32 THE SPIRIT OF THE SOIL 



approval the old French saw, Plus ca change, plus 

 c'est la meme chose, and affect an almost personal 

 triumph when they are able to show that the passions 

 and mental processes in man to-day are strictly com- 

 parable with those prevailing in the earliest historic 

 times. They seem to believe that in emphasizing 

 the fact that the various races of men are fixed types, 

 variable only within the limits of a fixed type, 

 they are confuting the idea of there being any possi- 

 bility of progress. In doing so they belittle and 

 deny the value of the material advances made, 

 blinding themselves to the real facts of progress. 



When one cares to go back to the original records, 

 however, the reality of this material progress is 

 strikingly brought out. In turning over at random 

 notices of the early investigations made by the 

 Fellows of the Royal Society, one comes across such 

 records as the following : 



" March 25, 1661. Mr. Boyle was desir'd to bring 

 in the name of the place in Brasil where that wood 

 is that attracts fishes ; and also of the fish that turns 

 to the wind when suspended by a thread/' 



" May 8. Dr. Clarke was intreated to lay before 

 the Society Mr. Pellin's relation of the production of 

 young vipers from the powder of the liver and lungs 

 of vipers." 



" June 5. Col. Tuke related the manner of the 

 rain like corn at Norwich, and Mr. Boyle and Mr. 

 Evelyn were intreated to sow some of those rained 

 seeds to try their product/' 



" June 26. Sir G. Talbot brought in his experi- 

 ments of sympathetick cures/'* 



* The following extract from this paper may be of interest : 

 " An English mariner was wounded at Venice in four severall 



