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+Project Gutenberg's The Scientific Basis of National Progress, by George Gore
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Scientific Basis of National Progress
+       Including that of Morality
+
+Author: George Gore
+
+Release Date: December 28, 2010 [EBook #34771]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Keith Edkins and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Page numbers enclosed by curly braces (example: {25}) have been
+incorporated to facilitate the use of the Table of Contents.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS
+
+OF
+
+NATIONAL PROGRESS,
+
+INCLUDING THAT OF MORALITY.
+
+
+
+G. GORE, L.L.D., F.R.S.,
+
+_Author of "The Art of Scientific Discovery;"
+"The Principles and Practice of Electro-deposition;"
+"The Art of Electro-metallurgy;" &c._
+
+[Illustration]
+
+NATIONS ADVANCE BY NEW KNOWLEDGE.
+
+
+
+WILLIAMS AND NORGATE,
+
+14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON;
+AND 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH.
+1882.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+To the President (the Rev. N. Watson, F.R.S.), the Vice Presidents, the
+Council and Members of the Birmingham Philosophical Society, I dedicate the
+following small treatise, in appreciation of the fact, that although only a
+young Society, they have certified in a substantial manner the views
+persistently advocated by me respecting the National importance of
+Scientific Investigation, and have shown so intelligent an example of
+devotion to public welfare by establishing a Fund for the Endowment of
+original Scientific Research.
+
+  GEORGE GORE.
+
+  _The Institute of Scientific Research,_
+  _Birmingham._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
+
+------
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+------
+
+  PREFACE.
+
+  CHAPTER I.                                                PAGE
+
+  THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF MATERIAL PROGRESS                    1
+
+  CHAPTER II.
+
+  THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF MENTAL AND MORAL PROGRESS           83
+
+  CHAPTER III.
+
+  NEW TRUTH, AND ITS GENERAL RELATION TO HUMAN PROGRESS      157
+
+  CHAPTER IV.
+
+  THE PROMOTION OF ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH              170
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
+
+------
+
+NEW KNOWLEDGE IMPARTS NEW POWER.
+
+------
+
+PREFACE.
+
+As there exists at the present time in this country a considerable degree
+of uneasiness in the public mind respecting our ability to maintain our
+position in the race of progress, and as our future success as a nation
+depends largely upon science, it is desirable to call attention to the
+great public importance of _new_ scientific knowledge, and to the means of
+promoting its development.
+
+Although the illustrations given in this book of the importance of such
+knowledge to mankind, constitute but a small fraction of the number which
+might be adduced, they are sufficient to show that by the neglect of
+scientific investigation, we are sacrificing our welfare as a nation to an
+enormous extent.
+
+The greatest obstacle to the discovery of new knowledge in this country,
+lies in a wide spread ignorance of the dependence of human welfare upon
+scientific research. I propose therefore to show in a brief manner, that
+the essential starting-point of human progress, lies in scientific
+discovery; also that new truths are evolved by original research made in
+accordance with scientific methods; and to illustrate these statements by
+examples; also to point out how such research can be encouraged.
+
+The book is divided into four chapters, viz.: _1st._ The Scientific basis
+of Material progress: _2nd._ The Scientific basis of Mental and Moral
+progress: _3rd._ New truth and its relation to Human progress: and _4th._
+The Promotion of original Scientific Research. As the object of the book is
+only to call attention to the vast importance of _new_ truth, as as a
+fundamental source of advance, and how to promote the discovery of it, the
+essay is written as briefly as possible, and is not offered in any sense as
+a complete exposition of the subject, especially the section relating to
+the Scientific basis of Morality.
+
+The leading idea of the Book is that present knowledge only enables us to
+maintain our present state, that national _progress_ is the result of _new_
+ideas, and that the chief source of new ideas is original research.[1] That
+as _advance_ has its origin in _new_ knowledge; unless new discoveries are
+made, new inventions and improvements must sooner or later cease. Another
+prominent idea is, that truth is essentially the same in all divisions of
+knowledge, and that the mental powers and processes employed in detecting
+it are the same in all subjects.
+
+For reasons stated in the text, the influence of scientific discovery upon
+mental and moral progress are treated together. Notwithstanding the far
+greater importance of the mental and moral advantages of new truths, the
+book treats chiefly of the pecuniary and material gains to mankind; mainly
+because the latter are more easily understood and appreciated, the chapter
+however on "The Scientific Basis of Mental and Moral progress," indicates
+in a very brief and imperfect manner, the vast importance of new scientific
+knowledge to mankind, as a source of mental and moral advancement.
+
+The chief object of this book is to disseminate more correct ideas
+respecting the importance of _new_ positive knowledge, and the duties of
+society in relation to it; and a further object is to assist in maintaining
+Birmingham in the front rank of intellectual, social and moral advance, in
+accordance with its motto "Forward."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+{1}
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+------
+
+THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF MATERIAL PROGRESS.
+
+During the last one hundred years this nation has advanced with unexampled
+speed. More wealth has been accumulated by Englishmen since the
+commencement of the present century, than in all preceding time since the
+period of Julius Caesar; one of the causes of this has been the discovery of
+new truths of science, and their subservience to useful purposes by means
+of invention. The great manufacturing success of this country has been
+largely due to those applications of science, which have enabled us to
+utilise our abundant stores of coal and iron-ore, in steam engines,
+machinery, and a multitude of mechanical, physical, and chemical processes;
+also to the discovery of electro-magnetism and its application in the
+electric-telegraph, etc. And had it not been for these and other
+adaptations of scientific knowledge, we should have competed in vain with
+the cheaper labour and longer days of toil of continental nations. Other
+great causes, such as our insular position, suitable climate, freedom, {2}
+geographical position, etc., etc. have, however, also contributed to the
+result. Commerce also in its turn has done vast things for mankind.
+
+The purely scientific knowledge we possess was discovered almost entirely
+by means of original research, and to only a small extent by persons
+engaged in industrial occupations. Probably not two per cent. of all the
+important discoveries in pure science were made in manufactories; the
+scientific experiments which are made in such establishments are usually of
+the nature of invention, not of discovery, and are not often published,
+because it is a usual object with men of business to retain as much as
+possible of the pecuniary benefit of their labours to themselves. Whilst it
+is the object of a business man to monopolise special knowledge; that of
+the scientific man is to diffuse it, in order that all mankind may be
+benefited and helped to improve.
+
+Discoveries in science are, however, occasionally made by practical men
+engaged in technical employments. The hydro-electric machine originated in
+this way, a man at Newcastle was attending to a steam boiler, and found
+that he received electric shocks when he touched the boiler. This
+circumstance was investigated by his employer, Mr. Armstrong, a scientific
+man, and led him to construct the hydro-electric machine. The accumulation
+of electricity in submarine telegraph cables was first observed at the
+Gutta-Percha Company's works {3} London. It was noticed on testing a cable
+by means of a voltaic battery (the cable being submerged in water) that
+discharges of electricity flowed from the cable after the battery was
+removed; this circumstance was investigated by Faraday, and led to
+improvements in submarine telegraphy. In each of these instances the same
+general method as that used by scientific discoverers was however employed,
+viz., new experiments were made (though not intentionally) by putting
+matter and its forces under new conditions, and new results were observed.
+
+Nearly all great modern scientific discoveries have been made by teachers
+of science and others, who spend a large portion of their lives in
+experimental investigation, searching for new truths, and not by persons
+who have hit upon them by accident. The greatest discoveries in physics and
+chemistry in modern times, were made chiefly by such men as Newton,
+Cavendish, Scheele, Priestley, Oersted, Volta, Davy and Faraday: all great
+workers in science.
+
+It is either by observing matter and its forces under new conditions or
+from a new aspect, that nearly all discoveries are made; thus Priestley
+placed some oxide of mercury in an inverted glass vessel, and heated it by
+means of the Sun's rays and a lens, and discovered Oxygen. This substance
+was nearly discovered by Eck de Sulsbach three hundred years before; he
+heated six pounds of an amalgam {4} of silver and mercury, and converted
+the latter metal into a red oxide like cinnabar, and he remarked, "a spirit
+is united with the metal, and what proves it is this, that this artificial
+cinnabar submitted to distillation, disengages that spirit." The "spirit"
+was evidently oxygen.
+
+Some discoveries are made by observing the phenomena of bodies placed under
+special conditions by those operations of nature over which we have little
+or no control. All our knowledge of Astronomy, and much of that of geology
+and physiology, was acquired in this way.
+
+Nearly all modern discoveries of importance in physics or chemistry require
+long and difficult investigations to be made in order to completely
+establish their truth. When Crookes discovered Thallium, he saw the first
+sign of its existence in a momentary flash of green light in a
+spectroscope, but he had to expend upon the subject several years of most
+difficult labour, and a considerable sum of money, in order to prove the
+correctness of his suspicion that he had discovered a new metal. M. Lecocq
+de Boisbaudran discovered the metal Gallium and Bunsen discovered Rubidium
+and Caesium in a similar manner.
+
+Discoveries in science, are usually made, not by trying to obtain some
+valuable commercial or technical result, but by making new, reliable, and
+systematic investigations. By investigating the chemical action of
+electricity upon saline bodies, {5} Sir Humphrey Davy isolated sodium and
+magnesium, which has led to the establishment at Patricroft near
+Manchester, of the manufactures of those metals. By the abstract researches
+of Hofmann and others upon Coal-tar, many new compounds were discovered,
+and the extremely profitable manufacture of the splendid coal-tar dyes was
+originated.
+
+Scientific discovery is the most valuable in its ultimate practical results
+when it is pursued from a love of truth as the ruling motive, and any
+attempt to make it more directly and quickly remunerative by trying to
+direct it to immediately practical objects, decreases the importance of its
+results, diminishes the spirit of inquiry, and sooner or later reduces it
+to the character of invention. The greatest practical realities of this age
+had their origin in a search after important truths entirely irrespective
+of what utilities they might lead to.
+
+I do not intend by these remarks to imply that any new trades or
+improvements in manufactures have been or can be effected without the
+labours of inventors and practical men, but that there should be a more
+judicious division of labour: one man to discover new truths, another to
+put them into the form of practical inventions, and the business man to
+work them; because it is proved by experience, that in nearly all cases
+these different kinds of labour require men of widely different habits of
+mind, and {6} that the faculties of discovery, invention, and practical
+working are very rarely united in one man.
+
+Scientific investigations however, made in a manufactory, for the purpose
+of ascertaining the various sources of loss of materials, the circumstances
+which affect the amount or quality of the product; or made with the object
+of substituting cheaper or more suitable materials, or for varying their
+proportions, or for many other kindred objects, have in many cases resulted
+in great benefit to the manufacturer, and have formed the basis of
+successful patents. Some of the large brewers, chemical manufacturers,
+candle companies, and many others, constantly employ scientific men in this
+way to examine their materials, processes and products, and keep them
+acquainted with the progress of discovery and invention in relation to
+their own particular trades.
+
+No art or manufacture is so perfect as to be exempt from the influence of
+discovery and invention, and no man can produce so perfect an article but
+that, by the aid of science, a better may be produced. Science and trade
+are mutually dependent, without the assistance of science, trade would be
+unable to supply our daily increasing wants, and without the pecuniary
+support of trade, science would languish and decay.
+
+"As long as arts and manufactures are left to be directed and improved by
+simple experience, their progress is extremely slow, but directly
+scientific knowledge is successfully applied to them, they {7} bound
+forward with astonishing speed." Look at the art of taking portraits; for
+hundreds of years it remained entirely in the hands of oil and water-colour
+painters with but little progress in rapidity of production, but directly
+science was applied to it in the form of photography, its advance in this
+respect became amazing. Fifty years ago photography was almost unknown, but
+immediately Messrs. Daguerre and Talbot, in 1844, made known their
+processes, the new art began to advance, and so rapid has been its
+progress, that at the present time many thousand persons are employed in
+its exercise, and millions of portraits have been taken with an accuracy
+and at a cost quite beyond the reach of the old method.
+
+Many persons hardly know the difference between science and art; a still
+greater number cannot readily distinguish between a concrete science and a
+pure one; and nearly all persons confound discovery with invention. A
+science may be conveniently defined as a collection of facts and general
+principles which are to be learned; an art as a collection of rules which
+are to be followed:--Art therefore is applied science; and every art also
+has a basis in science, whether that basis has been discovered or not.
+Scientific principles underlie not only manufacturing processes, but also
+sculpture, music, poetry and painting.
+
+Discoveries differ also from inventions: a scientific discovery is a newly
+found truth in science, which in the great majority of cases is not in the
+form of {8} applied knowledge. An invention is usually a combination and
+application to some desired purpose, of scientific truths which have been
+previously discovered. When Oersted first observed a magnetic needle move
+by means of a current of electricity, he made a scientific discovery; but
+when Wheatstone and Cooke applied Oersted's discovery in their telegraph
+from Paddington to Slough, they made an invention. The success of the
+electro-plating process was dependent upon knowledge previously discovered.
+Mr. Wright, a surgeon in Birmingham, was led to the invention of the use of
+cyanide of potassium in electro-plating and gilding, by reading in
+Scheele's "Chemical Essay" (p.p. 405 and 406), that "if after these calces"
+(_i.e._, the cyanides of gold and silver) "have been precipitated, a
+sufficient quantity of precipitating liquor be added, in order to
+redissolve them, the solution remains clear in the open air, and in this
+state the aerial acid" (_i.e._, carbonic acid of the air) "does not
+reprecipitate the metallic calx."
+
+Immediately a discovery is effected it is made public, and is afterwards
+incorporated in the ordinary text books of science, ready for the use of
+inventors; and in this way such books have become filled with valuable
+knowledge acquired by researches in past times. All this knowledge (which
+has cost millions of pounds and a vast amount of intellect and labour) has
+been given by its discoverers freely to the nation. Some idea of the number
+of scientific {9} researches which have been made since the year 1800, may
+be obtained from the fact, that a mere list of their titles, with the names
+of the authors, occupies eight large quarto volumes, of about one thousand
+pages each, compiled and published at a cost of about ten thousand pounds,
+by the British Government and the Royal Society.
+
+In discovery we search for new phenomena, their causes and relations; in
+invention we seek to produce new effects, or to produce known effects in an
+improved manner. The objects of the scientific discoverer are, new truth
+and greater accuracy; whereas those of the inventor, are increased
+usefulness and economy of results. The ancients classed inventors with the
+gods, because they considered them great benefactors to the human race.
+Discoverers may properly be viewed as priests and prophets of truth,
+because they both reveal new knowledge to mankind, and predict with
+certainty coming events.
+
+A man cannot usually invent an improvement unless he possesses scientific
+knowledge, and, for that knowledge he must in nearly all cases resort to a
+scientific book or teacher. The great practical value of new scientific
+knowledge is proved by the fact, that when scientific discoveries are
+published, there are numerous inventors and practical men, who immediately
+endeavour to apply them to useful purposes. Since the first application of
+coal-tar to the production of dyes, every discovery in that {10} branch of
+chemistry has been closely watched for a similar purpose.
