116 



FIELD MEETING AT SWAMPSCOTT, WEDNESDAY, 

 JULY 20, 1870. 



[Cont nued from page 112.1 



TIIK appropriation of the force (radiated in the form of heat, magne- 

 tism and electricity from a contracting globe, formerly in a state of 

 general fusion) by matter on the surface, and under the guidance of an 

 intelligent and creative Providence, would end in the vast accumula- 

 tion of organic forms deposited in times past, in the countless strata 

 of the planet's crust. Mechanical force was absolutely necessary to 

 the production, growth, and multiplication of all organisms, whether 

 plant or animals. On present theories all heat is, and has been, 

 radiated into space. This has. been going on for infinite cycles, from 

 all cosmical masses, and still the cold of space is intense. The 

 lowest estimate makes it more than 150 below zero. Dr. Winslow 

 thought the Providence of the universal mind could not permit such 

 waste of the very force which is so necessary for the creation of the 

 organic objects that cover the land and fill the seas of the globe. 



This was the working power of nature, and must be conserved and 

 never exhausted nor wasted. Space, in accordance with his investi- 

 gations and reasonings, was a vacuum and not a plenum. All force 

 radiated from the surface of the globe was employed in the work 

 going on incessantly in the surface molecules, in order to embellish 

 the planet and perpetuate the fluctuating changes which occur upon 

 it. He hoped the investigations of others would be directed toward 

 this subject, which to naturalists, in an especial manner, was of the 

 highest importance, as destined to throw light on many phenomena 

 heretofore obscure. 



Mr. HYATT, who had been referred to as an advocate of the theory 

 of upheaval, said he dicj^aot know that Dr. Winslow's process of rea- 

 soning was not quite as satisfactory as that of those who advance the 

 opposite view, and though he was rather inclined to the latter, he had 

 in his explanations simply explained a theory that was generally ac- 

 cepted by geologists as a correct one. Other questions incidental to 

 the topics, were raised, which caused Mr. Hewes to suggest that the 

 orators appeared to dift'er in geology as well as in theology. 



Mr. S. B. BUTTRICK of Salem, presented a list of twenty-four species 

 of native plants, which he had found in flower during the forenoon's 

 excursion. 



Mr. W. P. UPHAM of Salem, was next called upon to give some facts 

 in reference to the history of the town. He stated that what is now 

 Swampscott, was originally a grant to John Humphrey, in 1635. In 

 1641 it was sold by him to Lady Deborah Moody, and occupied by her 



