624 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



for ill ; that his chief duty lies in resignation to fate. Directly- 

 opposed to this is the spirit of modern science, which considers it 

 man's duty to go to work and manufacture fate. What right, it 

 would ask, have we to assume that the forces of Nature are diffi- 

 cult of control until all the laws which govern them are investi- 

 gated ? Numberless instances in the history of science prove that 

 his powerlessness is a mere bugbear of man's own imagining. It 

 may be so in all cases. If man will only put forth a reasonable 

 amount of effort, it may not be so difficult to comply with the 

 command, " Subdue the earth." 



Still, the old superstitions cling tenaciously to the best of men. 

 A child sickens and dies, and we say, " It is the will of God, so let 

 it be." What right has man to lay this flattering unction to his 

 lazy soul ? The scientific spirit would say : * It is the ignorance 

 of man. It is his duty to learn enough about this disease to pre- 

 vent or cure it." In taking this position science simply accepts 

 the universal principle that ignorance of law does not exempt 

 from penalty, and hence would study the law under which 

 the calamity occurred and, by obedience, escape the penalty in 

 future. 



To conclude in a sentence the result of a chain of reasoning too 

 long to even outline in detail, all the suffering and physical evil 

 in living Nature finds ample justification for its existence if, serv- 

 ing as a spur to man, it arouses him to use his intelligence and 

 put forth every energy available to alleviate the misery of the 

 world and improve its condition. In other words, Nature is wisely 

 ordered to give man plenty to do, and to do this work is one of his 

 highest duties. How he is to accomplish it, depends upon the 

 means he finds at hand, which prove themselves useful to his 

 purposes. 



In passing to a consideration of the utility of scientific experi- 

 mentation, it must be remembered that we are not discussing the 

 question with infanticides, murderers, or would-be suicides. It 

 can be considered only with those who believe that, after moral 

 excellence, human life and happiness and freedom from disease 

 are the most useful things in the world. 



A speleological society has been formed in France, at the instance of 

 M. E. Martel, for the study of everything relating to caves, including arti- 

 ficial ones. At the end of December, 1895, it had one hundred and seventy 1 

 five members. It publishes a quarterly bulletin, Spelanca, and Memoirs, 

 of which three numbers have been issued. It has endowment members, 

 who contribute not less than four hundred francs ; titular members, who 

 pay fifteen francs a year ; life members, who make a single contribution 

 of two hundred francs, and corresponding members, who pay five francs 

 a year. The general secretary is M. Martel, rue Menars 8, Paris. 