+
+A complete account of the growth and development of scientific discoveries
+and inventions would form an extensive history, and would include numerous
+instances of experiments attended by results which, sooner or later,
+affected all mankind. Take that of phosphorus, for example. The first
+evidence of the existence of that substance was obtained by the Saracens in
+the eighth century. Achild Bechil distilled a powdered mixture of charcoal,
+clay, lime, and dried extract of urine, and obtained a substance which
+shone in the dark "like a good moon;" that substance was phosphorus. The
+discovery contained in the results of that little dirty and stinking
+experiment was the germ or seed of all the subsequent developments and
+applications of phosphorus. About the year 1669 Bechil's experiment was
+further developed by Brandt, a merchant of Hamburg, and the publication of
+the wonderful properties of the substance produced a great sensation in his
+fellow-citizens. "There was then cried nothing but triumph and victory
+among the chymists. Those good people erected already in their thoughts so
+many hospitals and poor-houses that no beggar should more molest any man in
+the streets, made great legacies, and pious causes, and what not else."
+"Besides, the other alchymists did encourage him yet more, and desisted not
+to make him believe how this was the same fiery ghost of {11} Moses that in
+the beginning moved upon the water, yea, his splendid shining face: the
+fiery pillar in the desert, that secret fire of the altar wherewith Moses
+burned the golden calf before he strewed it upon the fire and made it
+potable."
+
+The experiment of Brandt was repeated by Kunckel before the courts of
+Saxony and Brandenburg, although it was not a very delicate or agreeable
+exhibition, "because the anctuous and daubing oyliness was not yet
+accurately separated from it, and without doubt it was very stinking."
+Brandt's process was further developed by Boyle, and published in the
+Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, in the year 1692-3; and
+phosphorus was afterwards obtained in larger quantity and in a purer state
+by Hanckwitz, a chemist in Southampton Street, Strand, and sold by him at
+three pounds sterling per ounce. Its price at present is less than three
+shillings per pound.
+
+Margraaf, Fourcroy, Vauquelin, and Dr. Slare also extended our knowledge of
+the substance; Gahn, in 1769, made the important discovery of phosphorus in
+bones, and Scheele immediately devised the process now in use by our
+manufacturers for extracting it from that substance. The commencement of
+the use of phosphorus for the purpose of getting a light occurred about the
+year 1803, but it was not until the year 1833 that the invention of
+phosphorus matches became commercially successful. The use of such matches
+is now universal, and it has {12} been estimated that the daily consumption
+of them in Great Britain alone amounts to two hundred and fifty millions,
+or more than eight matches per day for each individual in the kingdom.
+
+"There is nothing on the Earth so small that it may not produce great
+things." The most abstract and apparently trivial experiments in original
+research have in some cases led to inventions and results of national and
+even world-wide importance. The contractions of a frog's leg in the
+experiments of Galvani, and the movements of a magnetic needle in those of
+Oersted, have already led to the expenditure of hundreds of millions of
+pounds in laying telegraph wires all over the earth, and to an immense
+extension of international intercourse. But the original experiment of
+Oersted was not discovered without labour, it was only arrived at after
+many years of research.
+
+The saying that "all great things have had small beginnings," is true, not
+only of electric telegraphs, but also of the great trade of
+electro-plating, and of the magneto-electric machine which is now largely
+used instead of the voltaic battery. After Volta had made his small and
+apparently unimportant experiments on the electricity produced by metals
+and liquids, various persons tried the effect of that electricity upon
+metallic solutions. Brugnatelli, in 1805, found that two silver medals
+became gilded in a solution of gold by passing the electricity through
+them. Mr. Henry Bessemer, in 1834, coated various {13} lead ornaments with
+copper by using a solution of copper in a similar manner. And in 1836 Mr.
+De la Rue found that copies might be taken in copper of engraved
+copper-plates by the electro-depositing process. Faraday discovered
+magneto-electricity in the year 1831, by rotating a disc of copper between
+the poles of a magnet, and he has stated that the first successful result
+he obtained was so small that he could hardly detect it. This simple
+experiment was the origin of the magneto-electric machine, and many of
+these machines are now used for producing the electric light, and for
+depositing nickel, copper, silver, and gold, instead of by the voltaic
+battery. These, and other engines, thermic, magnetic, electric, &c, will
+probably, ere long, be constructed on as large a scale, and as many in
+number, as the present steam engine.
+
+The discovery in olden times of the attractive properties of a fragment of
+iron ore, was the basis of the invention of the mariner's compass, which
+greatly improved navigation, and led to nearly all the chief maritime
+discoveries which have since been made. The sciences of magnetism and
+geometry form the basis of the art of navigation, and have thus made our
+great foreign commerce possible. The discovery of magnetism enabled sailing
+vessels to venture freely out of sight of land, and to traverse the wide
+ocean with even greater safety than to sail near the shore. By its means
+Columbus crossed the Atlantic Ocean and discovered America. By its {14}
+means also, Vasco de Gama sailed round the Cape of Good Hope and discovered
+a new route to India; and in the year 1500, another Portuguese Captain,
+Cabral, was driven across the Atlantic, discovered Brazil, and was enabled
+by the aid of the magnet, to send back a ship to Lisbon with news of the
+discovery. By its assistance also Magellan discovered Patagonia and the
+South Pacific Ocean; and by the completion of that voyage the Earth was
+first circumnavigated and proved to be a globe.
+
+The geographical discoveries of the Portuguese, made by means of the
+magnet, produced great national results; they profoundly changed the
+balance of power and wealth among European nations, by changing the
+direction of navigation and of the great streams of commerce between Europe
+and the East. They gave a mortal blow to Italy and the cities of the
+Mediterranean, by transferring Eastern commerce to Spain and Portugal: and
+Egypt ceased to be the greatest route of commerce from Europe to India.
+
+A singular contract relating to geographical research was made in the
+fifteenth century, between King Alphonso, of Portugal, and Ferdinand Gomez,
+of Lisbon, by which the latter engaged to navigate a ship and explore the
+coast of Africa, and to discover not less than three hundred miles of coast
+every year, the measurement to be made from Sierra Leone. {15}
+
+Scientific discovery has in all ages been a most powerful agent of
+civilization and human progress. The discovery of the black liquid which a
+solution of nutgalls produces when mixed with green vitriol, led to the
+invention of writing ink; and a knowledge of the properties of ink and
+paper prepared the way for the invention of printing, by means of which
+truth and learning have spread all over the earth.
+
+The apparently insignificant property possessed by amber, of attracting
+feathers immediately after it has been rubbed, was known twenty-four
+hundred years ago, and afterwards led to the discovery of electricity. In
+later times, Dr. Franklin, by means of a kite, charged a bottle with
+lightning, examined it, and proved lightning and electricity to be
+identical. This knowledge, joined to the further discovery, that
+electricity would pass freely through metals, led to the modern invention
+of the lightning conductor, by means of which all our great buildings,
+ships, lighthouses, arsenals, and powder magazines are protected from
+lightning.
+
+"Coming events cast their shadows before them:" the discovery of the
+instant transmission of electricity along wires by Stephen Gray and
+Wheeler, about the year 1729, fore-shadowed the invention of the electric
+telegraph. About the year 1819, Oersted, a Danish philosopher, after
+fifteen years of study and experiment, to ascertain the relation of
+electricity to magnetism, discovered that if a freely suspended magnetic
+needle was supported parallel and near to {16} a wire, and an electric
+current then passed through the wire, the needle moved and placed itself at
+right angles to the current. This discovery, coupled with the previous one
+of the electric conductivity of metals, formed the indispensable basis of
+all our electric telegraphs.
+
+Original research is very productive of new industries and inventions. The
+discoveries made by Volta, Faraday, and many other investigators, have led
+to the process of electro-plating, the use of electric lights for
+lighthouses, and for ocean steamships, and the great system of telegraphs.
+Those of Davy, Wedgwood, and others, respecting the action of light upon
+salts of silver, have resulted in the modern processes of photography,
+which are now in use almost everywhere. The discovery of zinc, by
+Paracelsus, has been followed by the use of that metal in galvanic
+batteries, and the great use of "galvanized" iron for telegraph wires, for
+roofing, and many other purposes. The discovery of nickel, by Cronstedt,
+has led to the great modern use of that metal in electro-plating, and to
+that of German silver in the construction of electro-plated and other
+articles. The discovery of chlorine, by Scheele, formed the basis of nearly
+all our modern processes of bleaching cotton and other fabrics. The
+discovery of gun-cotton and nitro-glycerine has led to the use of those
+substances in blasting rocks and in warfare. The discovery of oxygen, by
+Priestley, has enabled us to understand and improve in a great number of
+{17} ways the numerous manufacturing, agricultural, and other processes in
+which that substance operates. Priestley made many experiments also on the
+absorption of gases by water, and proposed the resulting liquids as
+beverages; and those apparently trifling experiments have since expanded
+into the large manufactures of aerated waters. The discoveries of
+gutta-percha and india-rubber were indispensible to the great applications
+of those substances in telegraph cables, and in a multitude of useful
+articles. The discovery of chloroform and anaesthetics has led to their use
+for the purpose of alleviating human suffering. The discovery, by Sir Isaac
+Newton, of the decomposition of light by means of a prism, has led in
+recent times to the invention of the spectroscope; to the use of that
+instrument in the Bessemer steel process; to the discovery of a number of
+new metals, thallium, rubidium, caesium, indium, and several others, and to
+the most wonderful discovery of the composition of the Sun and distant
+heavenly bodies.
+
+Even the invention of the steam-engine was partly a consequence of previous
+researches made by scientific discoverers. Watt, himself, stated in his
+pamphlet, entitled "A plain Story," that he could not have perfected his
+engine had not Dr. Black and others previously discovered what amount of
+heat was rendered latent by the conversion of water into steam. "Each
+mechanical advance in the steam-engine has been preceded by and the result
+of the {18} discovery of some physical law or property of steam." "The
+first step in the invention of the steam-engine was the experimental
+research and the discoveries of the properties of steam by Hooke, Boyle,
+and Papin."[2] Had not the steam-engine been developed, it is clear that
+railways, steamships, machinery, and all the other numerous uses to which
+that instrument is now applied, would have been almost unknown. The
+introduction of the steam-engine enabled abandoned Cornish mines to be
+relieved of water, and to be worked to much greater depths. The discoveries
+of nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, oil of vitriol, and washing soda, by the
+alchemists and early chemists in their researches, led to the erection of
+the numerous great manufactories of those substances which now exist in
+England and in other civilized countries. There is probably not an art,
+manufacture, or process, which is not largely due to scientific discovery,
+and if we trace them back to their source we nearly always find them
+originate in scientific research.
+
+So far has scientific discovery, and its practical applications to human
+benefit by invention, now progressed, that every one considers this to be,
+_par excellence_, the scientific age. And as discovery and invention
+continue to progress with accelerated speed, we are encouraged to hope, not
+only that scientific principles will ultimately be universally recognised
+as {19} the regulators of all technical industry, but also as a fundamental
+basis of morality.[3]
+
+"It is true that some processes of manufacture have not been consequences
+of abstract scientific discovery--that they originally resulted from
+alterations made in the rudest appliances, and that they have been directed
+and improved by the results of simple experience. For ages past we derived
+the benefit of scientific principles without a knowledge of their
+existence. We trod in the beaten paths of experience ignorant of the truth
+that we were acting in unison with fixed and certain laws. Numerous arts
+and processes were in extensive operation long before the principles
+involved in them were at all understood. The arts of enamelling and of iron
+smelting were known hundreds of years before we were acquainted with the
+principles of chemistry. In some rare instances also the recorded results
+of daily experience in practical matters, tabulated and studied, have
+ultimately led to the discovery of scientific laws; but all this is merely
+the making use of our ordinary experience for the advancement of knowledge,
+instead of making _special experiments_ for the purpose."
+
+Many of our processes and manufactures, those of glass and copper for
+example, are of such great antiquity, it is impossible to ascertain with
+certainty the special circumstances under which they originated; but after
+we have fully considered the ways in which {20} various modern trades and
+manufactures have first arisen, we shall come to the conclusion that all
+manufactures and improvements in manufacturing processes, must have been
+first produced by the same general means, viz., new observations, although
+the special circumstances connected with the origin of each were different.
+
+Let us consider German-silver and its manufacture. That substance is an
+alloy of copper, zinc, and nickel; it owes its peculiar whiteness or
+"silver-like" appearance to the latter metal, and cannot be made without
+it; it is certain, therefore, that by whatever means that metal or the
+alloy was discovered, the discovery was the origin of the German-silver
+manufacture, and was essential to all manufactures, processes, or
+appliances in which German-silver, nickel, or any of its compounds are
+used. Nickel was discovered by Cronstedt during the year 1751, and its
+compounds were chiefly investigated by English and foreign chemists.
+Cronstedt found it as a peculiar metal in the mineral called kupfernickel,
+whilst chemically examining the properties of that substance. The general
+method by which he discovered it was careful experiment, observation, and
+study of the properties of matter.
+
+It is stated that the Chinese and other nations made alloys of nickel long
+before nickel itself was known to be a distinct metal; they had found, by
+experiment, that when ores of copper and zinc were mixed with a particular
+kind of mineral and smelted, {21} a white alloy was obtained; but this also
+proves the general statement already made, that the German-silver
+manufacture was originated by means of new observations. It was by a more
+skilful, but similar mode of procedure that Cronstedt isolated the metal
+itself, and thus laid a definite basis of improvements in the manufacture
+of its alloys.
+
+No art is probably more antique, or remained longer exempt from the
+influence of science, than that of match making and obtaining a light. Many
+adult persons can remember the primitive and old-fashioned tinder-box,
+which had passed, with its flint and steel, from one generation to another
+without any material improvement. Phosphorus, it is true, was definitely
+discovered at least as early as the year 1669, but it was not applied to
+match making till about 1833. Since then the progress of invention has been
+so rapid that there are now numerous manufactories which produce many
+millions per day of phosphorus matches; for instance, those of M. Pollak,
+at Vienna, and of M. Fuerth, in Bohemia, consume together more than 20 tons
+of phosphorus annually, and give employment to about 6,000 persons, and as
+one pound of phosphorus suffices for about one million German matches (or
+600,000 English ones), those two makers alone produce the astonishing
+number of 44,800 millions of matches yearly.
+
+Judging by means of the experience already acquired, we cannot reasonably
+expect that {22} discoveries fraught with such momentous consequences as
+those of magnetism or of galvanism and electro-magnetism, will be made very
+often. The progress of scientific discovery is gradual; we have at present
+but mere glimpses of the new world of truth which is being revealed to us
+by means of research; we are only at the very commencement of a knowledge
+of the inherent properties of matter and its forces, and consequently the
+methods we employ to utilize them are extremely imperfect. Matter has a
+general property of subdividing and transmuting forces; if we apply one
+force to a substance or machine, it produces many effects, not only those
+we want, but those also we do not want; when we heat a piece of iron, the
+heat produces a number of changes, mechanical, electric, magnetic, and
+chemical, and it is partly by means of what is termed the "internal
+resistance" of bodies that these effects are produced, and we know but
+little of that property. The explosive action in a gas engine produces not
+only the mechanical force we desire, but also a quantity of heat we do not
+want, and at a cost of a portion of the gas. In a similar manner, in the
+steam-engine the largest portion of the heat of the coal is converted into
+forces which are lost; a large amount of it is uselessly expended in
+warming the machine itself and the surrounding atmosphere; much also is
+lost by friction.
