110 
The Rev. J. H. Titcomb was unable to read his Paper, on account of a 
severe accident, but stated that a friend, the Rev. J. B. Heard, had kindly 
consented to do so for him. 
The following Paper was then read : — 
ON CERTAIN MAGNITUDES IN NATURE , AND 
THEIR BEARINGS UPON BIBLICAL INTER - 
PRETATION. By the Rev. J. H. Titcomb,* M.A. 
T HERE is a text in the 111th Psalm, which, though it 
stands in immediate connection with the doctrine of Divine 
Providence, is none the less applicable to the doctrine of Crea- 
tion. “ The Works of the Lord are great/"’ — says the Psalmist — 
“ sought out of all them that have pleasure therein ! ” + 
What a golden link between science and revelation ! It seems 
to sound like a voice from the realms of universal nature, 
bidding us search into the laws which govern them, take 
pleasure in the phenomena which they present to us, and 
measure the power of their Creator by the magnitude of the 
forces which regulate them. Thus science, when reverently 
pursued, becomes the handmaid of true religion ; their spheres 
of thought being separate, yet equally culminating in the praise 
and glory of God. 
2. Such, at all events, is the platform upon which we stand 
in the meetings of this Institute. Searching into the various 
mysteries of nature, we do so under a solemn conviction that 
we are therein studying the works of a Heavenly Father ; and 
that, in all those works, whatever department we may investi- 
gate, we are beholding proofs of the Divine goodness and great- 
ness. Whether our investigations lead us into researches among 
the animal or vegetable kingdoms, or whether into the physical 
and inorganic, they alike conduct us, as Christian philosophers, 
toward the contemplation of Infinite wisdom and truth. 
Whether we are tempted to inquiries respecting things that are 
minute and microscopic, or to inquiries about any of those 
forces in nature which bring us face to face with velocities and 
periods that are overwhelming in the character of their magni- 
tude, the pleasure and the profit are the same. On the present 
occasion it will be our function to examine some of the latter 
class of phenomena. In doing which, we shall place the re- 
corded facts of science in the light of holy Scripture; simply 
* Now Canon Titcomb. t Ps. cxi. 2. 
