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accepted by others as facts ; and the history of the various branches of Science 
contains many a tale of supposed facts which have proved to be myths, resting 
on theories founded on false data. I am sure that this Society quite realizes 
the words of Lord Shaftesbury, which have been repeated more than once by 
him, and which are to this effect, that this Society and the Church of Christ 
do not look with any harshness or reserve upon Science, but would go most 
heartily with men of science in all their searches, only they would have those 
men of science search more thoroughly and deeply and widely. There cannot 
be too thorough a search before you attempt to found any theory upon isolated 
facts. 
Mr. Callard. — I have very great pleasure in rising to second this 
resolution, for personally I have found the advantage of having such an officer 
as your Secretary, especially in the amazing amount of pains which he takes 
in order that no inaccuracy shall creep into your Transactions, and that any one 
who speaks at your meetings, even if only for a few minutes, shall be correctly 
reported. I am sure that all who have ever spoken at our meetings must be 
thankful to Captain Petrie for the great care he has taken. I would also 
tread to some extent in the footsteps of the gentleman who moved this reso- 
lution, for I have had opportunities of observing the necessity of being very 
guarded as to how far we receive as facts what are stated to be facts in 
Science. With reference to the Brixham Cavern,* and to the flint imple- 
ments, I know that many of those flints are thought to be extremely doubtful. 
But it has been said lately : “ You need not talk about flints, for here is the 
bone of a man found beneath the glacial clay, and therefore man is pre- 
glacial.” Now if any one in society six months ago had denied the truth of 
that statement he would have been thought very presumptuous ; but the calm 
way in which this Society meets these cases and invites discussion upon them, 
without speaking angrily to the scientific men who in good faith have made 
these statements, has not been without its effect. It is because you deal with 
Science in this way that I think great good has come out of the Society’s 
efforts. If we had dealt with Science in another way, by curbing, or 
attempting to curb, its authority, we should not have got on very well. But 
this Society has adopted another course. You give scientific men credit for 
truth, and having met them fairly, you get an amount of fairness from them 
in return, which at one time you did not get. You had an illustration of that 
at the meeting held at the latter end of last month — I mean the conference 
called to consider the state of the evidence with regard to the antiquity of 
man. I was present at that meeting, and it was a pleasure to me to hear 
Professor Boyd Dawkins withdraw that bone which had been supposed to be 
human ; while Professor Buck, on whose authority it had been accepted, said 
that though he could not say yet that it might not be human, still there was 
so much uncertainty about it that he would not have any theory built upon it. 
* The first paper of Vol. X. contains a full account of the Boyal Society’s 
report on this cavern, and the errors which it has corrected. — Ed. 
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