6o 



NATURE 



[May 1 8, 1876 



were we coming to ? To science we owed every easement 

 we enjoyed in the work of our daily life. Science enabled 

 us, in comparison with past generations, to live our lives 

 over and over again. It enabled us to travel such mighty 

 distances within so short a space of time as a few years 

 ago would have been inconceivable ; and, what with the 

 aid of the electric telegraph, it placed us in almost imme- 

 diate communication with nearly all parts of the world. 

 Having referred to the vast saving of manual labour 

 which had been effected through the aid of science by 

 machinery and appliances of various kinds, his Lordship 

 expressed his gratification at the presence of representa- 

 tives of so many branches of science. 



Dr. Hooker, who was the first to respond, remarked 

 that the occasion might be regarded as marking an im- 

 portant epoch in the history of science. It had been his 

 pleasure to attend the various exhibitions for the promo- 

 tion of science and art which had been held in this 

 country and abroad by our own and by other Govern- 

 ments since 1851, and not only to study their contents 

 but also to inquire into their origin and connection, and 

 what might be called their individuality. With respect 

 to the exhibition which the present banquet might be said 

 to commemorate, he could see many marks which distin- 

 guished it from those that had gone before it. It had 

 been brought to its present remarkable state by the in- 

 domitable energy of a very few workers whom it might 

 be invidious to particularise, though he could not forbear 

 mentioning the name of Mr. Lockyer. Originating as it 

 did almost spontaneously, it had received the support of 

 the Government from the active interest that was taken 

 in it by the Lord President and the Vice-President of the 

 Council, and from the diplomatic action which resulted in 

 getting foreign Governments to send their delegates to 

 visit the exhibition and to take part in conferences on the 

 occasion of its opening. It had derived no small support 

 from the countenance which had been graciously bestowed 

 upon it by the Queen. In continuation, Dr. Hooker said, 

 look at the state of science now and what it was 300 years 

 ago. It had advanced with such strides as had marked 

 the progress of no other branch of intellectual pursuit. 

 Compare, or rather contrast, the progress of science in 

 modern times with that of literature and the fine arts. 

 With regard to literature, as with regard to the fine arts 

 in this country, more especially in the case of sculpture 

 and architecture, we had to look back ages almost to 

 find a starting-point in their general progress, and even 

 in the case of the most modern of the fine arts — paint- 

 ing: — we were referred back to the cradles of its 

 birth in Italy, Spain, and the Low Countries. With 

 regard to the Exhibition for the Advancement of 

 Science, what was to be its future ? Was it to be a 

 matter of a few weeks or months, and then to pass away 

 for ever ? It was to be hoped not. It was the earnest 

 desire of scientific men to form the nucleus of a great 

 national museum of a permanent character for the benefit 

 not only of scientific men but for the benefit of the 

 public in general, and he felt sure that science would not 

 look to the public in vain for aid in the endeavour to 

 realise that important object. It was an object worthy of 

 great and noble efforts, and he felt assured that such 

 efforts would not be wanting on the part of the City of 

 London. 



After a few remarks from Sir John Hawkshaw, Sir 

 George Airy, the Astronomer Royal, replied for that 

 branch of the toast which he represented, and spoke of 

 science under two heads, which, for want of better terms, 

 he said he. might describe as practical and contemplative 

 science. Of the present stat;of practical science it was 

 impossible to speak too highly. It was impossible for 

 any one who had even a partial acquaintance with what 

 was going on in our manufacturing districts especially, 

 and in all those labours which were for the benefit of 

 mankmd, not to be struck with the enormous amount of 



ingenuity and enterprise which were brought to bear upon 

 those industries with a view to material gain. Material 

 gain was the aim of practical science. As for what he 

 termed the contemplative branch of science, which em- 

 braced especially all those pursuits relating to the consti- 

 tution of nature, the object in that case was not material 

 gain or personal advantage, but the results at which it 

 aimed were in their way not inferior to or less welcome 

 than those of practical science. 



Mr. Justice Grove in proposing " The Health of 

 the Lord Mayor," humorously remarked that his lord- 

 ship when invitmg such a body of representatives of 

 science to partake of his splendid hospitality, must 

 have been actuated, not only by a lively sense of 

 favours received, but also by a lively sense of ^favours to 

 come. Mindful of what science had done for commerce 

 and manufactures in the past, the first magistrate of the 

 city of London had doubtless an eye at the same time to 

 the advantages which manufactures and commerce would 

 reap from the labours of science in the future. There was 

 nothing in which the Lord Mayor could do himself more 

 honour than in entertaining at his table the votaries of 

 science, to whom, on the other hand, nothing could be 

 more gratifying or encouraging than this mark of recog- 

 nidon and appreciation on his part of the value of their 

 labours. 



To the toast of "The Foreign Representatives of 

 Science," Prof. Blaserna responded. 



Altogether, we think, both the Lord Mayor and the 

 representatives of science are to be congratulated on the 

 success of this entertainment, whic'i will no doubt form 

 a precedent for future ones of a similar kind. 



NOTES 



CoL. Prejevalsky is about to set out on a new exploring 

 journey into Central Asia, which will probably last for about 

 three years. His purp3se is to explore especially the basin of 

 the Lob-nor from Thian-shan to the Himalayas. Col. Preje- 

 valsky proposes to visit this summer Eastern Thian-shan from 

 Kuloga to Hama, and to pass the winter upo 1 the Lob-nor and 

 in the deserts which extend to the east of thi> lake, mainly to solve 

 the question as to wild horses and camels. Next spring he will ob- 

 serve the migration? of birds on Lob-nor and proceed to Lhassa. 

 He will then explore the upper course of the Brahamapootra 

 and the northern slopes of the Himalayas, as also Eastern Thibet 

 and Southern Chiaa, and if circumstances permit, he will return 

 by Western Thibet and enter Russia by Kashgar. The pro- 

 gramme of the expedition is as follows : — I. Geographical and 

 ethnographical descriptions. 2. An itinerary sketch at sight. 

 3. Astronomical determinations of places. 4. Meteorological, 

 psychometric, and hypsometric observations. 5- Observations 

 ol mammals and birds. 6. Botanical, zoological, and mineralo- 

 gical collections. 7. Pnotographic ske ches. Tne Rusdm 

 Geographical Society has expressed its emphatic approval of the 

 programme, and the Emperor has ordered 24,740 roubles to be 

 devoted to the expedition from the treasury. 



From Commander Cookson we hear that H.M.S. Petrel is 

 bringing home two living specimens of the Giant Tortoise of the 

 Galapagos Islands, from Albemarle Island. A large supply of food 

 was provided, and if this does not fail, and at the same time if 

 the cold in the region of Cape Horn has not proved too intense, 

 we may hope to see the specimens alive, for the first time in this 

 country, duriig next month. 



From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (U.S.) we learn 

 that a gentleman of Rochester, New York, who does not wish his 

 name to be published, has, through Prof. Henry A. Ward of that 

 city, given to the University of Virginia, a sum of S»SO0^' to 

 be expended in the formation of a fully appointed cabinet of the 