+
+That "knowledge is power" is an old maxim, but that _new knowledge is new
+power_ is a new maxim {23} which scientific discovery has impressed upon
+us. By means of discoveries we have acquired new powers; by those of
+electricity we have acquired the ability of conversing with each other at
+unlimited distances, and by means of those in optics we are enabled to
+analyse the composition, and perceive some of the physical changes of the
+most distant heavenly bodies. As our ignorance is probably much greater
+than our knowledge, more inventions also, and extensions of human power,
+must ultimately result from discovering new qualities of bodies, than by
+applying to useful purposes their already known properties.
+
+Experience in science has already shown that it is by means of invention
+based upon _new_ discoveries that the greatest utilities are obtained,
+rather than by the exercise of invention upon knowledge acquired long ago.
+The information obtained by research in former times has been largely
+exhausted for the purposes of invention by modern inventors, and what we
+very greatly require now is _new_ knowledge. Experience in science also
+leads us to believe that the extent of possible discovery is as boundless
+as Nature, and that an immense amount of new knowledge may yet be
+discovered. Every discoverer of repute could supply a copious list of
+investigations yet to be made.
+
+An infinite number of questions in pure science remain to be decided by
+means of research. Is Electricity decomposible like radiant heat or light?
+{24} Are the "elementary substances" really compound bodies? Are they all
+compounds of Hydrogen? Are they all decomposed by very high temperatures,
+as compound substances are "disassociated" by less elevated temperatures?
+Under what conditions is Fluorine isolated? Do gases transmit heat by
+conduction? Under what circumstances is Light converted into Electricity?
+and into Magnetism? What is the actual size of an atom of Hydrogen? Does
+Light (without heat) expand bodies? What is the actual molecular
+arrangement of the atoms of Hydrogen at 60 Fahrenheit? What is the cause of
+the absence of metalloids in the Sun? What are the properties of Fluorine?
+What is the vapour density of Caesium? Under what circumstances is heat
+wholly converted into mechanical power? &c., &c. All these discoveries when
+made, will probably, sooner or later, be productive of practical benefits
+to mankind.
+
+Nearly every manufacturer in this country is deriving, from scientific
+discoveries, advantages for which there has been little or no payment made
+to the discoverers. The makers of coal-tar-dyes, and dyers of wool and
+silk, are using Mitscherlich's discovery of nitro-benzine. Manufacturers of
+picric acid and "French purple" have enjoyed the fruits of the labours of
+Dr. Stenhouse. Makers of chlorate of potash and cyanide of potassium are
+profiting largely by the discoveries of Scheele, Gay-Lussac, and others.
+All the percussion cap makers {25} are indebted to Howard and Brugnatelli
+for fulminating silver. Railway-contractors, quarry-proprietors, and
+others, use nitro-glycerine discovered by Sobrero. Iron smelters are
+benefiting by the discovery of Bunsen, that 42 per cent. of the heat of the
+fuel was lost as combustible gases--these gases are now utilized.
+Telegraphists and electro-platers are also indebted to him for his voltaic
+battery. The producers of metallic magnesium owe the origin of their
+process to him as being the first to convert it into wire and make known
+its great light giving power. Multitudes of persons now use his well-known
+"Bunsen's burner" for heating, cooking, and other operations. The various
+telegraph companies, copper smelters, and makers of copper telegraph wire,
+are using Dr. Matthiessen's discovery of the influence of impurities on the
+electric conducting power of copper. Phosphorus-makers are reaping the
+reward of the labours of Gahn and Scheele. The makers of electro-plate and
+German silver are deriving profits from the labours of Faraday, who
+investigated electrolysis; of Gay Lussac, who discovered cyanogen; and of
+Cronstedt, who discovered nickel. Makers of Bessemer steel enjoy advantages
+derived from the spectrum discoveries of Kirchoff. Iron and copper
+smelters, metallurgists in general, dyers, calico printers, bleachers,
+brewers, makers of vinegar, red lead, varnishes, colours, soaps, green
+vitriol, phosphorus, oil-of-vitriol, and many others, are deriving benefit
+from the discoveries of Priestley and {26} Scheele. Physicians and their
+patients are receiving the reward of the labours of Soubeiran, Liebig, and
+Dumas, in the discovery of chloroform; of the researches of Fourcroy,
+Vauquelin, Pelletier, and others, in the discovery of quinine; and of many
+other chemists who discovered numerous remedial substances. By means of the
+discoveries of Oersted and others, embodied in the telegraph, manufacturers
+are enabled to anticipate the state of the markets and of the weather, and
+editors are enabled to obtain the earliest news.
+
+Suppose that Gay Lussac, in 1815, had not discovered cyanide of potassium,
+and that it had never been discovered, it is highly probable that the
+manufacturing returns of Birmingham and Sheffield would be much less in
+amount at the present time than they are, simply because there is no other
+known substance with which the electro-plating of base metals with gold and
+silver can be satisfactorily effected. Or suppose that sal-ammoniac,
+chloride of zinc, or other soldering agents had not been discovered, the
+extensive and so-called "galvanizing" process could not have been effected,
+because without those substances the iron articles immersed in the melted
+zinc would not have received an adhesive metallic coating.
+
+On the other hand, science has in various cases rendered obsolete some
+manufactures and superseded old customs, comforts and conveniences. We have
+ceased, or almost so, to use tinder-boxes, snuffers, {27} sulphur matches,
+rush-lights, tallow candles, sedan chairs, stage coaches, the ancient
+water-bucket and well, and even the comparatively modern pump; coal fires
+also are gradually being superseded by fires of gas, and articles formed of
+solid silver are now being replaced by those of electro-plate; canals have
+also to some extent been supplanted by railways. But in all these cases
+science has supplied us either with something better or more suited to our
+present wants.
+
+The great pecuniary benefits arising from the applications of science are
+generally reaped in the first instance by the great manufacturers,
+agriculturists, merchants, and capitalists. Countless fortunes have been
+made by means of processes and manufactures based upon scientific
+discovery. The pecuniary benefits of calico printing, bleaching, dyeing; of
+the great manufactures of cotton, iron, pottery, beer, sugar, glass,
+spirits, vinegar, gutta-percha, india-rubber, gun cotton, the numerous
+metals, machinery, electro-plate, washing soda, German silver, brass,
+phosphorus, manures, the common acids, numerous chemicals, and a multitude
+of other substances and articles, have been extremely great. More than
+eighteen hundred million pounds of sulphuric acid alone are manufactured in
+Europe yearly. The pecuniary advantages of the use of the electric
+telegraph and railways to merchants, the gains of capitalists by monies
+invested in railways, telegraphs, steam-ships, cotton-mills, gas-works,
+{28} iron shipbuilding, engineering, and other great applications of
+science, have been enormous. The annual gas rental of London alone amounts
+to more than two millions sterling; and even in Birmingham the produce of
+gas is more than twenty-five hundred millions of cubic feet yearly. The
+amount of capital expended in the construction of railways only in this
+country, has been estimated at more than seven hundred millions of pounds,
+and the total receipts upon British railways has reached forty-three
+millions per annum. In the year 1875 our railways carried 200 million tons
+of goods, and consumed ten million tons of coal; the Great Northern Railway
+alone consumes 5,000 tons of coal each week. In the year 1877 there existed
+in the entire world about 198,000 miles of railway, the whole having been
+constructed since the year 1825. In the year 1880 six hundred millions of
+journeys were made by passengers on British railways; and the stock of
+those railways included 13,174 locomotives; 369,694 waggons, 28,717
+passenger carriages, and 22,712 other vehicles. The London and
+North-Western Railway Company alone possessed, in the year 1873, no less
+than 1,900 locomotive engines, each of a value of nearly two thousand
+pounds; 4,000 carriages and 36,000 waggons; and it has been estimated by
+competent authorities, that there are in the world 200,000 steam-engines,
+having a total power of twelve million horses, or 100 million men. The
+number of cotton spindles on the whole Earth is {29} estimated at about 711/4
+millions. In the United States of America there are about five thousand
+telegraph stations, and 75,000 miles of line, which transmit yearly about
+11,500,000 messages.--The telegrams of Great Britain number about
+one-fourth of a million per week. The world's telegrams during the year
+1877 numbered nearly 130 millions; and the world's letters about 3,300
+millions, or 91/4 millions each day. Even the little phosphorus match is
+being manufactured and consumed at a rate estimated at more than ten
+thousand millions daily.
+
+Much of the wealth of this country, resulting from science, has been very
+easily obtained by its possessors. That acquired by means of our coal has
+especially been obtained without commensurate effort. The amount of that
+substance raised in Great Britain during the year 1876 was 734 millions of
+tons. To draw upon a great stock of that mineral is like drawing money from
+a bank, because coal, unlike any other abundant substance (except wood and
+petroline), contains in itself an immense store of energy, which is evolved
+as heat during combustion, and may be utilized. Each piece of coal contains
+sufficient energy to lift its own weight twenty-three hundred miles, but it
+costs only a small proportion of that power to extract and raise it from
+the mine. I do not mean by these remarks to imply that the wealth accruing
+from this great store of power in coal is derived chiefly by the owners of
+coal mines. {30}
+
+This acquisition of wealth without commensurate sacrifice is not an
+unqualified advantage; it constitutes a debt to nature, which upon the
+great principle of causation, and of equivalency of action and reaction,
+must sooner or later be repaid. Judging from the infallibility of the
+action of those laws, and the signs of the times, this nation is now
+beginning to repay in the form of emigration of trade to other lands, and
+of relatively less rapid national advance, the debt incurred by undue
+pecuniary success. An excess of money or power obtained without equivalent
+effort, fails to properly develop the intelligence of its possessors, and
+nations have been hastened to ruin in this way. Our great success in
+getting money has attracted many from the pursuit of knowledge, and our
+love of knowledge has not increased as fast as our wealth. The wealth of
+the upper classes has, by decoying from study undisciplined young men at
+our old Universities, kept down the general standard of scientific
+instruction throughout the country, and, by leading to neglect of
+scientific research, is now retarding our progress in arts, manufactures,
+commerce, and civilization. The consequent relative poverty of the working
+classes is also producing similar effects by retarding education, and
+contributing towards the great deficiency of skilled labour, of which our
+inventors, manufacturers, and others so strongly complain in the working of
+their scientific processes. Had a just share of the great amount of money,
+gained by the application of science to useful {31} purposes, been applied
+to the payment and maintenance of scientific discoverers and inventors, as
+it should have been, the general standard of scientific education would
+have been higher, the poor would have had more employment and money, and
+the happiness and civilization of all would have been greater.
+
+In a usual way the greatest pecuniary benefits, arising from science,
+sooner or later go to enrich the possessors of land. The demand created for
+coal, iron, lime, building-stone, and all the metals, by the industrial
+applications of science, has greatly increased the value of land under
+which those substances lie. The value of cultivated land has been
+everywhere increased by the discoveries of agricultural chemistry. Land has
+also been required for railways in nearly all parts of the kingdom, and has
+thereby been considerably raised in value. Discoveries produce inventions,
+inventions give rise to processes and manufactures, the employment of
+workmen and others, and the erection of workshops and dwellings, and these
+have rapidly increased the value of building ground. In Lancashire the
+value of such ground has been greatly increased by the inventions of the
+steam-engine and machinery, the discovery of chlorine, and their
+application to cotton manufacture. In all the great manufacturing
+districts, and in all the chief centres of industry, a similar result has
+occurred. Wherever a railway has been constructed, the value of land has
+also increased in {32} consequence of the increased facilities of
+communication. All these great additions to the value of land are largely
+due to the unpaid labours of scientific discoverers, and it may be said
+that this nation has largely gained its wealth, and is still living in a
+great degree on the products of those labours. Those great additions to the
+value of land are also permanent, are continually increasing, and are
+largely independent of any exertions on the part of the owners. That many
+other influences, besides that of science, have contributed to the
+development of our manufacturing and commercial prosperity is also true,
+but it would be foreign to the subject of the present chapter to point them
+out.
+
+It is a fallacious argument to say that scientific discovery and increased
+value of land are only remotely connected together, a cause as certainly
+produces its effect, however many connections lie between them, provided
+the connections are certain--the number of links in a chain makes no
+difference in the transmission of motion from one end of it to the other.
+Great causes are frequently distant and wide-spread in their effects.
+Persons in general can easily understand that an acorn planted in the
+ground will in the course of time become an oak, because it is a palpable
+and visible effect; but they cannot so readily perceive that the benefits
+resulting from a knowledge of science ramify through all our manufacturing,
+artistic, and commercial occupations, our social and moral {33} relations,
+and our every-day life, not because the dependence of our welfare upon
+science is less real, but partly because the connection between the two is
+less understood.
+
+Not only has science benefited manufacturers, but also operatives, because
+the extension of science to manufacturing purposes has compelled them to
+make themselves acquainted with intellectual subjects. "Instead of
+remaining mere machines, mechanically performing the work set before them,
+they are obliged to exercise the faculties of observation and judgment in
+watching the results and directing the action of mechanical, physical, and
+chemical powers. Instead of following the blind path of experience, using
+unknown forces to accomplish some definite result, they pursue their
+labours with the aid of known and certain laws." It is true that in many
+cases artisans who have acquired a little knowledge of science have thereby
+been rendered conceited and unfit for their special employment, and this
+has made many manufacturers object to technical scientific education for
+their servants; but this would not be so much the case if scientific
+knowledge were more generally and equally diffused. Arguments are not
+unfrequently adduced to support the opinion that ignorance has its
+advantages; but, however great the advantages of ignorance may be, those of
+knowledge are greater.
+
+In consequence of the labours of scientific discoverers and inventors, the
+progress of science is {34} such that in a very few years a knowledge of it
+will be indispensible to all persons engaged in superintending or carrying
+out manufacturing operations, and in all arts, occupations and appointments
+in which man is dealing with matter. Science is fast penetrating into all
+our manufactures and occupations, and "those who are unscientific will have
+much less employment and will be left behind in the race of life." England
+also will be compelled, by the necessities of human progress and the
+advance of foreign intellect, to determine and recognize the proper value
+of scientific research as a basis of progress. National superiority can
+only be maintained by being first in the race, and not by buying inventions
+of other nations.
+
+The philosophy of matter is the foundation of all manufacturing arts and
+artistic processes; technical education, or the relation of science to
+manufactures, &c., can only be properly imparted upon the basis of a
+sufficient knowledge of theoretical science. Science tends to abbreviate
+mental and bodily labour. The use of our reason saves us the labour of
+using our senses, because it enables us to know that under certain
+conditions a certain effect must occur. The use of our reason and senses
+also saves us using our hands.
+
+The properties of a single substance are so numerous that if a workman was
+to thoroughly study the whole of them, he would become a scientific
+authority in the subjects of heat, light, electricity, {35} magnetism, and
+chemistry. A blacksmith who knew all the physical and chemical properties
+and relations of iron and steel would be quite a scientific philosopher.
+
+No man has more occasion to bless the introduction of the steam-engine,
+machinery, the galvanic battery, and science in general, than the working
+mechanic, because it has mitigated his physical toil by giving him the duty
+of simply directing the labour instead of actually performing it; whilst it
+has deprived him of one kind of employment it has provided him with
+something better. But a few years ago the operatives in the silver-plating
+trade had to lay the silver on the articles with their hands, with the aid
+of a soldering iron; now they have simply to set their batteries in action
+and watch the electricity doing it for them. In a similar manner the
+working engineer at his metal-turning lathe has merely to direct the action
+of his tools whilst the steam-engine performs the heavy labour of turning.
