THE president's ADDRESS. 91 



first perceived or discovered, is afterwards found, not only to be 

 wonderful to contemplate or know, but also to be in tbe highest 

 degree useful in its applications. When the attractive power of 

 magnetic substances was first noticed, who foresaw that there would 

 grow out of it the construction of an instrument which would enable 

 vessels to be steered on the high seas with confidence and safety on. 

 the darkest night, and that, by means of such an instrument, trans- 

 portation would be so facilitated that an enormous influence would 

 thereby be exercised on the condition of the world ? or who foresaw 

 that the same strange power would lead to the wondrous telegraph 

 line, and to the conveyance of men's thoughts by its instrumentality 

 with the speed of lightning from one end of the earth to the other ? 



If, therefore, the peculiar condition of society amongst us, or any 

 other cause, leads to thfe neglect of the higher sciences, an important 

 office is performed by those who do what can be done to counteract 

 this tendency ; to foster the love of science on its own account, and 

 apart from the effort to utilise it or from the immediate expecta- 

 tion of utilising it ; and to thus encourage scientific studies for 

 their own sake, though by no means neglecting the practical appli- 

 cation of them . 



There are certainly circumstances connected with our past and 

 present condition which give a special interest to ail such agencies, 

 and I have touched upon them already. I refer particularly to the fact 

 that our whole people is engaged in active life. We have no leisure 

 class. Our country affords facilities unknown to the old world for any 

 man of energy and industry to make or increase his fortune ; and 

 almost all are occupied with the work of obtaining or securing the 

 means of subsistence or comfort. Again, the highest positions are 

 open to every one who aspires to them ; lowly origin or early 

 poverty is no barrier. The consequence is, that those who are not 

 absorbed in the pursuit of wealth or of physical gratification, 

 aspire to power. The tendency of all this is to confine the labors 

 of the intellect to these objects ; and I recognise in the Canadian 

 Institute, an important agency towards counteracting this tendency, 

 so far as the influence of the Institute and the influence of its pub- 

 lications extend ; and of directing to scientific pursuits the intellec- 

 tual energy of some of those who have an aptitude for such pursuits, 

 but might otherwise never cultivate them. 



I rejoice also at the success which has attended this society hith- 

 erto, because there is so much in Nature yet to be observed and dia- 



