Jani'aby 4, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



to he adopted by eveiy fi-ee people, and to 

 work mighty clianges in traditional, social 

 and governmental systems. Not less sig- 

 nificant, perhaps, in the same connection is 

 the present attitude of Pope Leo XIII. 

 and his counsellors in regard to educa- 

 tional movements in tlie United States. 



The condition of affairs in Germany up 

 to f[uite a recent day. as shown in Virehow's 

 address to the Congress of (Jerman Natural- 

 ists in 1872, seems almost incredilile. 



Describing the organization of that so- 

 ciety, fifty years befoi-e, he said : 



" Not perliaps at tlie dead of night, but still beneath 

 the veil of secrecy, a handful of savants assembled for 

 the first time at Leipsio, at the in\'itation of Oken. 

 In fact, in 1&2, no considerable body of men could 

 come together in Germany in answer to a public in- 

 vitation, without the permission of the civil authority. 

 They could not discuss among themselves scientific 

 questions, no matter how unconnected with the 

 political and national questions of the day. Add to 

 this the other fact that, if I am not mistaken, it was 

 only in ISOl, at the Congress of Naturalists at Spires, 

 that the names of the Austrian members could be 

 made public, and then we can appreciate the tre- 

 mendous change that has been brought about in 

 the Vaterland." 



In England personal liberty, though not 

 consciously retarded by law, is severely 

 trammeled by the natm-e of existing social 

 organizations. Distinction in science and 

 letters is, even to-day, practically, subor- 

 dinated to social distinction. As an illus- 

 tration one need only notice the position of 

 the President of the Royal Society ui)on any 

 list m which the names of influential Britons 

 are arraj'ed in order of social precedence. 

 It is next to impossible for a man of moderate 

 means, however learned, to become presi- 

 dent of one of the great English scientific 

 societies, and the honor mo.st highly 

 esteemed by the masses in England, as 

 well as throughout Europe, that of a deco- 

 ration, is rarelj" given, except to men who are 

 prosperous in some material way. 



" I know in London, " writes Leland, "a very great 

 man of science, mmiiii mcundus, who has never been 

 knighted, although the tradesman who makes for him 



his implements and instruments has received the title 

 and the accolade. ' ' * 



The changes which tlie last four centuries 

 have wrought are by no means to be all 

 attributed to the influence of the inhabitants 

 of the NcAv 'World, but in a large degi-ee, no 

 doubt, to the .social and political modificar 

 tions which the discovery of America rend- 

 ered possible in the Old "World. 



It is, after all, very difficult to realize the 

 exact relation of this discovery to the intel- 

 lectual history of mankind, and it maj' be 

 impossible, unless we were endowed with 

 the gift of omniscience. 



A few months ago, standing within the 

 great red fortress of the Alhambra, looking 

 down on the plain of Granada, still green 

 with the orchards and vineyards planted 

 by the former Moorish rulers of Spain, I 

 understood, as I had never done before, 

 that the final expulsion of the Orientals 

 from Europe was almost simultaneous with 

 the discovery of America. Six months be- 

 fore he sailed westward, Columbus stood 

 with Ferdinand and Isabella upon that very 

 tower, and saw the last cavalcade of exiled 

 Moors disappear over the mountains toward 

 Africa. For many centuries the military 

 strength of our European ancestors had 

 been chiefly de\oted to repelling the inva- 

 sions of these restless men of tlie East. 

 Feudal government held universal domain, 

 and all the learning of Europe was lioarded 

 up within monastic walls. 



" Tlie discovery of the New World not only offered 

 new productions to the cm-iosity of man. It also ex- 

 tended the then existing work of knowledge respect- 

 ing physical geography, the varieties of the human 

 species, and the migrations of nations. It is impos- 

 sible to read the narratives of the early .Spanish 

 travelers, espi-cially that of Acosta, witliout i)erceiv- 

 ing the influence w liich the a.spect of a great continent, 

 the study of extraordinarj- appearance of nature, and 

 intercourse with men of different races must have 

 exercised on the progress of knowledge in Europe. 

 The germ of a great number of physical truths is 

 found in the works of the sixteenth century ; and 



* Memoirs, l^itS, p. 127. 



