1885.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOUKNAL. 



167 



I 



Such a student as he who discovered 

 the influence of the electric current 

 on the magnetic needle has done more 

 for the world than the demagogue 

 who struts his brief time on the stage 

 of human existence and then disap; 

 pears. 



The speaker referred satirically to 

 those good old days when men grew 

 old before their time ; when geolo- 

 gists were considered akin to inhdels ; 

 when the divine right of kings was 

 believed in, and the luxuries which 

 we now enjoy were unknown. It is 

 quite the fashion to rave about those 

 good old times, but we would not 

 want them back again. We would 

 scarcely give up our railroads and 

 telegraphs and our table luxuries, 

 now necessities, for the good old 

 times. As we look upon the luxury 

 of the present as compared \vith the 

 past we mavask, ' How did our grand- 

 mothers live ?' They did not live, grow- 

 ing old as they did before their time, 

 but they were comparatively far ad- 

 vanced beyond what their ancestors 

 were. Every gathering like the pres- 

 ent has its benefit in human pro- 

 gress. We sometimes hear of con- 

 flict between science and religion, 

 but it is only apparent. It was but a 

 few years ago when good men looked 

 upon geology as akin to infidelity, 

 forgetting that astronomy had at one 

 time been considered equally dan- 

 gerous, but had come to be recog- 

 nized as attesting the glory of God. 

 So in time geology has become rec- 

 ognized as not in conflict with true 

 religion. Professor Smith said that 

 he could remember when physicians 

 were shy of the microscope. To-day, 

 while there are a few old practi- 

 tioners \vho shrug their shoulders dis- 

 trustfully when the younger physi- 

 cians use the microscope, even the 

 old ones are unconsciously affected in 

 their practice by advancement in mi- 

 croscopical investigations. The pres- 

 ident spoke of biology, which owed 

 its existence to microscopy, and which 

 has worked a revolution in medicine. 

 Anvthin"' that can claim to aid us in 



coping with contagious diseases, with 

 blights upon our crops and diseases 

 in our flocks, is of intense interest to 

 the public, and it is with these that 

 biology deals. It is in its infancv 

 yet, but it is destined to become more 

 and more important. The speaker 

 said that it hatl l)eeii shown that the 

 two hundredth millionth part of a 

 drop contains enough bacteria to be 

 deadly infectious. He said that when 

 it is shown that ventilation and sew- 

 age have been greatly benefited by 

 microscopic investigations, it may be 

 considered fortunate that some men 

 have microbes on the brain, as has 

 been said in jest. He said that biol- 

 ogy- may yet prove that the infinitesi- 

 mal organisms with which it deals are 

 not alone concerned with disease, but 

 with health as well, and that they, 

 acting in the pores of the human sys- 

 tem as workers, carry oft' the sewage 

 of the system, and thus overcome the 

 effects of violations of nature's laws, 

 and thus work to the end of aiding 

 man in working out in himself the 

 theory of the survival of the fittest. 

 He said that microscopy has a great 

 work to do in geology, and thus 

 inaftecting the commerce of the 

 world. It has been said, ' Make 

 it unfashionable for men to drink 

 and gamble, and our sons will stay, 

 away from the saloon and the gam- 

 bling hell.' Fashion cannot be com- 

 pared in its force with the influence 

 of science studies on man. The had- 

 carrier, wlxo climbs the ladder with 

 his burden, is better and happier 

 for that which has been accom- 

 plished by scientific research, which, 

 with its electric lights and telephones, 

 have done so much to lift him out 

 of the ditch in which hisfathers 

 were. 



The professor did not claim eveiy- 

 thing for scientific research, but 

 likened it to the carefully made bal- 

 ance-wheel in the chronometer, 

 which, although but a part of the 

 delicate machinery, is an essential 

 part. 



[y^o he roiiti)iiird.^ 



