FROM BUFFON TO DARWIN. 319 



men of science affirm, and affirm what they deny, or else they 

 ignore the matter, or else they are ignorant of the points in dispute 

 and take no interest in them. But the fact is that no one can 

 stop the revolution of the earth by simply saying that it does not 

 move, and no teacher can influence his disciples if in his argument 

 he pre-supposes as accepted and impregnable truth what they, 

 rightly or wrongly, regard as incredible legends. 



If even opposition has promoted the knowledge of nature, 

 much more must the innumerable societies established expressly 

 for its promotion have been efficacious. The growing apprecia- 

 tion of science led to their being founded. Their foundation has 

 led to an ever-extending growth in the appreciation of science. 

 Much the same may be said of periodical scientific literature, 

 although that is a subject almost too mountainous, too laby- 

 rinthine to enter upon just now. So, too, it is impossible here 

 to make more than a passing allusion to the celebrated Marine 

 Biological Station at Naples, established five and twenty years 

 ago by Dr. Anton Dohrn, with results, direct and indirect, of 

 far-reaching value. For my immediate purpose it may suffice to 

 speak of the British Association. It was founded, as most of you 

 know, in 1831. It is a missionary organization, a peripatetic school 

 of philosophers. While most societies are like ordinary vegetables, 

 rooted to the soil, this has the superior characteristic of an animal, 

 as being capable of free movement. It can flit from Aberdeen to 

 Oxford, from Glasgow to Plymouth, and from Plymouth to Dublin. 

 It can wing its way from Liverpool to Toronto, from Toronto to 

 Bristol, and then leaving " The Queen of the West," pitch its 

 camp, as we confidently expect, the year after next, in Dover. It 

 has brought the wonders and surprises of advancing knowledge 

 to men's own doors. It beats the drum outside their windows, 

 so that they cannot altogether shut their ears to the music. The 

 reception of it entails upon the hospitable town an astonishing 

 amount of trouble and expense. Nevertheless the welcome it 

 receives is not only everywhere extremely cordial, but the pleasant 

 sight is witnessed of rival towns or cities competing for the honour 

 of giving it entertainment. What this parent association does on 

 an imperial scale, our Union hopes to do for a limited area, not 

 by inopportune mimicry, but by judicious following of a great 

 example. 



