ANNUAL ADDRESS, MDCCCLXX. 3 



on the fertilization of plants, and it may be said that the 

 medical man who does not possess a general knowledge 

 of the laws regulating the different divisions of organized 

 beings must have a very limited horizon to his view. 



I maintain that it is a duty to observe the productions 

 of nature. "The works of the Lord are great, sought out 

 of all them who have pleasure therein." Show me the 

 man in whose soul no admiration for natural objects has 

 ever been cultivated, and I would say, if called upon, 

 " Friend, thou may'st be a great politician, or man of 

 business, as the case may be, but thou art but imperfectly 

 developed in thy intellectual faculties after all. Thy 

 dominant thoughts, and habits, and faculties have absorbed 

 too much the gentler ones, on which depends a love of 

 nature, of the fine arts, of music, of poetry, much, in fact, of 

 the most innocent enjoyment of life." Such individuals 

 may well be distinguished as belonging to the nil admirari 

 school. This brings me to the concluding part of my 

 subject. 



In our geological speculations we have enjoyed a very 

 broad field of discussion, without our clerical friends ex- 

 pressing any fear of the result, or endeavouring to stop 

 the spirit of free enquiry. This, you will agree with me, 

 redounds to their honour. Let us, then, be thankful, and, 

 at the same time, let us be anxious not to abuse our 

 liberty. I trust we have not already done so. You have 

 certainly heard it hinted by the geologists that our earth 

 is of immense antiquity, that man must have existed in it 

 for a much longer period than has been supposed, that our 

 planet is but one out of many, possibly all inhabited, that 

 our sun and solar system is but a speck in the vast 

 expanse of space. This has not shocked our feelings, but 



