BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 37 



bas found, dimmish in size with elevation, merging into "wet mist, and ultimately 

 into dry fog. Mr. Glaisher met with snow for a mile in thickness below rain, 

 which is at variance with our preconceived ideas. He has also rendered good 

 service by testing the efficiency of various instruments at heights which cannot be 

 visited without personal danger. 



***** 



The science of organic life has of late years been making great and rapid 

 strides, and it is gratifying to observe that researches both in zoology and botany 

 are characterized in the present day by great ac«uracy and elaboration. Investi- 

 gations patiently conducted upon true inductive principles cannot fail eventually 

 to elicit the hidden laws which govern the animated world. Neither is there any 

 lack of bold speculation contemporaneously with this painstaking spirit of inquiry. 

 The remarkable work of Mr. Darwin promulgating the doctrine of natural selec- 

 tion has produced a profound sensation. The novelty of this ingenious theory, 

 the eminence of its author, and his masterly treatment of the subject have 

 perhaps combined to excite more enthusiasm in its favour than is consistent with 

 that dispassionate spirit which it is so necessary to preserve in the pursuit of 

 truth. Mr. Darwin's views have not passed unchallenged, and the arguments 

 both for and against have been urged with great vigour by the supporters and 

 opponents of the theory. Where good reasons can be shown on both sides of a 

 question, the truth is generally to be found between the two extremes. In the 

 present instance we may without difficulty suppose it to have been part of the 

 great scheme of creation that natural selection should be permitted to determine 

 variations amounting even to specific differences where those differences were 

 matters of degree ; but when natural selection is adduced as a cause adequate to 

 explain the production of a new organ not provided for in original creation, the 

 hypothesis must appear, to common apprehensions, to be pushed beyond the 

 limits of reasonable conjecture. The Darwinian theory, when fully enunciated, 

 founds the pedigree ot living nature upon the most elementary form of vitalized 

 matter. One step further would carry us back, without greater violence to pro- 

 bability, to inorganic rudiments, and then we should be called upon to recognize 

 in ourselves, and in the exquisite elaborations of the animal and vegetable 

 kingdoms, the ultimate results of mere material forces left free to follow their 

 own unguided tendencies. Surely our minds would in that case be more oppressed 

 with a sense of the miraculous than they now are in attributing the wondrous 

 things around us to the creative hand of a Great Presiding Intelligence. 



The evidences bearing upon the antiquity of man have been recently produced 

 in a collected and most logically-treated form by Sir Charles Lyell. It seems no 

 longer possible to doubt that the human race has existed on the earth in a 

 barbarian state for a period far exceeding the limit of historical record ; but 

 notwithstanding this great antiquity, the proofs still remain unaltered that man 

 is the latest as well as the noblest work of God. 



BEPOBT BT THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO INVESTIGATE SOME IMPROVEMENTS 

 IN GUN-COTTON. 



Since the invention of gun-cotton by Prof. Schbnbein, the thoughts of many 

 have been directed to its application to warlike purposes. Many trials and ex- 



