1869.] The Scientific Year. 73 



of that cultivation which the inquiry demands. If, however, we 

 will be at the trouble of carefully investigating the history of any 

 discovery, it wiW. be found that, from the first thought,— usually as 

 obscure as the remotest gleanings of nebulous matter, — there have 

 been advances, as if by throbs ; periods of action, and seasons of 

 repose, something of brightness being gained by each manifestation 

 of power, until, eventually, the cloudy thoughts gather into rings 

 of brightness, and the disconnected members coalesce into a perfect 

 truth, an ever-abiding and a perfect star. 



Electricity is an example of this. We have now the most subtile 

 of the physical powers completely under our control, and we compel 

 it to melt and mould our metals, to blast our rocks, and fire our 

 cannon, to illuminate the ocean around our dangerous shores, and 

 to travel earth and ocean as our Mercury — with fleeter wings than 

 he who was the messenger to the gods. Many men, boasting of 

 the march-of-intellect-age, — of the achievements of science, — regard 

 this as the work of to-day — and with much vanity, and but little 

 truth, refer all this to the efforts of the living race — forgetting that 

 three thousand years have been expended in developing the laws of 

 this power, which is now our familiar slave. Electron (amber) ; the 

 powers of attraction and repulsion possessed by it, and also by 

 the Iron-stone of Magnesia, were known to the Greeks; but 

 Electricity and Magnetism were for ages mysteries, unfolding, as it 

 were, by spasms until in the fulness of time the great truth shone 

 forth. 



Heat and Light exhibit similar phases, and show hke periods of 

 brightness and of echpse. Through the dream-land of Alchymy, 

 Chemistry slowly struggled into being, and Astrology, after ages of 

 error, which often presented features of an almost sublime grandeur 

 in its robes of superstition, brought forth the most perfect of the 

 sciences — Astronomy. These facts have been referred to only as 

 showing how small must be the record of real advance within any 

 single year, seeing that so large a period of time is necessary for 

 the development of one simple truth. 



The year 1868 cannot be regarded, in any way, as an excep- 

 tional one. Indeed, it appears upon a careful examination of the 

 "Chronicles" of progress to fall rather below the average of the 

 past twenty years. There has been a considerable display of 

 industry, and the result of that industry is shown by the accu- 

 mulation of facts. The perceptive powers have been active, and, 

 of material phenomena new to our consciousness, there have 

 certainly been some notable discoveries, but the evidence is wanting 

 which should show that man's reflecting powers have been largely 

 exercised in the philosophic task of generalization. The materials 

 have been gathered together from the right hand and from the left, 

 they have been carefully named, and j)laced in order for use, but 



