2 REPORT — 1859. 



a peculiar relish for new discoveries. The interest of a discovery is not usually con- 

 fined to the discoverer, unless he is very churlish, or even to those who are endea- 

 vouring to discover ; but it often extends to the whole civilized world. The interest 

 is, however, not lasting ; for a time we are dazzled by the brilliancy of the discovery ; 

 gradually, however, the impression becomes fainter, and at last it is lost entirely in the 

 splendour of some fresh discovery, which carries with it the charm of novelty. When 

 we reflect upon this, we cannot but perceive how very different the state of the world 

 would have been had mankind from the beginning been in possession of all the 

 knowledge we now have, and there had been no progress ever since. We ask, why 

 have all these wonders been placed before us — hidden, veiled — only to be brought to 

 light by the vigorous use of our faculties ? How wonderful from its origin has been 

 the progress of geometrical science ! Beginning perhaps 3000 years ago almost from 

 nothing, one simple relation of magnitude suggesting another ; the relations beco- 

 ming gradually more complicated, more interesting, more important, till in our day it 

 expands into a science which enables us to weigh the planets ; more wonderful still, 

 to calculate long beforehand the course they will take acted upon by forces continually 

 varying in direction and magnitude. When we ask ourselves such questions as 

 these considerations suggest, and thoughtfully work out the answers as far as pos- 

 sible in their full depth of detail, we become in some degree conscious of the immense 

 moral benefits which the human race has derived, and is deriving, from the gradual 

 progress of knowledge. The discoveries, however, in physical science are often im- 

 mediately applicable to practice, giving man new powers, enabling him better to 

 supply his many wants. We therefore, who are all, in some degree at least, utilita- 

 rians, on that account very naturally regard them with deep interest. I am sure the 

 mere mention of the subject has already suggested to you many of the extraordinary 

 discoveries of latter times ; for instance, the production of force almost without limit 

 by heat, and its application to locomotion by sea and land, — the transmission of 

 thought, not slowly by letter, not to short distances by sound, but instantaneously to 

 immense distances by electricity ; and when we look around us and see how man 

 has appropriated to his use the properties of light and heat, the powers of wind 

 and water, the materials which have been placed before him in endless variety on the 

 surface of the globe which he inhabits, — that he has effected all this by knowledge 

 accumulated by what we call Science, — it is surely not surprising that we should look 

 upon new discoveries with surpassing interest. The mere utilitarian, however, has 

 been often reminded that discoveries the most important, the most fruitful in prac- 

 tical results, have frequently in the beginning been apparently the most barren, and 

 therefore that the discoveries in abstract science are not without interest even for 

 him. I confess, however, that the gradual development of scientific discovery, — in 

 fact, in other words, the steady flow of knowledge into the world — which like a stream 

 becoming broader and deeper as it proceeds points to its own source, to its own 

 origin, which is the origin of man, — I confess that this arrangement appears to me 

 to serve far nobler purposes than merely to minister to the corporeal wants of man, 

 as they increase, or are supposed to increase, with the progress of civilization. 

 What those purposes are, to some extent, I think we may clearly see, though to 

 fathom the full depth of such an inquiry would be beyond our powers. Looking 

 merely on the surface, we perceive that the continual springing up of new facts, new 

 discoveries, in endless succession, the rewards of industry, must tend to make man 

 industrious. It inspires him with hope, entices him to labour with his mind — 

 the hardest of all labour ; it quickens his faculties, it forces him to look behind and 

 before, to the past and future, and it promotes in him a high moral training by the 

 influence it exercises over his habits and thoughts. Many, no doubt, will feel anxious 

 to see principles immediately applied to practice ; in common language, to see prin- 

 ciples made useful : they will be highly gratified in the Mechanical Section. Here 

 they may, perhaps, occasionally see the same thing ; but more frequently they will 

 find that the results are but stepping-stones which prepare the way for further pro- 

 gress. These few remarks, which I have made principally for the convenience of 

 new Members, will, I think, be sufficient to give some little idea of the kind of busi- 

 ness to be transacted here, and I will not allude to the actual practical results which 

 have immediately followed from the labours of this Section. They have been 

 detailed, and recently, especially by my friend on my right hand, Dr. Robinson ; 



