ANNUAL ADDRESS. 



By the Hon. PAUL A. CHADBOURNE, LL. D 

 [Delivered April 11, 1882.] 



The Physical Scien"Cbs the Products and Promoters of 



CiVILIZATIOlf. 



Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Alba7iy Institute: 



As the ship is crossing pathless seas, to the careless observer there 

 seems to be the same waste of water beneath and the same unchanging 

 heavens revolving from day to day above. But the commander, at 

 stated hours, observes the place of star and planet and marks upon 

 his chart the daily advance toward the desired haven. So in the 

 progress of the world, there is to the majority of men no clearer 

 notion of the real advance of science than there is to the ordi- 

 nary passenger at sea of the position of the ship that carries him. 

 They have a general notion that the world is drifting on, because from 

 time to time some new scientific discovery arrests their attention, as 

 would the blowing of a whale or the sight of some distant island break 

 the monotony of a long sea voyage. It is well then for societies 

 like this to have set times for observing the scientific heavens, that 

 they may report progress and make a point on the scientific chart for 

 a new departure. Such a time is properly the anniversary occasion. 

 As you have honored me by an invitation to aid you in this work, I 

 would gladly do something to exalt the physical sciences, and espe- 

 cially to mark their true place as elements of human ju'ogress. 



In the enchanting stories of the Arabian Nights, we read of the 

 ''slave of the ring" and ''slave of the lamp" that transported men, 

 opened treasure-caves and reared stately palaces at the command of 

 their masters. To those who are so ready to see a liidden, double 



