TEE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



101 



THE PEOGEESS OF SCIENCE 



LOED AVEBURY AND THE PASS- 

 ING OF THE VICTORIAN EBA 



During the nineteenth century, Eng- 

 land was clearly the leading nation of 

 the world. Previously it had been 

 rivaled by Italy and Trance, even by 

 Austria and Spain; now it has to con- 

 tend for supremacy with Germany and 

 the United States; soon Eussia and 

 China will be added; perhaps the Bal- 

 kan states and Japan. The races which 

 successively invaded the British islands 

 were of fine stock; their struggles and 

 their union left a people of high qual- 

 ity. In the development of the appli- 

 cations of science England took the 

 lead, owing to the genius of its people, 

 the convenient supply of iron and coal 

 and the maritime situation. Vast 

 wealth was accumulated, the most able 

 and vigorous of its people being the 

 most successful. Innumerable families 

 were established with inherited ability 

 and wealth. From them came the great 

 men who gave distinction to the Vic- 

 torian era. 



Four years ago, after comments on 

 Darwin and Tennyson in view of the 

 centenary of their births, it was here 

 remarked : ' ' The greatness of the Vic- 

 torian era is now represented among 

 the living by men of science — Hooker, 

 Wallace, Avebury, Huggins, Galton. " 

 Only Wallace is now left, still vigorous 

 in body and mind at the age of ninety 

 years. One after the other the world 

 lost Lister, Huggins and Galton; Sir 

 Joseph Dalton Hooker died on Decem- 

 ber the tenth last, in his ninety-fifth 

 year; Lord Avebury died on May 28 

 at the age of seventy-nine years. 



Avebury — not every reader of the 

 works of Sir John Lubbock will recog- 

 nize him under the name he bore in the 

 peerage — was not among the greatest 

 men of the nineteenth century, but 



there is no finer example of the per- 

 formance of the Victorian era. Like 

 Hooker he inherited from his father 

 ', superior natural ability directed to sci- 

 ; entific work and at the same time 

 ample wealth. He was perhaps with- 

 j out peer as an amateur, nor is he likely 

 J to have a successor. He is known for 

 I a long series of scientific and literary 

 books which attained circulations in 

 English and foreign editions running 

 into the hundreds of thousands. As a 

 neighbor and friend of Darwin's at 

 Down he may have been influenced by 

 him in his work on natural history, 

 beginning with ' ' The Prehistoric 

 Times ' ' and ' ' Ants, Bees and Wasps. ' ' 

 Equally popular with his works on an- 

 thropology, entomology and botany 

 were his "Scenery of England" and 

 ' ' Scenery of Switzerland, ' ' and his 

 books of literary philosophy, such as 

 "The Pleasures of Life" and "The 

 Beauties of Nature. ' ' 



While writing so many books con- 

 cerned with science and letters and 

 while most active in scientific and edu- 

 cational organization — he was president 

 of the British Association at its jubilee 

 I meeting and president of a long list of 

 scientific societies — Avebury conducted 

 the banking business which he inherited 

 from his father. He published impor- 

 tant brochures on currency and com- 

 merce and had large influence in the 

 financial world. At the same time he 

 was an active member of parliament, 

 taking special interest in questions of 

 education and social reform, as in ini- 

 tiating the movement for early closing 

 and public holidays. 



Avebury so completely represented 

 many aspects of the Victorian era that 

 his death typifies the passing of that 

 great period in history. Eule by the 

 best and work for love of the work are 



