50 



Till: PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



to York no faster than King John might have 

 done. Metals were worked from their ores by 

 immemorial rule of thumb, and the centre of the 

 iron trade of these islands was still among the oak 

 forests of Sussex. The utmost skill of our mecha- 

 nicians did not get beyond the production of a 

 coarse watch. 



The middle of the eighteenth century is illus- 

 trated by a host of great names in science 

 English, French, German, and Italian especially 

 in the fields of chemistry, geology, and biology ; 

 but this deepening and broadening of natural 

 knowledge produced next to no immediate practical 

 benefits. Even if, at this time, Francis Bacon 

 could have returned to the scene of his greatness 

 and of his littleness, he must have regarded the 

 philosophic world which praised and disregard* <] 

 his precepts with great disfavour. If ghosts are 

 consistent, he would have said, " These people are 

 all wasting their time, just as Gilbert and Kepler 

 and Galileo and my worthy physician Harvey did 

 in my day. Where are the fruits of the restoration 

 of science which I promised ? This accumulation 

 of bare knowledge is all very well, but cui Imm I 

 Not one of these people is doing what I told him 

 specially to do, and seeking that secret of the 

 CM use of forms which will enable men to deal, at 

 will, with matter, and superinduce new natures 

 11 1 >u the old foundations." 



