PROGRESSIVENESS OF SCIENCE. 49 



covery of the central corpuscles or centrosomes — 

 somewhat enigmatical, apparently very important, 

 and practically constant components of the animal 

 cell — members of the '^ cell-firm '' — dates from only 

 a few years ago. 



'Nor should it be forgotten that we live in a world 

 of change, in which a process of evolution is going 

 on, and that, therefore, the subject-matter of a sci- 

 ence is developing just as the science is. We hear of 

 stars that die and of others that are a-making (we 

 may use the present tense though the events are, of 

 course, vastly older than our observation of them) ; 

 even in a human lifetime — the minutest moment 

 compared Avith the earth's age — the features of a 

 countryside may change perceptibly, indeed a shore 

 may get a new face in a single storm; the distribu- 

 tion of plants and animals is in process of rapid 

 flux; the characters of organisms, including our- 

 selves, are slowly but surely changing. Thus with 

 an evolving subject-matter before our eyes, we need 

 say little about the prospect of — completed science. 



SCIENTIFIC CONCLUSIONS OF THE FIRST MAGNITUDE. 



We hear so much nowadays in regard to the 

 rapid progress of science that there seems some dan- 

 ger lest our impression become exaggeratedly san- 

 guine. In more critical moods, however, the suspi- 

 cion arises that in spite of the rapid accumulation of 

 natural knowledge, information often proves itself 

 the death of wit ; and that in spite of the remarkable 

 diffusion of the scientific mood throughout wide cir- 

 cles in our community, the growth of scientific in- 

 sight is really very slow. 



That this suspicion is not unfounded becomes clear 

 4 