+
+There is not a man in this kingdom who has not derived some advantage, in
+one way or another, from scientific research. The advantages of gas light,
+electric light, rapid postal service and transmission of goods, railway
+travelling, steam-ships for navigation, cotton apparel, photography, cheap
+pottery, improved medicine and surgery, telegraphic forecasts of weather,
+Australian preserved meats, &c., &c., have been reaped more or less by
+everyone, even the very paupers. Not only has travelling been {36}
+considerably cheapened and immensely increased, but also rendered more
+safe:--in travelling by diligence in France the average number of persons
+injured was 1 to every 30,000 carried; and killed, 1 in every 335,000; but
+by railway, notwithstanding the average length of the journey has greatly
+increased, the former has been diminished to 1 in 580,000, and the latter
+to one in five millions; safety in travelling by sea has also been greatly
+increased by means of improved lighthouses. By the rapid transmission of
+messages by telegraphs and of commodities by steam-ships and railways, the
+horrors of famine have been largely diminished; the health of this nation
+has also been improved by greater variety of foods, and the increasing cost
+of meat has been restrained. It is well known that in periods of famine,
+the great loss of life has arisen, not from universal scarcity of food, but
+from the loss of time in ordering and conveying it. Whilst also the
+steam-engine has been the means of relieving hundreds of thousands of men
+from mere animal toil; it has, with the aid of the printing-press, supplied
+them with cheap daily intelligence.
+
+Science has also proved itself to be a great source of employment, as well
+as wealth. By developing new processes it has given employment to whole
+armies of workmen in numerous arts, manufactures, and occupations. Some of
+those employments necessitating scientific training. About 300,000 persons
+are employed on railways alone in Great {37} Britain, besides those who
+were engaged in their construction; and in the postal department alone of
+the telegraph service of this country more than fifteen thousand operatives
+are employed. Chemical works also find employment for twenty-six thousand,
+and gasworks for ten thousand work people. The telegraphs of the United
+States of America alone, provide employment for about 7,000 persons; and
+the railways of the world employ about 1,900,000 men.
+
+It may be objected that the extension of science in this country, instead
+of increasing employment for workmen has produced an opposite effect, by so
+increasing the production of goods by machinery, and by physical and
+chemical processes, that we have glutted the markets of the world in years
+gone by, and are now suffering the results of over-production. This is a
+very limited view of the case; over-production is only true of particular
+manufactures, and is a result of ill-directed commercial energy, to which
+manufacturing skill is only a servant. The objection also contains its own
+reply;--that it is certainly much greater to our advantage to have supplied
+other nations with manufactured commodities, than that other nations should
+have supplied us, as they would have done had they the manufacturing skill.
+At present, however, continental nations are gradually supplanting us in
+manufactures; and gradually supplying us with the goods which we {38}
+formerly supplied them, and our fear is that this is largely a result of
+our neglect of science.
+
+In many cases instead of superseding labour, science has changed its kind,
+or its mode of distribution;--in the case of steam-ships, instead of
+navigation being conducted entirely by nautical ability, it is partly
+effected by the skill of the engineer; conveyance of goods by road and
+canal has not been entirely supplanted, but partly supplemented by
+conveyance by railways. The diminution of labour which sometimes occurs in
+consequence of the progress of science is extremely small compared with its
+increase. The number of waggoners and horses now employed, merely to
+collect and deliver all the goods for railways, is actually much greater
+than the whole of those employed for conveying all the goods of the country
+before railways were constructed.
+
+It would be altogether a false argument to say that the practical benefits
+derived from the labour of scientific discoverers by the different classes
+of the community are uncertain or imaginary, because the discoveries and
+the practical benefits are not in all cases immediately connected. We know
+that the consumers of tea in this country derive benefit from the grower of
+that herb in China through the hands of a series of intervening agents, as
+certainly as if they received the tea direct from his hands. Cause and
+effect are inseparable, and the remote effect of a {39} series of connected
+causes is not less certain than the immediate ones.
+
+It is a remarkable fact, that of the multitude of rich manufacturers,
+merchants, capitalists, and land-owners in this country, who have derived
+such great pecuniary benefits from original scientific research, there is
+scarcely one who has ever given to a scientific society, institution, or
+investigator, a single thousand pounds for the aid of pure research in
+experimental physics or chemistry;[4] the nearest approach to exceptions
+are a very few wealthy persons who have devoted themselves personally to
+scientific discovery. Manufacturers have willingly reaped the advantages of
+the labours of unpaid discoverers, but have not adequately sowed the means
+of future progress. Many of those manufacturers and others would, however,
+willingly give money towards such an object if they understood the value
+and the necessity of scientific research.
+
+Whilst also many millions of pounds are annually expended in this country
+upon religious, philanthropic and other good objects, there is scarcely a
+scientific society or institution (with the exception of the Royal Society
+and the British Association) which expends even the small sum of five
+hundred pounds a year on pure experimental research in physics or {40}
+chemistry. In the Royal Institution of Great Britain, the average annual
+expenses relating to experimental research, including salaries to
+assistants for research in the laboratory, from the year 1867 to 1871, did
+not amount to two hundred and fifty pounds. On the other hand, the "total
+net receipts" of the British and Foreign Bible Society alone, amount to
+about L213,000 a year. These circumstances strongly indicate extreme
+ignorance of the value and necessity of new scientific knowledge, and an
+equally strong desire to aid any good object which is understood. The money
+given to charitable and religious objects is largely a result of the unpaid
+labours of scientific investigators in the manner already described. The
+fact that verifiable truth is seriously neglected, whilst millions of
+pounds are annually devoted in this country to the support of dogmas and
+doctrines, proves that the English nation is even now in a very imperfectly
+civilized state.
+
+Considering the multiplicity and variety of philanthropic institutions and
+bequests in this country, and the great effect original scientific research
+has in ameliorating the condition of mankind, and reducing the amount of
+human misery, it is surprising that no wealthy philanthropic individual has
+bequeathed funds for the endowment of an institution for pure research in
+physics or chemistry.[5] In {41} America, the Smithsonian Institution was
+founded at Washington by benevolent and patriotic persons,[6] "for the
+increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," and one of the objects of
+that institution is "to enlarge the existing stock of knowledge by the
+addition of new truths," and a portion of its plan is "to stimulate men of
+talent to make original researches by offering suitable rewards for memoirs
+containing new truths," and "to appropriate annually a portion of the
+income for particular researches."
+
+What is the reason that scientific research is not sufficiently encouraged
+in England? It is chiefly ignorance. There are very few good and important
+subjects, understood by the public, which are not in this country greatly
+assisted, nor many valuable public servants, whose labours are understood,
+who do not receive liberal payment and reward; and scientific research and
+discoverers therefore are neglected, not wilfully, nor because persons are
+unwilling to encourage good objects, but because scientific discovery and
+its great value to the nation are so little known. Scarcely a member of our
+legislature, or of our Universities, is fully acquainted with the national
+importance of scientific discovery,[7] and it {42} would probably be
+impossible to find a subject of such great magnitude so little understood.
+Comparatively few persons have clear ideas of the essential differences
+between scientific instruction and research.
+
+Scientific research can only be successfully pursued by employing the
+highest motive--viz., a love of truth in preference to all things; and this
+is a condition which very few persons really understand, and a principle
+which a still smaller number practise. Men in this country are so
+accustomed to be actuated by the less noble motive of immediate
+self-interest or of some apparent practical result, that they cannot
+perceive that in scientific investigation the most valuable results can
+only be obtained by employing the highest motive. However necessary and
+effective the motive of immediate self-interest or of apparent practical
+result may be in ordinary affairs of life, it will not enable a man to make
+many discoveries, because it leads him away from those which are possible
+to search for others which may or may not be possible. The beginning of
+discoveries are often so very small, that it requires acute senses and
+observation in order to perceive them; and if the mind is preoccupied with
+a desire to discover some particular practical object, new phenomena are
+overlooked. In discovery, man must follow where Nature leads.
+
+Another cause of want of encouragement of research, is the natural
+selfishness which exists, {43} though in very different degrees, in all
+men. Many wealthy persons wish things to remain as they are. Some
+manufacturers would not aid research unless they could monopolize its
+advantages. Students also generally prefer those subjects which are best
+rewarded, and do not sufficiently consider their intrinsic value. The love
+of truth for truth's sake alone is very weak in most men, and but few men
+make the greatest good their chief object in life.
+
+The extreme ignorance in this country of the value of scientific research,
+is also largely due to the narrowness of the "practical" character of the
+English mind; men cannot perceive the deep-seated and universal sources of
+their wealth, and they prefer those occupations which yield the most
+obviously remunerative results. It is also partly due to scientific
+investigators themselves not having pleaded their own cause; such men have
+been so absorbed in the more important occupation of discovery, that they
+have, probably more than any other class of persons, neglected to enforce
+the just claims of their own subject. It is, however, chiefly caused by the
+influence of misapplied wealth, operating through the old Universities and
+large public schools. The sons of the wealthy are most of them educated at
+those institutions, and according to evidence supplied by University
+authorities to Royal Commissioners, many persons send their sons to those
+places for other purposes than to acquire learning, and allow them too much
+money. The considerable wealth of {44} these young men supplies them with
+attractions which decoy them from industrious study, and the wishes of the
+parents and students have been largely acquiesced in by the tutors and
+college authorities. At our old Universities also, physical and chemical
+knowledge is very much less rewarded than some other subjects, though
+latterly a considerable improvement has been made in this respect, but even
+now there is not a University in the kingdom in which a knowledge in
+scientific research is necessary in order to obtain the highest scientific
+honour.[8] In these various ways physical and chemical science has been
+kept very low in our chief seats of learning; and scientific research is
+greatly neglected by the governing authorities.
+
+It is reasonable to suppose that Universities should be fountains of new
+theoretical scientific knowledge, as well as be the disseminators of it,
+and that they (especially the old ones with their rich endowments) would be
+certain to promote scientific research, as being especially a part of their
+functions; but such is not the case. Our old Universities have not
+established any professorships of original research; they make no payment
+for such labour, nor reimburse any expenditure incurred in such occupation,
+and afford but little facility for the prosecution of pure scientific
+inquiry. Further, they discourage scientific discovery by giving the
+greatest emoluments, and the {45} highest honours in science they have to
+bestow, to young men who have never made a single original research, or
+discovered a new fact in science. The money paid in the form of
+comparatively sinecure fellowships, or retiring pensions to young men in
+Oxford alone, "now amounts to about eighty or ninety thousand pounds a
+year." It may be objected that young men are not capable of doing original
+research, but as they do it in German Universities, they can also do it in
+England, if they are properly disciplined, and are not decoyed from
+industry by the possession or expectation of wealth. A man who has never
+made a scientific research is not the most worthy recipient of the highest
+scientific honours, and in Germany it would not be given to him; he is not
+properly disciplined in the detection of error or the discernment of truth
+in matters of science; he is deficient in accuracy of scientific judgment,
+and in the true spirit of scientific inquiry.
+
+It is unnecessary to speak of what has been done during the last few years
+at our old Universities and great public schools, in the erection of
+laboratories, and in other ways for the promotion of science, because it
+has been for the purposes of instruction, and not of original research. No
+amount of ordinary instruction in science will remedy the evils caused by
+want of original inquiry, because such instruction does not produce new
+knowledge, but only disseminates that already possessed. {46}
+
+Many persons in this country think that all scientific men are
+investigators, and that a portion of the funds of scientific institutions
+generally are expended upon investigation, but such is rarely the case.
+Many also consider that those scientific men who are applying new knowledge
+are discovering new truths. And nearly all persons look upon inventors as
+the only really practical scientific men, and upon discoverers as
+unpractical enthusiasts who spend their lives in pursuit of vague theories.
+But whilst the inventor is a great and useful agent of civilization, there
+is one behind him who is greater than he, viz., the man who provides him
+with the new knowledge upon which all his inventions must be based.
+
+The general aspect in which scientific research is viewed by many persons
+in this country, is that of a refined intellectual pursuit, which may be
+encouraged and honoured for the purpose of maintaining the tone of society.
+The question, however, is not whether this nation shall encourage research
+as a refined intellectual occupation, but whether it will contribute
+towards its own welfare by aiding scientific discovery.
+
+Many persons also look upon scientific research as a hobby or as
+unpractical, and upon discoverers as mere accumulators of knowledge, but
+this is simply in consequence of their ignorance of the subject; if
+discoveries were commercial commodities, the practical character of
+research would be within their {47} comprehension. A man who discovers
+knowledge for the use of invention is quite as practical a person as he who
+converts that knowledge into inventions fit for practical uses. The men who
+thus lead practical men must be practical themselves. Scientific
+discoverers may be considered the most practical men in existence, because
+their labours give rise to greater and more numerous practical results than
+those of any other persons. The discovery of a single substance, such as
+oil-of-vitriol, or washing-soda, has led to the formation of many valuable
+inventions, patented or otherwise, and to the establishment of thousands of
+manufactories. It is well known also that scientific discoverers are ardent
+lovers of truth, and are therefore very willing to communicate their
+knowledge for the good of mankind, and that manufacturers, men of business,
+and others, not unfrequently obtain from them and from their published
+researches, information of great value to themselves without even expecting
+to pay for it; forgetting that a scientific man may communicate in a
+passing remark, information which cost him years of labour to obtain.
+
+Some persons also think that science is changeable and uncertain--that the
+discoveries of one generation are disproved by those of another, because
+they occasionally see scientific theories altered and superseded. But the
+real truth of the case is that the changes in the aspect of science which
+we continually witness do not often result from _alterations_ in our {48}
+stock of positive knowledge, but from _additions_ made to it. Demonstrable
+truth is imperishable. It is true that many theories have been invented and
+entertained for a while in the minds of scientific men, and have then
+passed away, but we must remember that these are only the scaffolding of
+science, and no part of its real fabric. They consist of ideas which,
+whilst they assist us in understanding science, and in making discoveries,
+form no real part of our positive knowledge.
+
+Other persons seem to think that the laws of matter are different in the
+laboratory from what they are in the workshop; that the principles which
+regulate a scientific experiment are different from those which govern a
+large manufacturing process; but this is a wrong idea. The laws of matter
+are universal, substances have nearly the same properties in all places and
+in the hands of all men; water boils at the same temperature whether in the
+retort of a chemist, the saucepan of a kitchenmaid, or the pan of a
+soap-boiler; iron wire is as readily deprived of its rust in a chemist's
+acid bottle as in a wire-drawer's pickling tub; a piece of phosphorus will
+as readily ignite in the hands of a chemist as in those of a match maker; a
+galvanic battery yields the same quantity of electricity whether it be in
+the hands of an experimentalist or in those of a working electro-plater.
+
+It is true that many things which have appeared very promising in theory or
+in experiment, have {49} failed altogether in practice, but why is this? it
+is not that the principles of nature operated in the one case and did not
+operate in the other, but that we have imperfectly understood them, that
+from some unforeseen circumstances we have been unable to apply them; or
+that we have indolently abandoned them without sufficient or proper trial.
