." 

 We have now proved most incontestably that 

 \vhat wo call atoms are really congeries of 

 hnndreds of thousands of particles. Are these 

 thi.' primal matter of which all the elements are 

 formed r T>'o cannot say, but the general opinion 

 is that we are working in that way towards 

 greater knowledge. Crookes' first discovery was 

 through making a note at the time of conducting 

 an exi>eriment. We are now breathless to know 

 what the next move will bo and what the n-sult 

 will l»e. As regards the great gulf brtw.-en 

 minerals and organized matter, tliat gulf is still 

 imbridged. There are those who regard life 

 ;\s an emanation and property of matter 

 itself. There are others who look upon it as 

 soUK'thing far snpi-rior — as governing rather than 

 being subordinate, and as constituting a mystery 

 which may never be solved. But I lik)' to think, 

 personally, that life is a far more powerful 

 and independent thing than we give it credit 

 for. I like to consider that that Cretaeurs 

 Shakespeare Cliff, lofty as it is, is not 

 much more than half the altitude that perhaps it 

 was in Shakespeare's time — that it has diminished 

 in size, for the most part Ix-eu taken iip in solution 

 by the sea at its base, to b*' almost iuuuediately 

 appropriated liy a multitude of living creatures 

 of all kinds, and that it forms a part of the 

 pabulum of which these creatures are composed. 

 Here is a cliff, composed of fossil skeletons 

 which lived ages ago lockt^d up as if in a sepulture, 

 entering into life again, and who shall say 

 how long that life will be handed <>n once again? 

 We have again the volcanic operation, as a proof 

 of the persistent and enduring action of life. 

 We have villages and towns wiped out of existence, 

 we have soil and vegetation swept out of exi.stence, 

 liut only for a time. The very fact that man 



chooses to live by the side of a volcano is becanse^ 

 he knows tliat the grapes are better tliere and that 

 the plants grow better there because of the fertility 

 resulting from the volcanic fires. I have long 

 given up the notion, and do not wish to obtrude 

 the view, that life is derivative matter alone. 

 There is something that overrides Nature wherever 

 we may find it. There is something that triumphs, 

 but it is not the triumph of death, but of life 

 (applause). 



The Rev. A. J. Galpiu (a Vice-President of 

 the Society) said that since he had come into 

 that room he had been asked to say a few 

 words by way of proposing a vote of thanks to the 

 President for his address that evening, and he did 

 so with the greatest pleasure. During the short 

 eleven years lie had been in CanterVuuy he had 

 had opi>ortunities of meeting Mr. Harvey and of be- 

 coming acquainted with his work, and he was quite 

 cei'tain when he saw that he was going to give the 

 presidential address that evening that it would be 

 not only interesting but also elevating in a very 

 marked degree. Those who had heard him give 

 in'csidential addi'esses before were quite sm-e that 

 he woiUd not fail to uphold the credit of the 

 Society on that occasion, and he was certain tliat 

 the silence and cax'eful attention which had 

 been paid to his discom-se was ample testimony to 

 their opinion of its merits. Pers(>nally, ho inu.st 

 say that, without any comparison with the bene- 

 factors of that Society whose names had been 

 mentioned by Mr. Harvey, that Mr. Harvey was 

 ono to whom the Society owed far more 

 than it could ever exin-ess (applause). He was a 

 man whose life was really given up to science, and 

 whose very busy occupation would preclude a 

 person of ordinary energy from giving so much 

 care and attention to work outside his immediate 

 sphere. To have such a gentleman year after year 

 — in spite of his amial)le protests (laughter) — to 

 hold the presidency of that Society, and to take 

 such ii personal interest in and have such a care 

 for its meetings, was a very great benefit which 

 they could appx'eciate, but which they could never 

 sufficiently thank him for (applaixse). He (the 

 Rev. Galpin) was quite certain that in that jiibilee 

 celebration of their Society, their hearts and minds 

 were filled with a real sense of heartf<.dt gratitxide 

 to Mr. Harvey — and, of course, to others, but to 

 Mr. Harvey in particular — for all that hehaddono 

 for this Society. They would have seen by 

 his address that evening the tone, the attitude 

 which he adopted towards scientific discoveries, 

 and, personally, he (Mr. Galpin) was grateful 

 to him for that absence of dogmatism .and for that 

 absence of any attempt to undermine or disquiet 

 religioxis beliefs which marked hi.s treatment of 

 the subject. They felt that there was a reverence 

 in his attitude towards those discoveries which 

 was reassuring to them all. They wcadd have 

 seen by what he had said that night that 

 he had been face to face and side by 

 side with some of the mo.st important 

 scientific discoveries that had marked tliis age. 

 He was talking to a lady slxortly l>efore he came 

 into that room who was present at the twenty- 

 first anniversary meeting of that Society, when 

 Colonel Horsley wa«! their President. That waa 



