EDITOR'S TABLE. 



845 



so bestowed could not be sold ? If 

 it was agricultural land it would 

 have to be either improved or unim- 

 proved : in either case capital, not 

 to mention industry, would be re- 

 quired to work it ; and in the second 

 case to give away the improvements 

 would be to give away the labor of 

 other men. Make land absolutely 

 unsalable, and the economic oper- 

 ations of the world would be impeded 

 in the most serious manner. The 

 more, for our own part, we look into 

 these questions, the more we are 

 driven back to the conviction that 

 the way out which is so much de- 

 sired lies in the improvement of in- 

 dividual character with consequent 

 increase of individual power and bet- 

 ter adaptation to surrounding condi- 

 tions. As it is, we find that the well- 

 developed individualities can take 

 care of themselves pretty well ; they 

 have the power of adapting them- 

 selves to their surroundings, and 

 taking so useful a part in the world's 

 work that, even under the much- 

 abused capitalistic system, they thrive 

 very well. The problem is to make 

 more sound individuals ; and that 

 problem does not seem to be in its 

 nature insoluble therein differing 

 from some that are set by social re- 

 formers. 



Then, is this your way, some one 

 may ask, for getting rid of ananke ? 

 By no means : it is our way for mak- 

 ing the best of it. In every well- 

 balanced mind the thought of neces- 

 sity is habitually present, calling 

 forth efforts of self-restraint which 

 tend to conserve and consolidate the 

 individual's happiness and well-be- 

 ing. We contemplate, therefore, a 

 constant recognition of necessity, but 

 a recognition which enables a man 

 to meet it on ground more or less of 

 his own choosing, and not as the 

 Nemesis of error and weakness or 

 the ironic destroyer of futile schemes 

 and baseless visions. 



RdNTGEN TO TEE EESCUE! OR, A 

 NEW CHANCE FOB ABSURDITY. 



OUR thoughtful contemporary, 

 The Nation, is quick to point out the 

 abuse which absurd people of all 

 kinds will make of Prof. Rontgen's 

 discovery of the peculiar action of 

 the so-called X rays. " The stubborn 

 power," it says, "of ignorance to 

 wrest every new scientific scripture 

 to its own destruction is already be- 

 ginning to display itself in connec- 

 tion with the wonderful Eontgen dis- 

 covery. Quack doctors are quick to 

 say, ' Aha ! this shows that our elec- 

 tric rings and mesmeric belts and 

 psychic brushes and combs are just 

 what we claim them to be.' The 

 mysterious cathode rays, invisible but 

 powerful, will doubtless renew the 

 faith of many a despairing brother 

 who carries a potato in his pocket 

 for rheumatism. What the theologi- 

 cal apologists will argue from the 

 apparent need of readjusting the the- 

 ory of light, those of our readers who 

 are skilled in their methods of rea- 

 soning can guess. The Mosaic au- 

 thorship of the Pentateuch, the rea- 

 sonableness of prayer for rain, the 

 duty of instantly subscribing both to 

 the creed and for the religious weekly 

 of the able editor making the argu- 

 ment, will be among the very least 

 of the things conclusively proved by 

 the new photography." 



Such is the penalty for every new 

 discovery of Science. By one of the 

 oddest perversions of the reasoning 

 faculty which it is possible to con- 

 ceive, the very advances made by 

 Science are converted into so many 

 reasons for disparaging her author- 

 ity, and drawing conclusions in favor 

 of notions for which there is no evi- 

 dence at all. Science did not know 

 this before : ergo, Science is fallible ; 

 ergo, this or that shaky doctrine is so 

 far confirmed. Such is the logical 

 process, and possibly there is some 