+In many cases we are unable to obtain the same conditions of success upon
+the large scale that we have upon the small one. In other cases a process
+fails because of its too great expense; many attempts have been made to
+supersede steam as a motive power by means of electro-magnetism, and
+engines driven by that force have been constructed of five or ten
+horse-power, but the cost of driving them has been found to be at least ten
+times the amount of that of the steam-engine of equal strength. And in
+other cases we fail because we attempt _at once_ to carry out upon a large
+scale that which has only been the subject of limited experiment, instead
+of enlarging the process by small degrees, and adapting the apparatus, the
+materials and the treatment, to the size of the operation.
+
+That also which appears very simple in the hands of an experimentalist,
+almost invariably becomes much more complex when carried into practice in a
+manufactory, simply because there is then a greater number of conditions to
+be fulfilled. Electro-plating a piece of steel with silver is to a chemist
+a very simple matter, because it is of no importance to him {50} whether
+the silver adheres firmly, is of good colour, or is deposited at a certain
+cost; but with a _manufacturer_ unless _all_ these conditions are
+fulfilled, the process is a failure. These matters, however, belong to
+invention and not to original discovery.
+
+We should not condemn theoretical science because we are not able, even
+with fair and persevering trial, to apply it to any useful purpose, but
+wait patiently until circumstances ripen for its application. Many
+inventions which are inapplicable in one state of knowledge become
+applicable by the progress of scientific research. The idea of an electric
+telegraph, attempted by Mr. Ronalds, in the year 1816, with the aid of
+frictional electricity, had to wait the development of the galvanic battery
+and the discovery of electro-magnetism before it could be successfully
+applied.
+
+Many manufacturers seem to think that because some of their operations are
+completely routine, and have been handed down to them by their predecessors
+in nearly their present state, they are not at all indebted to science; but
+there is no manufacture, especially among metals, which has not in some
+degree been aided by scientific discovery.
+
+In addition to the great benefits accruing from original research to all
+classes of society, our Governments have also derived immense advantages
+from the same source. The revenues have been greatly increased by the
+universal advantages conferred upon all kinds of industry and commerce by
+{51} scientific knowledge. The additional taxes upon increased incomes from
+agriculture, arts, manufactures, mines; increased value of land and rents;
+investments in railway, telegraph, steam-ship and other companies, have
+been extremely great. From the sale of patents alone, a surplus sum of
+nearly six hundred thousand pounds has already accumulated. Our Governments
+are also indebted to original research for the use of percussion-powder,
+gun-cotton, improvements in cannon, projectiles, rifles, armour-plated
+ships, the ocean telegraph, field telegraph, the telephone, rapid postal
+communication, the speedy transport of troops and war-material, and a
+multitude of other advantages. The value of science to Governments in the
+prevention of war by means of more ready correspondence through telegraph
+is incalculable. Mr. Sumner, of America, at the period when the Atlantic
+telegraph was first employed, stated that the use of that telegraph averted
+a probable rupture between Great Britain and America. There was a period
+when we did not possess such evidence of the great value of science; but
+that time has now passed away, and our governing men have had abundant
+proof of the national importance of scientific discovery, and of the
+essential dependence of the welfare of this country upon scientific
+research.
+
+Whilst vast sums of money are spent upon the applications of science in
+military and naval affairs, research itself is neglected; the
+superstructure is {52} attended to, but the foundations are left to decay.
+A very small proportion of the money which is expended upon military
+affairs would, if devoted to research, save a great deal of expense in
+warfare:--
+
+ "Were half the power, that fills the world with terror,--
+    Were half the wealth, bestowed on camps and courts,
+  Given to redeem the human mind from error,
+    There were no need of arsenals nor forts."--LONGFELLOW.
+
+Our Government has as yet made but little payment for the labour of pure
+research in experimental physics or chemistry; it has, however, given four
+thousand pounds a year for five years to be distributed by the Royal
+Society among scientific investigators, partly as personal payment. Income
+tax is deducted from these grants.
+
+Want of recognition of the value of science has been so general in this
+country, that it is quite pleasing to quote a somewhat different case from
+the _Illustrated London News_, January 4th, 1873, viz., that of the late
+Archibald Smith, L.L.D., F.R.S. That gentleman was an investigator in pure
+mathematical science, and devoted the latter part of his life to the
+_application_ of mathematics in the computation, reduction, and discussion
+of the deviation of the mariners' compass in wooden and in iron ships, and
+made practical deductions therefrom in the construction of those vessels.
+He published those practical applications of his scientific knowledge in
+the form of an Admiralty Manual, which was afterwards reprinted in various
+languages. Her Majesty's Government {53} subsequently "requested his
+acceptance of a gift of two thousand pounds, not as a reward, but as a mark
+of appreciation of the value of his researches, and of the influence they
+were exercising on the maritime interests of England and the world at
+large." The kind of labour rewarded in this case was not scientific
+discovery, but the practical application of previously existing scientific
+knowledge.
+
+The case of the late Dr. Stenhouse, F.R.S., is one of rather an opposite
+kind. That gentleman devoted his life throughout to pure investigations in
+organic chemistry, and published several of his researches in the
+Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.[9] His discoveries are
+very numerous, and although not much applied to practical uses by himself,
+the result of his researches on Lichens, and the yellow gum of Botany Bay,
+have been applied extensively by other persons in the manufacture of
+"French purple" and picric acid, and will doubtless continue to be applied
+to valuable uses. He held the Government appointment of Assayer to the
+Royal Mint, London, an office for several years unprofitable to him, but of
+increasing remunerative value, and which would have been subsequently worth
+L1,200 a year; but after the decease of his colleague, Dr. Miller, in 1870,
+that office, which was then worth to him about L600 a year, was abolished
+by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and he lost the {54} appointment,
+receiving, however, L500 as compensation. An application was therefore made
+to the Government, and a partial recompense to him was obtained, by Her
+Majesty granting him one hundred pounds a year "for eminence in chemical
+attainments, and on account of loss by suppression of office in the Mint."
+The only difference in these two instances, was, that in the second there
+was a very much greater amount of pure research and discovery, and a much
+smaller degree of applied knowledge.
+
+These instances illustrate the statement, that however great an amount of
+valuable knowledge in pure science a man may discover and publish, or
+however freely he may provide others with the materials of invention and
+wealth, if he never invents anything, nor applies his knowledge to useful
+purposes, he is usually less rewarded even than an inventor. "The more
+intrinsically valuable the labour, and the greater the degree of profound
+original thought required to direct it, the less is it usually appreciated
+by the governing men of a nation." Absorbed in exciting questions relating
+to political emergencies, and national matters requiring immediate
+attention, even men of great administrative ability fail to appreciate the
+less direct though more fundamental sources of a nation's happiness and
+wealth. In harmony with these instances also, we find that it is not the
+pure sciences, but the concrete and applied ones, such as meteorology,
+geology, natural history, &c., in the Meteorological Department, the {55}
+Geological Survey, the British and South Kensington Museums, the Geological
+Museum, &c., and the National Gallery of Art, which have received the
+greatest degree of support from our Governments.
+
+That discoverers are not treated by us as we treat other valuable members
+of the community is quite clear; either a physician, a judge, divine,
+lawyer, or railway superintendent of high ability, obtain from one to many
+thousand pounds a year, but a discoverer in pure physics or chemistry is,
+in scarcely any case, paid anything for his labour. That most eminent
+discoverer, Faraday, received for his scientific lectures at the Royal
+Institution of Great Britain, only L200 a year and apartments, during many
+years, and absolutely nothing for his great discoveries; and during the
+remainder of his life he only received a few hundred pounds per annum,
+including a pension of L300 pounds a year from Government. In contrast with
+this, the general manager of the Midland Railway has L4,000 a year. A
+General of our army receives L2,000, and a Field Marshal L4,000 a year (See
+"Whitaker's Almanack," 1873, pp. 121 and 138). A Head Master of either of
+the great public schools obtains from L3,000 a year upwards. An Archbishop
+of Canterbury receives L15,000 a year, besides a great amount of influence
+and power in the form of patronage to 183 livings, a palatial residence,
+and a seat in the House of Peers. A Bishop of London has L10,000, the
+patronage of 98 livings, and a seat in the House of Lords. I do not, {56}
+however, mean to imply that these large emoluments are not deserved. Whilst
+also there are nearly 13,000 church benefices in England (See the "Clergy
+List," also "Whitaker's Almanack," 1873, pp. 153 and 155, and "Walford's
+County Families," 1872, pp. 173 and 610), there is scarcely a single
+appointment entirely devoted to scientific discovery, nor a single
+professorship in original research in science. I leave my readers to judge
+to what extent these instances illustrate the statement that discoverers
+are not treated by us as we treat other valuable members of the community.
+Partly in consequence of the foregoing neglect, the proportion of persons
+wholly devoted to scientific research in this country probably does not
+much exceed one in one million of the population.
+
+It is scarcely credible that in a wealthy and civilized country, whilst the
+non-productive classes are protected in the enjoyment of titles and
+material wealth which in many cases they have not earned, the greatest
+scientific benefactors of the nation are constrained to live in straitened
+circumstances whilst working for the pecuniary and other advantages of
+those classes, and of manufacturers, capitalists, land-owners, and the
+nation in general. By these remarks it is not intended to imply that
+discoverers are intentionally neglected; but that the injustice they suffer
+is a disgrace to this country, and reflects discredit upon the governing
+classes, and especially upon those who reap the greatest advantage. {57}
+
+The men who are rewarded highly in this country are not always those who
+yield the greatest service to the nation, but frequently those who render
+the most immediate or most apparent benefit; to stop short at this cannot
+produce the greatest degree of success. The national services of a great
+discoverer are probably not equalled by those of any man. Who can estimate
+the value of the commercial, social, moral, political, and other great
+advantages to the world, of Oersted's discovery of the principle of
+electro-magnetism, which enabled the invention of the electric telegraph to
+be made? The men we reward the highest are not those who discover
+knowledge, but those who use or apply it; physicians, judges, bishops,
+lawyers, railway managers, military and naval officers, and head masters of
+schools, all of them gentlemen who render great services to the nation, by
+using, diffusing, and applying knowledge already possessed.
+
+It requires less rare ability to apply knowledge to new purposes by means
+of invention, than to discover it; it is still less difficult to diffuse it
+by means of tuition and lectures, because the labours of a teacher consist
+largely of a repitition of other men's discoveries and inventions; and to
+use scientific knowledge in the ordinary business of every-day life,
+requires a still more common degree of ability.
+
+A chief reason why ordinary business capacity is paid for whilst original
+research is not, is the fact that research is not considered a necessity;
+many {58} persons do not perceive its immense future value. Men perform
+those duties first which they feel they must: they are also willing to pay
+for the performance of those duties which press most urgently upon them,
+and defer all other kinds of labour that they consider will bear
+postponement. Most men act upon this rule, until they acquire a habit of
+sacrificing the future to the present, of neglecting more important matters
+in order to attend to less, and of living too much for money, without
+sufficient regard for the more valuable condition, viz., individual and
+national improvement. These circumstances also largely explain the fact
+that it requires more pressure to induce individuals or governing bodies to
+aid original research than to assist any other good object. Other chief
+reasons why persons in general cannot perceive the great practical value of
+new scientific truth are, because the perception of it requires a
+scientifically trained mind. The greatest truths are frequently the least
+obvious, and are therefore valued the least.
+
+It may be objected that research is not aided, because it sometimes takes a
+long time to acquire a practical shape and make it pay. We do not omit to
+plant an acorn because it requires many years to become an oak; we do not
+neglect to rear a child because he may not live to become a man; but we
+leave scientific discovery to take care of itself. The intense desire which
+exists in this country for "quick returns" has shewn itself in the much
+greater readiness to aid technical education than to promote {59} permanent
+progress by means of original research. But the discoveries made in such a
+place as the Royal Institution of Great Britain have had a vastly greater
+beneficial effect upon civilization than that of any technical institution
+which has ever existed.
+
+In a letter received by me from the Duke of Somerset, and which I have
+permission to publish, the true state of things in this country in relation
+to pure research is stated with remarkable accuracy and brevity:--
+
+"The hindrances to scientific studies in this country are very many. The
+gentry are almost invariably educated by the clergy, and the clergy have
+seldom had time or opportunities for any scientific study. They usually
+take pupils or become tutors as soon as they have taken their degrees, and
+can only teach the Latin and Greek which they have themselves learned. The
+commercial classes value what they call practical science; this means some
+application of science for the purpose of making money. Competitive
+examinations may promote a superficial acquaintance with the elements of
+science, but are unfavourable to the development of scientific culture. The
+scientific associations tend to degrade science by exhibiting scientific
+men as candidates for applause from assemblies which seek amusement and
+startling results from lectures and experiments. The advancement of
+science, is therefore, left to comparatively few men, who are unregarded
+and unrewarded." {60}
+
+To remedy this state of things we require a general encouragement of pure
+scientific inquiry by the State and Universities. It is thought by some
+persons who have given special attention to the subject, that the State
+ought to encourage such research and science in general, by appointing a
+Minister of Science possessing scientific knowledge and good administrative
+ability; a Scientific Council to advise our Governments in all important
+matters relating to science; and by establishing State laboratories for
+pure scientific inquiry, with discoverers of repute in them wholly engaged
+in research in their respective subjects.
+
+There are also many new experiments, investigations, and explorations,
+which neither private individuals, nor even corporate bodies, such as the
+Royal Society, the British Association, Geographical Society, can
+effectually make, and which only a Government can carry out, such as Arctic
+expeditions, trigonometrical surveys, deep sea dredging operations,
+magnetic observations, determinations of longitude, meteorological and
+astronomical observations, researches on tides, observations of
+earthquakes, determinations of the height of mountains and the density of
+the crust of the earth, experiments on the best form of ships, geographical
+explorations, and many others.
+
+It is clear from the enormous advantages which this nation has already
+derived from scientific discovery in physics and chemistry, pursued with
+only {61} the aid of the very limited means of private persons, that had
+research in those subjects been sufficiently supported, the manufactures,
+arts, commerce, wealth, and civilization of this country would have been
+much greater than they are; emigration also of the industrious classes,
+disease, pauperism, crime, the evil effects of famine, etc., would have
+been much less. The amount of knowledge and riches obtainable by means of
+research and invention is practically unlimited, and it is astonishing that
+this immense source of industry and wealth in a nation should have been so
+neglected by our Governments. The practical value of new scientific
+knowledge is vastly greater than that of all our goldfields or even of our
+coal supply, because it would not only enable us to obtain from coal
+several times the amount of available heat and mechanical power we now
+secure, but also to apply to our wants the numerous other materials
+composing the crust of our globe and the contents of our oceans; also all
+terrestrial forces, the internal heat, the tidal energy and atmospheric
+currents, and the immense amount of power this Earth is continually
+receiving from the Sun. Whilst at present vast amounts of materials and
+energy remain unutilized, nearly all those terrestrial substances and
+forces might probably be rendered of service to us if we possessed
+sufficient knowledge.
+
+That scientific research is a far greater source of wealth and wellbeing
+than our stores of coal is easily proved. At present we obtain in our best
+{62} steam-engines only about one-seventh (or less) of the mechanical power
+producible by the combustion of the coal, the remainder being lost in
+various ways. And this occurs simply because we have not yet discovered a
+method of wholly converting heat into mechanical power. In some other
+instances we are able to convert one force wholly into another without
+loss, as for example: the chemical action of a voltaic cell into
+electricity; and by means of research we shall probably be enabled to
+effect a similar complete conversion of other powers into each other. The
+effect of converting heat wholly into mechanical power would be equal to
+increasing our stock of coals for that purpose to seven times its present
+amount. This instance is only one of the many thousand possible ways in
+which research may yet prove of value to mankind.
