60 FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE 



livered before its members and associates alone. But 

 after the meeting at Nottingham, last year, where the 

 working men, at their own request, were addressed by 

 our late President, Mr. Grove, and by my excellent 

 friend, Professor Huxley, the idea arose of incorporat- 

 ing with all subsequent meetings of the Association an 

 address to the working men of the town in which the 

 meeting is held. A resolution to that effect was sent to 

 the Committee of Eecommendations ; the Committee sup- 

 ported the resolution; the Council of the Association rati- 

 fied the decision of the Committee; and here I am to 

 carry out to the best of my ability their united wishes. 



Whether it be a consequence of long-continued de- 

 velopment, or an endowment conferred once for all on 

 man at his creation, we find him here gifted with a 

 mind curious to know the causes of things, and sur- 

 rounded by objects which excite its questionings, and 

 raise the desire for an explanation. It is related of a 

 young Prince of one of the Pacific islands that when he 

 first saw himself in a looking-glass he ran round the glass 

 to see who was standing at the back. And thus it is 

 with the general human intellect, as regards the phenom- 

 ena of the external world. It wishes to get behind and 

 learn the causes and connections of these phenomena. 

 What is the sun, what is the earth, what should we see 

 if we came to the edge of the earth and looked over? 

 What is the meaning of thunder and lightning, of hail, 

 rain, storm, and snow? Such questions presented them- 

 selves to early men, and by and by it was discovered 

 that this desire for knowledge was not implanted in vain. 

 After many trials it became evident that man's capacities 



