60 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
already in every sphere of mental activity signs of quick- 
ening, as when the springtime of colder climates follows 
the departing winter. As the present conflict of arms has 
surpassed the anticipations and outdone the imagination 
of all men, so the renaissance which will follow its con- 
clusion will, in every range of mental activity, I believe, 
be beyond our wildest dreams. At the time when the 
present war broke out the world had arrived at a stage of 
material prosperity, the result of the application of scien- 
tific ideas and forces, unprecedented in the history of man- 
kind. Science had shown the world how to create vast 
wealth, and, generally speaking, the main object of every- 
ene, whether by organised bodies or in other ways, was 
{o secure at least an adequate share in its distribution. 
The economic triumphs of science had focussed contem- ~ 
porary attention almost wholly on this aspect of it, and 
possibly because of this purely materialistic outlook it. 
was opposed at first so bitterly and unreasonably as a 
necessary part of the curriculum in our universities and 
schools. The geologist was useful because he could find 
oil and artesian water and minerals, the botanist because 
lie could supply new varieties of plants or increase the 
productiveness of known ones, the entomologist because 
he could devise methods to combat destructive pests. The - 
‘material value of this work could not be denied, and prob- 
ably at no period of history had the material side of life 
been so attractive and so absorbing. Into the midst of 
these conditions the present war intruded itself. It was 
as if some foul magician had waved his wand, and before 
it the enormous wealth which science had made possible 
commenced to dissipate in untold millions. No estimate 
can be made of the loss to this date. National debts are 
but a part of the enormous loss, and it has, not nearly 
ended yet. The loss to us of those who are the producers 
of wealth, the strongest and bravest of our manhood, thg 
best of the world, is “inealculable, and they have been des-— 
troyed in millions. Science, too, has made this possible. 
Fifty years ago such a war was an impossibility; the des- 
truction of life and wealth at its present appalling rate 
could not have happened then, but science has made it 
possible to-day. Surely this is sufficient to make us pause 
‘and think. And in the midst of this great overthrow, 
men and women are, in increasing numbers, thinking most. 
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