+
+It is true that a very large amount of original research in physics and
+chemistry has been done in this country; the contents of our scientific
+journals and of the publications of our various Learned Societies prove
+this. It is also true that the English nation has been pre-eminently active
+in applying scientific knowledge to practical uses by means of inventions,
+and has been generally the first in carrying out inventions on a large
+scale. We have been either the first, or nearly so, in developing
+steam-engines, railways, locomotives, rapid trains, gas works, flour mills,
+blast-furnaces, cotton machinery, cheap postage, light-houses,
+electro-plating, lucifer-matches, {63} electric-telegraphs, submarine
+electric cables, great engineering establishments, iron ship-building, and
+many other important enterprises. Three out of four of all the great ocean
+steamers, and three-fourths of all the locomotives of the world were
+constructed in this country.[10] By means of our enterprise and capital
+also, the first railways, telegraphs, gas works, cotton mills, modern water
+works, suspension bridges, water wheels, harbours, lighthouses, &c., &c.,
+in nearly all parts of the world were constructed; and foreign nations have
+been inducted into the practical methods of working our great manufacturing
+and technical applications of science.
+
+By means of English enterprise and skill the cities of Aix-la-Chapelle,
+Altona, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Berlin, Bordeaux, Brussels, Cologne,
+Frankfort-on-Maine, Ghent, Haarlem, Hanover, Lille, Rotterdam, Stolberg,
+Toulouse, Vienna, and others were lighted with gas. We formed Water
+Companies or Waterworks in Amsterdam, Berlin, and other cities, and drained
+Naples. We utilized the falls of the Rhone at Bellegarde, and thus obtained
+10,000 horse-power for the use of the French manufacturers. We also sent
+the first steam-boat to Coblentz in 1817, and the first to America. We laid
+the first Atlantic cables. And as a general truth, we have been foremost in
+invention, application and enterprise.
+
+{64}
+
+Recent International Exhibitions however, and the migration of various
+branches of our trade to the Continent and America, have shown that the
+degree of our relative superiority in manufacturing skill is diminishing.
+Other nations, especially the German and American, perceiving the
+dependence of invention upon research, and the enormous pecuniary and other
+advantages gained by us, by the application of scientific knowledge to
+manufacturing and other purposes, have within the last few years aroused
+themselves, and are now pursuing pure science much more energetically than
+ourselves. A few years ago the relative number of original researches made
+per annum in England, France, and Germany were in the proportion 127, 245,
+and 777. Many of those made in Germany were valuable ones, and were made by
+Students in order to obtain a degree. Other nations are rapidly gaining
+upon us in the application of science to industrial purposes, and have even
+surpassed us in the extent of some of their manufacturing and technical
+operations. Many persons who have visited Europe and America at intervals
+during the last twenty years have testified to this.
+
+The Vielle Montagne Zinc Company in Belgium employ 6,500 workmen, and
+produce annually 32,000 tons of zinc. The John Cockerill Company,
+engine-builders, Seraing, near Liege, employ nearly 8,000 men. Krupp, the
+great engineer at Essen, near Dusseldorf, employs about 10,000 workmen; his
+works at Essen alone cover 450 acres, and 1,000 tons {65} of coal are
+consumed in them daily. The Anzin Company (Valenciennes) "is the largest
+coal company in the world, producing no less than 1,200,000 tons per annum,
+and employs 8,000 hands." The Chatillon and Commentry Iron and Coal Company
+(France), produce annually from 300,000 to 350,000 tons of coal and coke,
+nearly 70,000 tons of iron and steel, and employ nearly 9,000 workmen. At
+the Creuzot Ironworks (France), "the mineral concessions cover an area of
+nearly six square miles, the coal-fields nearly twenty-five square miles,
+the building 296 acres. There are nearly forty-five miles of railway
+between various parts of the works, upon which are generally running
+sixteen locomotives. The galleries in the mines are more than twenty miles
+long." 10,000 persons are employed in the works and the annual amount of
+wages paid equals L400,000.[11]
+
+Our practice with regard to original science has been very different from
+the plan carried out in Germany. Within the last few years great
+laboratories have been erected in Berlin, Leipzig, Aix la Chapelle, Bonn,
+Carlsruhe, Stuttgardt, and other places, at the expense of the State, and
+special provision has been made in them for original scientific research. A
+glance at the frequently published list of scientific investigations made
+in different countries will shew us that the Germans have been making a far
+greater number of discoveries in science than ourselves.
+
+Sir R. B. C. Brodie, Professor of Chemistry at {66} Oxford, speaking of his
+experience when a student at Geissen, in Germany, states: "I say that the
+enthusiasm and earnestness of the young men in the laboratory was quite
+unparalleled in my experience at Oxford. The dilettante sort of way in
+which things go on there is very inferior indeed to the way the German
+students study. At Heidelberg, I have been told, there are about eighty
+professors, and amongst those professors are some of the most eminent men
+in Europe, so that they have a staff quite unsurpassed."
+
+The industry of the Germans in scientific research is quite remarkable,
+they are availing themselves of the great fountain of knowledge to a much
+greater extent than ourselves, and are already beginning to reap the
+reward. Within the last few years they have succeeded, by means of
+researches, in making alizarine, the colouring principle of madder.
+"England produces immense quantities of benzene, the greatest part of which
+goes to Germany, there to be converted into aniline dyes, a considerable
+quantity of which goes back to England. No other country is so far advanced
+in the manufacture of the coal-tar colours as Germany. The quantity of
+alizarine manufactured by the German makers far surpasses the English
+production." (See "Alizarine, Natural and Artificial," by F. Versmann, New
+York, 1873). Statements of this kind are frequently published, and made by
+our manufacturers and others, of the departure of branch after branch of
+our manufactures to the Continent, and of continually increasing
+importation of foreign-made articles. {67}
+
+Some persons, having become aware of the cosmopolitan nature of scientific
+research, have suggested that it is a matter of no importance to us as a
+nation whether we make researches or not, as foreigners would make them,
+and we could apply them. But no honourable man would, after reflection,
+seriously maintain such a proposition, because it implies a willingness to
+obtain from the labours of other persons, advantages without paying for
+them. It is partly this absence of a desire to pay for the labour of
+investigation, which is now damaging the manufacturing and commercial
+prosperity of this country. It is also certain that however much we may
+have hitherto succeeded commercially, without making payment for research,
+we should have succeeded much better had we properly assisted investigators
+in pure science. Our success has hitherto been obtained, not in
+consequence, but in spite of the disadvantageous circumstances under which
+discoverers have laboured.
+
+The commercial argument in favour of encouraging research, although the
+most effective with the great mass of persons, and therefore much dwelt
+upon in this chapter, is however quite a secondary one; the encouragement
+of truth for the sake of its own intrinsic worth, in preference to the
+material or extrinsic value of its results, should be the foundation of all
+aid to discovery. Justice, also, ought to come before all minor
+considerations, and no upright man would wish for a moment that anyone, and
+much less the greatest scientific intellects in the country, should work
+for his benefit without being remunerated. {68}
+
+It has been objected that Continental nations, the Germans in particular,
+have pirated our patents, infringed our designs, imitated our labels, used
+our names, and taken our improvements wholesale, and this may be true. But
+we still have had by far the largest portion of the reward of our greater
+energy and inventive skill; we have had the great advantage of being first
+in the markets of the world; and that advantage can only be retained by our
+being the first in the pursuit of original research, as we have so long
+been in the application of science to industrial arts, and not by
+purchasing foreign inventions, nor by accepting gifts of unrecompensed
+researches.
+
+Nations as well as individuals are apt to push to an extreme the means by
+which they have succeeded in gaining either riches or power. We have
+devoted ourselves relatively too much to the pursuit of money and too
+little to the pursuit of knowledge. The desire for wealth is in this
+country so great, that probably nothing but a loss of that wealth will ever
+make us properly encourage the pursuit of new knowledge.
+
+Whilst research is being neglected, manufacturers and others in all
+directions are asking for improvements in their machines and processes;
+employers of steam engines want to obtain more power from the coals; makers
+of washing soda wish to recover their lost sulphur; copper smelters, want
+to utilize the copper smoke; glass makers wish to prevent bad colour in
+their glass; iron puddlers want to economise heat; gas companies are
+desirous of diminishing the {69} leakage of gas; iron smelters wish to
+avoid the evil effects of impurities in the iron; manufacturers in general
+want to utilise their waste products and prevent their polluting our
+streams and atmosphere; and so on without end. And inventors are
+continually trying to supply these demands, by exercising their skill in
+every possible way, with the aid of scientific information contained in
+books; but after putting manufacturers and themselves to great expense,
+they very frequently fail, not always through want of inventive skill, but
+often through want of _new_ knowledge attainable only by means of pure
+research. Judging from the vast amount of inventive skill already expended
+upon the steam engine, and the small proportion of available mechanical
+power yet obtained from the coals consumed in it, it is highly probable
+that a machine for completely converting heat into mechanical force cannot
+be invented until more scientific knowledge is discovered.
+
+It must not be supposed from these remarks, that discoveries which will
+enable a man to make any particular invention, can be produced to order;
+that is only true to a very limited extent. Men are beggars of nature, and
+must not expect to be permitted to choose her gifts, or dictate what
+secrets shall be disclosed. We may however be certain that if we acquire a
+very much greater supply of new scientific knowledge, we shall then be able
+to perfect many good inventions, though not always of the kind we wish, or
+in the way we expect. The great sewage question {70} may perhaps be solved
+in quite an unexpected way, possibly by the discovery of some substance
+capable of precipitating ammonia and organic matter from their solutions.
+
+Nearly all our manufacturing processes are full of imperfections; thus the
+loss of gas by a single large provincial gas company, after that substance
+has left the works, amounts to nearly one hundred and fifty millions of
+cubic feet per annum, and to a value of about L18,000; and the soil of all
+our large cities and towns is permeated and rendered foetid by coal gas.
+And it has been stated by an eminent authority in such matters that we
+might save 500,000 tons of coal a year by economizing the waste heat of
+furnaces, by purifying the coal, coking it, etc. In a single chemical
+manufactory, out of about two thousand tons of hydrochloric acid used per
+annum, about eight hundred tons have been allowed to flow away as a
+polluting substance, because it was not possible to utilise it. The loss of
+material from a single large glass works equals fourteen hundred tons per
+annum, and a value of L8,000. Similar grave defects might be pointed out in
+nearly all our large manufactures, by those acquainted with the subject.
+
+Inventions are wanted for quickening the process of vinegar making, and
+diminishing the percentage of loss of the acid. For bleaching discoloured
+fats. For quickening the process of converting cast iron into malleable
+iron. To easily separate nitrogen from the oxygen of the atmosphere. To
+economically convert {71} the nitrogen of the air into valuable products,
+such as nitric acid and ammonia. To find uses for the immense quantities of
+minerals which abound all over the earth; to utilise wolfram and find
+applications for tungstic acid; to apply titanic acid to great industrial
+purposes; to produce aluminium on the large scale, as we now produce iron.
+To tan leather more quickly, and without detriment to its quality. To
+prevent the rusting of iron. To more perfectly prevent smoke. To collect
+and use the sulphuric acid of the salt cake consumed in the glass
+manufacture. To make window glass by means of common salt. To deodorise
+offensive substances. To find larger uses for phosphorus, sodium,
+magnesium, and common salt. To remove phosphorus and sulphur from iron
+ores, and sulphur from coal and coke. To obtain a good white alloy as a
+cheaper substitute for German silver. To convert white phosphorus into the
+red variety by a less dangerous process than the present one. To prevent
+the putrefaction of "peltries" in glue making. To obtain better and cheaper
+materials for colouring glass. To more perfectly prevent animal food from
+change. To obviate or prevent explosions in mines. To perfectly purify
+ordinary red lead for making flint glass. A cheaper process for converting
+common salt into washing soda; and so on without end.
+
+We also very badly require a method of recording our thoughts in readable
+forms upon paper, without the slow and laborious process of writing. An
+incalculable amount of brains and of intellect, especially of {72} the
+greatest thinkers, would be saved by such a discovery. The curative arts
+also are permeated with empiricism, and thousands of lives of persons of
+all classes of society, are annually lost in this country through want of a
+more perfect scientific basis of medicine, attainable only by means of
+experiment and observation.
+
+In this country, such great practical results have been obtained by means
+of invention, that many persons suppose a sufficiency of inventive skill
+will enable us to effect every possible scientific object, and are
+surprised that no one can invent a plan of utilising the entire heat of
+coals, or a mode of overcoming the sewage difficulty, or prevent the great
+leakage of coal gas, or arrest epidemics, or produce a steam engine which
+shall work without waste of power. The progress of invention however
+depends upon that of discovery, and these various inventions, etc., wanted
+by manufacturers and others probably cannot be perfected until suitable
+_new_ knowledge is found. Every new invention has its own appropriate
+discoveries, by means of which alone it can be perfected; it was not
+possible to perfect the idea of an electric telegraph before the
+discoveries of Volta and Oersted were made. According to scientific laws,
+out of everything proceeds everything, and out of nothing, nothing can
+come, even ideas are not created. An unlimited number of inventions cannot
+be made by means of a limited amount of scientific knowledge; and our
+present stock of such information applicable to {73} invention, is very
+insufficient. One great reason why only a small portion of patents are of
+practical value; and so many useless ones are taken out is, that in
+consequence of our so-called "practical" spirit, we overestimate the power
+of invention and under-value the discovery of new abstract truths; because
+also invention has done so much, we think it will continue to do so, but
+the latter depends upon a continued supply of discoveries.
+
+Nearly every manufacturer is aware by painful experience of the great and
+almost incessant variation that occurs in the quality and properties of the
+materials used in his trade, and the frequent risk of failure of his
+process. In the manufacture of iron, for example, the presence of much
+phosphorus, sulphur, or silicon in the ore is liable to be very detrimental
+to the quality of the iron produced from it; in the manufacture of glass,
+the least quantity of iron in the materials will seriously injure the
+colour of the product; in the selection of copper for telegraph wire, if it
+contains the least trace of arsenic, the wire will not conduct the
+electricity properly. The difficulties experienced in procuring suitable
+materials for a manufacturing process are in some cases very great; and
+when they are procured, additional difficulties arise from the inability of
+the manufacturer or his manager to analyse them.
+
+Every manufacturer is also aware that the difficulties encountered in
+manufactures are not limited to the substances employed, but extend to all
+the different {74} processes and stages of processes through which these
+substances have to pass, and to all the forces, tools, machinery, and
+appliances employed in those processes; in the manufacture of glass, for
+example, the greatest care has to be exercised in the making and gradual
+heating of the pots in which the glass is melted, the proportions of the
+materials, the construction of the furnaces, the management of the heat,
+and a whole host of minor conditions too numerous to mention, all of which
+must be attended to with the greatest care. In the manufacture of iron and
+steel, the smelting of copper, the refining of nickel, the preparation and
+baking of porcelain, and in many other trades, innumerable difficulties,
+all having their origin in the properties of matter and forces, continually
+beset the manufacturers. In some cases difficulties occur which perplex
+both the workman and the scientific man called in to his aid, and so far
+from an unscientific workman being able to overcome them, even with the aid
+of the scientific man, he is unable to do so.
