POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



observation; but he himself made 

 comparatively little use of either, and 

 his successors for many centuries, 

 notwithstanding the extravagant au- 

 thority which they assigned to his 

 opinions, seem to have been quite 

 uninfluenced by his suggestions on 

 this point. They neither asked what 

 he meant nor made any attempt 

 worth mentioning to move forward 

 in the direction he indicated. 



Evidently the true "psychologi- 

 cal moment," as the expression is 

 to day, had not arrived. When it 

 came there was, as Bacon, in words 

 quoted by the lecturer, expressed it, 

 u a new birth of time." Men seemed 

 to have awaked from sleep to find 

 themselves in possession of a new 

 and wondrous power. They had a 

 sense, which the ancients never had, 

 that the discoveries they were able to 

 make were but an earnest of greater 

 and far more numerous discoveries 

 yet to follow. They conceived of all 

 the phenomena of Nature as inter- 

 related, and foresaw that it was the 

 destiny of human knowledge to grow 

 into one vast, coherent, and harmo- 

 nious whole. And that conception 

 is in the world to-day, fortified by in- 

 numerable proofs derived from the 

 victorious progress of science. The 

 knowledge of the ancient world was 

 unorganized, therefore it was not 

 science: the knowledge of the mod- 

 ern world is organized, and therefore 

 it is science. The knowledge of the 

 ancient world was not a fructifying 

 seed; the knowledge of the modern 

 world is at once seed and harvest. 

 The knowledge of the ancient world 

 was not interpretative ; the knowl- 

 edge of the modern world symbolizes 

 for us the powers of the universe, 

 and the great Power in which all 

 scattered forces find their unity. The 

 knowledge of the ancient world was 

 not an effectual safeguard of civili- 

 zation. It is perhaps too soon to say 

 whether modern science will safe- 



guard the civilization we possess ; 

 but we incline to the opinion ex- 

 pressed by Sir William Roberts that 

 the intellectual activity of our age 

 and the varied excitements which 

 act upon modern society exert, and 

 will continue to exert, an ** antisep- 

 tic" influence sufficient to prevent 

 internal decay ; while the advantage 

 which scientific habits of thought 

 confer upon the higher races of man- 

 kind will always suffice to secure 

 them against such a fate as befell the 

 civilization the Roman Empire. 



BUSINESS THROUGH POLITICS. 



The recent political struggle 

 through which the municipalities of 

 the Empire State have passed has 

 much more than a local significance. 

 At a time when a very considerable 

 part of the intelligence of the whole 

 country has gone daft on the subject 

 of municipal ownership and man- 

 agement of commercial enterprises, 

 it seems needful to seize upon every 

 pertinent and impressive occasion to 

 point out the amazing folly of such 

 social philosophy. Unless a halt be 

 called, the tendency everywhere ap- 

 parent, a tendency thought to be as 

 wise as it is thought to be inevitable, 

 the American people will have to 

 pass through an experience much 

 more ruinous and disappointing than 

 any that they have ever yet had. 



At the present time the duties in- 

 trusted to municipalities have be- 

 come rather considerable. They in- 

 cl ude, first, the preservation of order 

 and the protection of life and prop- 

 erty ; second, the paving and clean- 

 ing of streets and the construction 

 and maintenance of sewers ; third, 

 provision for the extinguishment of 

 fires; fourth, the support of public 

 schools and certain charities; fifth, 

 a department of public health ; and, 

 sixth, in some cases, a water-works 

 system. Yet it is proposed to add 



