SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



209 



by the author himself in the pages before us ; con- 

 sequently much deduction is left to the reader's 

 own intelligence. 



If we have read Dr. Haeckel's conclusions cor- 

 rectly, we feel hesitation in accepting some of 

 them without further evidence in their favour. 

 For instance, when quoting Emile du Bois-Ray- 

 mond's seven world-enigmas, No. 3 being the Origin 

 of Life, he says the question is " decisively answered 

 by our modern theory of evolution." We fail to see 

 how this applies to a solution of the origin of life, 

 though it accounts for its continuance. 



The "Riddle of the Universe" is a very powerful 

 work, and should be read by all people of mature 

 thought interested in science and the progress of 

 humanity. Though one sometimes disagrees with 

 Dr. Haeckel's opinions and conclusions, his theories 

 and facts command consideration. 



It is probably well known to our readers that the 

 author in his works takes the materialistic side of 

 argument as opposed to theology. Nevertheless 

 we cannot help pointing out that the earnestness, 

 devotion to duty in view of the benefit to others, 

 and general honesty of purpose exhibited by 

 Haeckel and contemporary scientific workers who 

 agree with him, are in themselves the hereditary 

 development of nineteen centuries of the, perhaps 

 more or less imperfect, teachings of Christian ethics. 

 The monistic philosophy advocated by Dr. Haeckel 

 and his followers does not allow for the qualities 

 of self-sacrifice and self-denial, virtues which, 

 though inherently opposed to scientific theories 

 of physical evolution, yet command the instinctive 

 admiration of all civilised peoples. 



F. WlNSTONE. 



ORIGIN OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



A T the opening meeting of the 147th Session of 

 -*"*- the Society of Arts, held November 21st, the 

 address given was by Sir John Evans, K.C.B., 

 D.C.L., L.L.D., Sc.D., F.R.S., upon the "Origin, 

 Development, and Aims of our Scientific Societies." 

 Sir John Evans stated that no learned Society 

 had received a Royal Charter before 1662, when 

 the Royal Society was incorporated. The Society 

 of Antiquaries was, however, much older, having 

 been founded about 1572. Among the meeting- 

 places of this staid and respectable body was 

 the " Young Devil " tavern, in Fleet Street. The 

 Society before which the address was given was 

 founded in 1754, and incorporated nearly a cen- 

 tury later, in 1847, as the " Society for the En- 

 couragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Com- 

 merce." From the trio of Societies — the Royal, 

 Antiquaries, and Arts — Sir John mentioned that, 

 nearly all the numerous leading learned societies 

 in existence in this country had sprung by a 

 natural process of evolution. The first, perhaps, 



was the Medical Society, founded in 1773. The 

 Linnean Society for the Cultivation of Natural 

 History followed 'in 1788. The lecturer pointed 

 out that during the century now drawing to 

 its close the vast advances in science and the 

 innumerable aspects which it assumed had led to 

 the foundation of the numerous scientific societies 

 with more or less limited scope. These were 

 by no means confined to science as represented 

 by the ordinary acceptance of the word, as many 

 were literary and philosophical in their aims ; that 

 of Manchester dating back to 1781. The offshoots 

 of the Society of Antiquaries had not been so 

 numerous, nor so important, as those from the 

 Royal Society ; the field of archaeological research 

 being more restricted than that of purely " natural 

 knowledge." The Society of Arts was the first in 

 England to devote attention to the important 

 subjects of forestry and agriculture ; the Royal 

 Agricultural Society not originating until 1838. It 

 was the Society of Arts also that laid the founda- 

 tions for the Institute of Civil Engineers and its 

 offshoots. At the Society of Arts in 1841 there 

 was formed the Chemical Society, from which 

 arose the Institute of Chemistry in 1877. The same 

 birthplace may be claimed for the Society of 

 Chemical Industry and the Sanitary Institute. 

 Similarly originated were the City Guilds Insti- 

 tute, and even the Science and Art Department at 

 South Kensington, though this latter was influenced 

 by the Great Exhibition of 1851. The Photographic 

 Society grew from an exhibition of photographs, the 

 first of its kind, held in the Society's rooms. It 

 was also the parent of the Royal College of Music. 

 Sir John Evans pointed to the fact that without our 

 Societies it would have been impossible for know- 

 ledge to have progressed as it has during the past 

 century. They bring about that healthy competi- 

 tion which stirs men from rest or torpor ; a.sta,te 

 once described by a secretary of the Society of 

 Antiquaries, when he said : " Would to God there 

 was nothing in this world older than a new-laid 

 egg " 



A Universal Wheatstone Bridge. — An im- 

 proved form of a Wheatstone bridge, and one 

 specially designed for the Carey -Foster method of 

 resistance measurements, is described in the 

 "Electrician " for October 5th last. Both the con- 

 struction and theory of the bridge are thoroughly 

 explained by the writer, Mr. C. Y. Drysdale, who is. 

 we believe, the designer — J. Quick, C 'ork. 



The Use of Floats in Burettes. — An article 

 of extreme interest to teachers of chemistry, in the 

 " Zeitschrift fur angew. Chemie," points out, as the 

 results of an extended series of observations on 

 the use of floats for reading burettes, (1) that 

 floats should never be employed in reading burettes 

 calibrated without them, and (2) that the results 

 obtained by different observers, and by the same 

 observer at different times, rarely agree. The 

 author, Herr Kreibling, concludes that their use is 

 to be avoided. — Harold M. Read, London. 