+
+The hidden difficulties which beset a manufacturer are not unfrequently so
+inscrutable that the present state of knowledge in science fails to explain
+them. Who can tell why it is that wire-work of brass or German silver
+becomes gradually brittle by lapse of time? Or why varnish made in the open
+country has different properties from that made in a town? Or why silk dyed
+in Lyons should possess a finer colour than the same silk dyed by the same
+process in Coventry? {75} With our present extremely imperfect knowledge of
+Physical and Chemical science, we can perhaps hardly form an idea of the
+amount of knowledge yet to be discovered respecting the phenomena which
+manufactures present.
+
+One of the inevitable results of these difficulties in manufacturing
+processes and of deficiency of knowledge, is the production of a large
+amount of goods of an inferior quality; and useless goods, technically
+called "wasters," the cost of which has to be laid upon the saleable ones,
+and thus the price of the latter is enhanced to the consumer. For instance,
+flint glass discoloured by iron has sometimes to be sold at a loss for
+making common enamel; waste window glass has to be sold as "rockery" for
+ornamenting gardens, and defective articles of glass or metal have to be
+re-melted.
+
+In consequence of this want of new knowledge, manufacturers continue to
+suffer losses which might be avoided; high prices of useful articles are
+maintained; defects in their quality are not improved; preventable
+accidents still continue to happen; the health of workmen continues to
+suffer; many means of curing diseases remain unknown; medical practice
+remains full of empiricism, &c., &c.
+
+The great sewage question is apparently in this predicament; we are
+probably trying to solve it without first discovering the requisite
+knowledge; inventors, engineers, and consulting chemists have racked their
+brains, and have not been able to devise a satisfactory {76} remedy, and
+meanwhile the health of the entire population of this country is suffering.
+If we so neglect the fundamental means of ameliorating our condition we
+deserve to suffer. One would suppose that cholera, contagious diseases,
+colliery accidents, pollution of air and water, enormous waste of heat from
+fires, and a multitude of other evils which depend upon physical and
+chemical conditions, are of but little importance, that we should so
+neglect one of the most effectual means of preventing them; and it is
+perfectly clear that by neglecting to aid research, those who gain so much
+money and advantage from original science, and render no return, are
+unwittingly sacrificing national interests upon a large scale to personal
+benefit.
+
+The practice of some manufacturers using and deriving great profit from new
+knowledge evolved by research, without recompensing the discoverers,
+sometimes causes injury to the public welfare by preventing the publication
+of discoveries which have an immediate practical application. Experience of
+this kind has constrained me to postpone the publication of a method I have
+found of readily and quickly converting lumps of white phosphorus into the
+red variety in a state of powder without protracted heat or grinding.
+
+"What will be the next chapter of British enterprise and invention, and who
+and where the men to perform the chief part in it? As to the work to be
+done, there can be no doubt or mystery, for not a day passes {77} without
+loud complaints, indignant remonstrances, fatal oversights, sad
+mis-calculations, terrible shortcomings, social or material evils to be
+remedied if possible, whole masses of people, indeed whole classes to be
+succoured and lifted out of the slough, and enormous difficulties placed by
+nature in our way evidently that we may exercise our wit and our virtues in
+the attempt to overcome them. Here, from all these Isles, there arises a
+despairing cry from agriculture, as if it had really reached the end of its
+tether, and had found itself landed in utter helplessness and insolvency--a
+bad speculation altogether. Here are countless problems, and at the same
+time countless discoveries, which if they lead to nothing else, prove the
+inexhaustible nature of our dominion over the elements. Then, for the sea,
+with its terrible average of wreck and total loss running on without
+intermission and with but rare abatement, who shall say there is here no
+work for the discoverer and inventor who will give his heart and soul and
+mind to it?"
+
+It is indeed high time, that by means of discoveries which will enable us
+to predict with certainty the nature of coming seasons, we shall be better
+enabled to cope with adversities in agriculture; also, that the numerous
+wrecks, and the thousands of lives lost with them every year on our coasts,
+should be diminished. But these desirable results cannot be effected by
+invention based upon insufficient knowledge; invention must be preceded by
+general as well as special research, because the former often discloses
+important {78} truths which we cannot predict. Our present electric lights
+in light-houses and on large ocean steamers, had their origin, not in
+direct inventions or special researches for the purpose, but in abstract
+researches on apparently remote subjects.
+
+It is nothing less than a national crime that proper provision has not yet
+been made for investigating scientifically the causes of famine and
+pestilence, also physiology and pathology, and the discovery of the laws
+which regulate diseases and epidemics. What can be more painful to behold
+than a mother and father deprived of a whole family of five or six children
+in rapid succession by scarlatina or other contagious disease, and both the
+parents and medical men utterly unable to save them; and this is a common
+occurrence. Persons who are ignorant of science look with an abject feeling
+of helplessness upon great national calamities, and even upon private
+afflictions, such as a local epidemic, as if there was absolutely no
+remedy, whilst scientific men believe that by extension of knowledge, such
+evils might be largely avoided or prevented.
+
+Many persons however, actuated by the very kindest of motives, but
+insufficiently acquainted with the necessity, conditions, results, and
+advantages of experiments, unwittingly obstruct the discovery of new
+knowledge in physiology and pathology, by attempting to prevent experiments
+being made upon animals.
+
+We should not strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. Nearly every step in
+life involves a choice {79} between two alternatives, and this is the case
+with experiments upon living creatures, either such experiments must be
+made, or the wholesale slaughter of men and other animals, by pestilences,
+epidemics, small-pox, foot and mouth disease, &c., must continue. Many of
+the properties of living bodies, like those of dead ones, can only be
+ascertained by means of experiments, no other course is possible; and the
+knowledge so obtained enables us not only to prolong the lives but also to
+alleviate the sufferings of all kinds of living creatures. Nearly all our
+medical and surgical knowledge has been obtained by observation and study,
+either of the results of experiments made by ourselves, or by the course of
+nature for us; and the former is often attended by immeasurably less pain
+and expence than the latter. No one who has ever made in a proper manner
+new experiments, would venture to assert that valuable knowledge is not
+gained by them; and this statement is as correct of experiments in
+physiology as in all the other sciences.
+
+The total amount of pain inflicted upon animals by vivisection experiments
+in this country is infinitesimally small--because, firstly, the proportion
+of experimentalists in so-called "vivisection," does not amount to one
+person in one million of our inhabitants:--secondly, students cannot be
+induced to enter upon scientific research in physiology, because such
+labour is unrewarded, either by enabling them to obtain certificates,
+degrees, or money. Whatever pain also, {80} is inflicted in such
+experiments, is by men of the highest eminence in physiology, and therefore
+by the most competent persons.
+
+Experimental research is an occupation requiring an exceptional kind of
+ability and experience; and persons who have never made experiments, nor
+studied their relation to human welfare, are largely incompetent to
+determine when and how they should be made, the real effects of them, or
+the value of the knowledge they afford. To persons inexperienced in
+scientific research, many experiments appear useless, which have great
+practical value, either immediately or at a later period. Our greatest
+curse is ignorance; and knowledge, by enabling us to avoid the fatal
+effects of pestilences, and epidemics, is as necessary as food to mankind.
+The "Anti-vivisection" movement however is but one of the phases of the
+ever-existing conflict between the advancing and retarding sections of
+mankind.
+
+Greater sympathy with suffering accompanies greater civilization. The
+increased humanity of the present age over that of previous ones, is
+largely due to the discovery and extension of new scientific knowledge.
+Science, by showing more clearly to man his true position in nature and in
+relation to his fellow-men and other animals, has rendered more evident the
+concrete fact, that the happiness of each depends upon the happiness of
+all, and the happiness and welfare of all upon that of each individual. It
+has also operated in a more apparent, though less {81} important way, by
+inculcating better systems of hygiene, improved sanitary arrangements, &c,
+&c. It is not to the zeal of "anti-vivisectionists," but to the
+well-directed labours of experimental medical men, that mankind are
+indebted for the discovery and invention of nearly every known method of
+preventing and alleviating animal suffering and of prolonging human life.
+This statement is true of vaccination, the use of chloroform in general
+surgery, dentistry, and midwifery, of carbolic acid spray in surgical
+operations; the abolition of the practice of searing amputated limbs with a
+red-hot iron; and many other improvements. Ferrier's comparatively recent
+vivisection experiments have already enabled medical men to treat more
+successfully those formidable diseases, epilepsy and abcess of the brain.
+
+What this nation badly requires, is not less experimental research, but
+more. When famines result from insufficiency of Solar heat, instead of
+investigating the conditions of the Sun's surface to enable us to predict
+their occurrence and provide accordingly, we allow them to come upon us in
+our unprepared state and produce their fearful effects. When contagious
+disease overtakes us, what do we do? Instead of previously employing and
+paying scientific investigators to make experiments in physiological and
+chemical science, to enable us to combat it successfully, we vainly attempt
+to apply our present stock of chemical and physiological knowledge to ward
+off the difficulty. When high price of fuel intervenes, instead {82} of
+previously giving discoverers the means of finding new principles relating
+to heat, and to chemical, and electrical action, we ineffectually endeavour
+by means of invention, to economise fuel. These are the pottering,
+short-sighted, and ignorant ways in which "the great English nation"
+temporises with great evils, and permits national welfare to be sacrificed
+to private gain, instead of employing for the discovery of new knowledge
+some of that superfluous wealth which in many instances is a curse to its
+possessors.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+{83}
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+------
+
+THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF MENTAL AND MORAL PROGRESS.[12]
+
+It is not highly necessary after what has been already said in these pages,
+to adduce much evidence to show that scientific discoveries, either
+directly or through the medium of the inventions based upon them, have been
+a great cause of mental and moral progress. As however there are many
+persons who do not perceive the dependence of such progress, and especially
+of moral advance, upon science, a few of the chief relations of those
+subjects to each other may be pointed out.
+
+The dependence of mental progress upon science may be rendered manifest in
+several ways:--1st. By showing that new scientific knowledge is continually
+extending and modifying our views of existing things. 2nd. That inventions
+based upon scientific discoveries have aided and extended our mental
+powers:--3rd. That mental phenomena may be made the subject of experiment,
+observation, analysis, and {84} inference:--4th. That the criteria of
+truth, and the mental powers and processes employed for discovering and
+detecting truth, are the same in mental as in physical science, and, 5th.
+That mental action is subject to the great principles and laws of science.
+And moral progress may be proved to have a scientific basis:--1st. By
+shewing that moral actions are a class of mental actions, and therefore
+subject to the same fundamental laws and influences:--2nd. That the
+discovery of new scientific knowledge, and the use of inventions based upon
+it, often conduce to morality:--3rd. That moral phenomena may be made the
+subject of experiment, observation, analysis, and inference:--4th. That the
+criteria of truth, and the mental faculties and processes employed, in
+discovering truth, are the same in moral as in physical science:--5th. That
+the fundamental rules of morality are subject to the great principles of
+science:--6th. That moral improvement follows in the wake of scientific
+advance:--and 7th. By showing the moral influence of experimental research
+in imparting "the scientific spirit;" promoting a love of truth; dispelling
+ignorance and superstition; detecting error; imparting certainty and
+accuracy to our knowledge; inculcating obedience to law; producing
+uniformity of belief; aiding economy and cleanliness, promoting humanity,
+&c, &c. Each of these will be treated with extreme brevity.
+
+MENTAL PROGRESS.
+
+The chief object of this chapter is only to shew {85} that mental action is
+largely consistent with the great principles of science; not that in our
+present state of knowledge, mental phenomena can be entirely explained by
+them, or that mental actions involve nothing more than physical and
+chemical processes.
+
+That mental progress is advanced by scientific discovery is a common
+circumstance. Our ideas of facts, our knowledge of general principles, our
+views of man, of nature, and of the Universe; and even our modes of
+thought, have been gradually and profoundly changed by the new knowledge
+acquired by means of scientific research. This truth is capable of being
+most extensively illustrated by a multitude of facts in the whole of the
+sciences, and in the arts, manufactures, and other subjects dependent upon
+science. For example, in astronomy, great changes, produced by the results
+of scientific discovery have taken place in our ideas respecting the
+magnitude of Space and of the Heavenly bodies, the constitution, form, and
+motion of the Earth, the functions of the Sun and Moon, the distances of
+the Sun and fixed Stars, the nature of eclipses and comets; and a great
+many other matters. In terrestrial physics, the mental advances have been
+equally great in our ideas respecting the causes of tides and of winds, the
+pressure of the atmosphere, the existence and course of the Gulf Stream,
+the physical conditions of the Equator and Poles, the conditions upon which
+day and night, summer and winter depend, the depth of the ocean, the height
+of the atmosphere, the cause of rainbows, of {86} rain, hail, snow, mist
+and dew, of thunder and lightning, the composition of air, water, mineral,
+and organic substances, and other most numerous and varied phenomena. In
+the subjects of heat, light, electricity, magnetism, chemistry, vegetable
+and animal physiology, psychology and morality, and the more concrete
+subjects depending upon them, such as politics, trade, commerce,
+government, &c., our ideas have equally advanced, in consequence of
+scientific research; and to fully describe the mental progress resulting
+from discovery in nearly all branches of human knowledge would require a
+series of books to be written on the History of all the Sciences.
+
+Other causes also, which I need hardly mention, besides scientific
+discovery, have of course contributed to the mental progress of mankind. We
+arrive at true ideas, not only by the more certain and systematic process
+employed in scientific research, but largely also by the uncertain method
+of trusting to instinct and habit, by adopting dogmatic opinions, and by
+the semi-scientific plan of following empirical rules.
+
+Dogma and empiricism, in nearly all subjects, has rendered immense service
+to mankind. Contemporaneously with the progress produced by new knowledge,
+the mental condition of man has been maintained and prevented from
+receding, by the combined influence of hereditary mental proclivity,
+acquired habit, promulgation of dogmatic opinions and empirical rules, and
+by previously known verified truth. Religious {87} belief has thus been the
+forerunner of Science. Dogma and empiricism are indispensable agents of
+civilization; they cannot be dispensed with by the great mass of mankind,
+who have not the time at command, nor possess the other means, necessary
+for acquiring verified knowledge. They afford rough and ready guides and
+useful "rule of thumb" methods, though less certain and less accurate than
+those afforded by verified and definite science.
