EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
285 
for their origin, or, at least, for the fundamental principles 
out of which they spring. We banish darkness from our 
streets by the help of the chemist; we know the day and 
hour at which an eclipse or occultation will occur by the pre¬ 
dictions of the astronomer; the sun paints pictures for us on 
media prepared by the photographer, and places separated by 
distance hold converse by the instantaneous communications 
of the electric wire. To speak lightly of scientific studies is 
to ignore the entire fabric of our social life, with all its amelio¬ 
ration for the body and the spirit; while to stimulate the 
spirit of research, is to help in the onward march of human 
advancement, and realise the idea of the poet, that e( the 
thoughts of men are widened by the progress of the 
suns.” 
It has been well said, ec Man at last is awakened to a rea¬ 
sonable use of his manifold gifts, and will never cease again 
employing them in restless activity for the furtherance of his 
own development and perfection. His aims are high, but so 
are his powers. No difficulties dismay him, nor does he feel 
astonished at the greatness of his own successes. We see 
enormous manufactories erected, and railways constructed 
over thousands of miles. Canals are forced through moun¬ 
tainous localities, and roads of communication established 
between points separated from each other since the creation 
of the universe. The depth of the sea no longer forms an 
impediment to the laying down of telegraphic cables. We 
hear of these wonders without surprise, looking upon them 
as almost a matter of course. Where the progress of our 
race is at stake, or the acquisition of wealth a desideratum, 
neither capital nor force are spared to ensure the auspicious 
end. Nature, subjected to man by dint of his continued in¬ 
vestigations, has become the assistant of our race in the exe¬ 
cution of those great works planned by human intelligence. 
No longer capable of hiding her treasures, Nature almost 
seems voluntarily to give them up to our use. Europe and 
America, standing as they do at the head of contemporary 
civilization, are not the only quarters of the world where 
progress is to be found and valued. The very islands of 
xxxm. 38 