+
+That various inventions, based upon scientific discoveries, have greatly
+aided and extended our mental powers is quite certain. The discovery of the
+properties of a mixture of solution of nutgalls and green vitriol, has,
+through the invention of ink, exercised an immense influence in promoting
+the mental developement of mankind; and the discovery of the properties of
+esparto grass and other materials for making paper has contributed to this
+result. Every discovery also resulting in inventions which facilitated the
+transmission of intelligence has had a similar effect. Amongst these are
+magnetism, which, in the mariner's compass greatly assisted navigation and
+the conveyance of letters by sea; and the steam engine which facilitated
+the transmission of letters by land and by water; the electric telegraph,
+the telephone, and other contrivances for transmitting ideas, have also
+greatly promoted mental advance. The steam engine, by largely abolishing
+physical drudgery, gave time for study and mental and moral improvement. It
+has been said that "it is impossible to lay down a {88} railway without
+creating an improved intellectual influence. It is probable that Watt and
+Stephenson will eventually modify the opinions of mankind, almost as
+profoundly as Luther and Voltaire." Photography has exercised an immense
+intellectual influence of an improved kind, by making common to all mankind
+views of the beautiful scenery of all parts of our globe, and portraits of
+individuals of all nations and of all classes of society. Processes of
+printing from electrotype plates, pictures and letter-press, upon the paper
+wrappers used by grocers and other tradesmen, have also carried into the
+homes of millions of poor persons truthful ideas and an improved
+intellectual influence. The invention of steel pens, of which a thousand
+millions are made yearly in Birmingham alone, must also have considerably
+aided intellectual progress. The various calculating machines used by
+merchants, the copying presses, papyrographs, and the numerous inventions
+for copying and multiplying letters and circulars and for domestic
+printing, have saved intellectual toil, and promoted the diffusion of
+intelligence. These are only a few of the numerous ways in which inventions
+based upon scientific discoveries, have resulted in mental progress.
+
+Less perhaps has been done in the way of actual definite scientific
+experiments upon mental actions and processes than in almost any other
+department of science, and this is partly accounted for by the fact that
+the other sciences require to be largely advanced before we can use them to
+examine mental action, {89} and partly also because (as occasionally
+happens) the latter has been a neglected subject of research. During the
+past few years however, various experimental investigations have been made,
+especially by Donders in Holland, and Mosso in Turin, for the purpose of
+elucidating the physical conditions of mental action; and it has been found
+that instead of an act of thought being instantaneous, as was formerly
+believed, it requires a variable time.[13] Numerous desultory experiments
+made upon dreamers, and with drugs, alcohol, &c., upon persons in the
+waking state, also prove that mental phenomena are amenable to scientific
+research. F. Galton has even proposed experiments and methods for measuring
+the mental faculties of different persons.[14] The effects of exciting
+different parts of the brain of animals by means of electric currents, and
+the localization of the functions of the brain effected by the experiments
+of Ferrier, Hirtzig and others, also tend to throw further light upon
+mental phenomena. The fact alone that mental actions and conditions may be
+made the subject of experiment, and consequently of observation,
+comparison, analysis and inference, proves that they may be rendered
+sources of new facts and principles, and are therefore within the domain of
+science. As the dependence of mental phenomena upon physical conditions has
+been clearly demonstrated, an extensive reduction of them to scientific
+laws is only a question of time and labour.
+
+{90}
+
+The principles of nature and the modes of mental action are the same for
+all men. It necessarily follows from the essential nature of truth and the
+invariability of the chief methods of detecting it, that the criteria of
+truth in mental science, and the mental powers and processes by which truth
+is arrived at and detected in that science, are essentially the same as in
+the physiological, chemical, and physical ones. In each of these subjects,
+we first, either with or without the aid of experiment, make observations,
+record facts, compare them, and draw conclusions from our comparisons; we
+also group the facts, and the conclusions, in every possible way, and then
+draw other conclusions; we also analyse, combine, and permutate the various
+truths arrived at, and cross examine the evidence in every possible manner
+in order to extract from it the greatest amount of new knowledge. And in
+each case we employ as the criteria of truth, the test of consistency with
+the whole of the evidence bearing upon the case, and especially with the
+great principles of science. We determine what is true, chiefly by
+comparison with those principles, because they are the most firmly
+established true ones and the most universal. There is no royal road to
+truth, and no special mental faculty for detecting it in any subject; and
+it is in consequence of our mental faculties being so very finite that we
+have no easier way of arriving at truth.
+
+No dogmatic teaching can ever, except by accident, fully explain to man the
+true nature of mind; and {91} only in proportion as man becomes enlightened
+by extension of new scientific knowledge, especially in physiology, will he
+be able to view himself in a true aspect apart from his consciousness.
+Science penetrates deeper than metaphysical speculation, into the nature of
+mental action, chiefly because metaphysics deals only with old ideas,
+whilst science furnishes us with new experience and therefore with new
+conceptions and wider evidence.
+
+Fallacies are very prevalent, every subject of human study is liable to a
+very large class of errors arising from the extremely imperfect state of
+our knowledge, and in very few subjects is our ignorance as great as in
+that of mental and moral phenomena. Every different subject of study also,
+has, in consequence of its special peculiarities, its own peculiar class of
+fallacies, into which the student of it is likely to be led, unless he is
+previously guarded against them. In accordance with this truth, the study
+of man's nature, especially the mental and moral portions, is particularly
+liable to a class of errors arising from the circumstance, that the
+phenomena to be observed and the observing power are intimately connected
+together, each influencing and disturbing the other. The obstacles to our
+arriving at truth in the study of mental and moral actions, are greater and
+more frequent, the more nearly and intimately related the phenomena to be
+observed and contemplated, are to the observing and contemplating faculty,
+or rather to the contemplative action. When the two mental {92} actions are
+extremely intimate, as when attention is directed to the action of will
+(which is itself a conscious act of attention) undisturbed thought becomes
+very difficult; and when further, the contemplative faculty attempts to
+contemplate itself, as when consciousness attempts to observe
+consciousness, in order to define it, the attempt results in almost
+complete failure, probably because the two actions (observing and being
+observed) being opposite in kind, cannot coexist at the same time in the
+same structure. Knowledge of the exact nature of consciousness therefore,
+will probably only be arrived at by indirect means, when physiological and
+other knowledge is sufficiently advanced.
+
+Consciousness, when uncorrected by sufficient knowledge and inference, is a
+great source of error. That which we feel, we think exists whether it does
+or not, until the subject is correctly explained to us. The incessant and
+irresistible obtrusion of consciousness exercises dominion over every mind,
+even of our greatest thinkers, and causes disturbance and interruption in
+nearly every train of thought. It is largely the cause of some of our most
+general ideas and emotions and insensibly influences our views of man and
+nature. It produces true impressions as well as erroneous ones. It is a
+cause of the feeling that an occult spirit exists within us independent of
+our material structure. Combined with the almost equally persistent
+impression of the uniformity of nature, it largely produces the idea that
+the spirit within us, {93} will live and be active for ever. And by uniting
+with the frequent impressions of failure of our efforts and desire for more
+perfect enjoyment, it largely originates the idea of everlasting happiness.
+
+It is in accordance with modern scientific knowledge, to view the mind, not
+as a collection of distinct faculties, but rather as a single kind of
+power, like each of the physical forces, having several different modes of
+action; and as that which perceives, thinks, and wills. Its oneness is
+shewn by its inability to be simultaneously occupied by several diverse
+feelings, thoughts, or volitions, and by our incapacity to think of many
+varied ideas at once; the more ideas also or objects we attempt to perceive
+at once, the less we realize of each. In proportion as the mind is engaged
+upon one idea, so is it also unable to be occupied with another. Strong
+feelings exclude intellectual action. The mind can only execute several
+actions at a time, provided they have been rendered more or less automatic
+by habit, &c., but as all mental acts are in different degrees imperfectly
+automatic, and require more or less attention, and each individual mind is
+limited in its power, every such act withdraws a portion of attention from
+the more engrossing ideas. Power of mind and power of maintaining attention
+are nearly synonymous.
+
+The recognised fundamental elements of mind are Receptivity and Perception
+of impression: Retentiveness of impression: Perception of agreement (or
+similarity) of impression: and Perception of difference {94} of impression.
+All purely mental acts appear to be resolvable into these.
+
+Many persons still entertain the idea that mental actions are largely
+independent of the natural conditions to which physiological, chemical, and
+physical phenomena are subject. The unscientific mind is readily beguiled
+by easy schemes of mental action, or simple systems of mental and moral
+philosophy, unaware that great abstract truths often require deep thought
+to discover them, or even to perceive them when discovered and published.
+"A false notion, which is clear and precise, will always meet a greater
+number of adherents in the world than a true principle which is obscure."
+It is not until unscientific persons have become used to advanced
+scientific ideas and nomenclature, and knowledge as so far progressed as to
+enable thinking men to illustrate those ideas freely in familiar language,
+that great abstract truths are believed by the public. The ordinary and
+simple theory of the operations of the human mind is, that they often arise
+without any cause, and are frequently not obedient to ordinary influences,
+and this idea is still entertained and promulgated even by some of our most
+popular ministers of truth. It is therefore necessary in order to further
+prove that new scientific knowledge is really a basis of mental progress,
+to point out a few of the chief ways in which mental action essentially
+depends on scientific principles, and to adduce a few instances in which
+other substances than brain exhibit essentially similar phenomena. To {95}
+shew this however in a more satisfactory manner would require a large
+treatise to be written upon the subject.
+
+The human brain and mind are evidently subject to the ordinary laws of
+matter and energy. Receptivity and retentiveness of impression is not only
+a property of brain, but of all solid matter without exception. Moser's
+pictures, and Chinese mirrors, the impressions on each being reproducible
+by warm breath, are examples of this. And as these two properties are
+fundamental elements of mind, they must be present in and essential to,
+every mental action.
+
+All phenomena require time and all matter occupies space; thought and brain
+are no exception to this. Whilst all persons say "I must have time to
+think," many believe that thought is instantaneous. Time is a necessary
+condition of all thought, and therefore of all comparison, inference,
+imagination, and mental analysis; it takes time even to form an idea, or
+draw an inference from it, and the two cannot be formed simultaneously.
+Professor Donders, of Utrecht, has invented what he terms a Noematachograph
+for registering the amount of time occupied in mental processes, and by the
+aid of that instrument has ascertained that the time required by a man of
+middle age to perform a single act of simple thought is about one
+twenty-fifth part of a second. It has also been ascertained that the time
+required is longer in some persons than in others; and longer if the {96}
+subject of thought is one with which the thinker is not familiar. Mosso, by
+means of an instrument which he calls a Plethysmograph, has shewn, that
+during mental action, either in the waking state, or in dreaming, there is
+a greater amount of blood determined to the brain, and more during
+difficult than during easy mental action. These are instances of scientific
+research casting a light upon mental processes.
+
+Coexistence of matter and energy is another great truth which appears to be
+applicable to all nature; wherever there is matter, there is either active
+or stored up power; and as particular forms of energy are in some cases
+most exhibited by particular kinds of substance, (as magnetism by iron), so
+mind is associated with living brain. As also we never see the physical
+powers exhibited except by material substance, so have we never yet
+observed mental action in a space devoid of material. The most perfect
+vacuum yet produced contains many millions of particles of substance in
+each cubic inch. Of all the countless number of scientific phenomena
+observed since men have been able to reliably investigate, not one has
+afforded us conclusive evidence of mental action entirely independent of
+these conditions. In accordance also with the usual truth in science, that
+complicated action requires complex structures; mind, being the most
+intricate action, is manifested by the most complicated body.
+
+Mind, like each of the physical forces may be {97} viewed as a mode of
+energy; it is essentially dynamic; activity or change, within or without
+us, appears to be the original source of all our mental impressions, and
+the cause of their re-excitement in an act of memory. A man's mind, being
+continually excited by circumstances, must be active whether he will or no,
+and if it does not possess sufficient truthful ideas entirely to occupy it,
+it must be more or less occupied with erroneous ones. "We can neither feel,
+nor know, without a transition or change of state--and every cognition,
+must be viewed as in relation to some other feeling, or cognition," (Bain.
+Mental and Moral Science, p. 83); _i.e._ the mental effect of impressions
+upon us depends upon our immediately previous mental state; consciousness
+and perception appear to be based upon cerebral change or activity; after
+strong excitement of consciousness an increased amount of acid products is
+found in the secretions. "It is a general law of the mental constitution,
+more or less recognised by inquirers into the human mind, that change of
+impression is essential to consciousness in every form," (Bain. Emotions
+and Will, 3rd edi. p. 550). A sufficient degree also of such change is a
+necessary condition of conscious perception; it is the stronger or more
+rapid only of mental changes that excite our consciousness.
+
+We perceive nearly all things by means of a difference of impression which
+they make upon us; by contrast. That which makes no such difference of
+impression, such as the great uniformities of time and {98} space, makes no
+immediate impression upon us. We only know of the existence of those
+uniformities by inference from our perceptions of sequences or of relative
+difference. Although the Earth moves at the rate of 62,000 miles an hour in
+its orbit, consciousness does not perceive it. If also there was no error,
+we should be less immediately able to discern truth, without pain we should
+lose much of the enjoyment of pleasure. Without the contrast of
+imperfection we could not directly appreciate perfection.
+
+This principle of "relativity," or of change of impression, operates both
+in the phenomena of dead and living matter and in those of mind; the
+selenium in a photophone is kept in a state of motion or activity, not by a
+beam of uniform light, but only by one which changes; electrical action is
+excited by a relative difference of friction, of temperature, of chemical
+action, &c.; chemical action also often results from a relative difference
+of property of two bodies. That the most inscrutable phenomenon of mind,
+viz., consciousness, is largely dependent upon relative physical and
+chemical conditions, is proved by the powerful influence which alcohol,
+chloroform, opium, haschish, and other substances, have in exciting or
+depressing it. These facts prove that excitement of consciousness or mental
+action depends upon precisely the same general condition, viz.: change of
+impression, as the excitement of some of the physical forces; and that mind
+possesses a similar property to the physical forces of being changed by
+inequality of impression. {99} Whilst copious evidence is available to shew
+that the mind is excitable by physical causes, no more conclusive proof
+exists that a mental impression arises without a natural cause, than that a
+physical one, such as a photographic impression, arises in that way.
+Abundant evidence of non-creation of ideas out of nothing might be adduced;
+even imagination and invention are subject to this limit, because an
+unlimited number of new conceptions cannot be formed from a limited number
+of previous ideas.
+
+The dependence of the mind (like any other mode of energy) upon physical
+conditions, is further proved by the fact that the mental and moral states
+of a man are largely governed by sensation; if the latter is unhealthy it
+makes the mind so, and it makes some difference what the part of the body
+is in which the sensation exists; most commonly it is the viscera. The mind
+is also intimately dependent upon the physical condition of the brain, and
+is largely affected by the quantity and quality of the blood in that organ.
+
+The most fundamental principle which pervades every one of the sciences,
+and agrees with the actions of every natural form of energy without
+exception, including mind, is, that of consistency or non-contradiction. No
+machine or scientific apparatus of any kind can perform two contradictory
+acts at the same time. It is both a physiological and psychological fact,
+that we cannot experience two contradictory sensations, nor perceive two
+contradictory ideas at the {100} same instant. We can neither feel,
+perceive, nor observe, one thing, whilst we are feeling, perceiving, or
+observing, one of a contradictory nature; nor can we perform any two
+contradictory acts of comparison, inference, imagination, or volition,
+simultaneously. As also two mental actions are often not exactly alike, or
+entirely harmonious, they must so far as they are really contradictory, be
+mutually exclusive; and one of them must partly prevent the other, the
+strongest one prevailing, and this general truth is commonly though not
+explicitly, recognised in the maxim, that to do anything well, we must do
+only one thing at a time. In accordance with the universal truth, that
+contradictions cannot co-exist, it is well-known that one disease
+frequently expels another from our frame, and the action of
+counter-irritants is based upon the same principle. The fortitude of
+martyrs may probably be explained by this power of one set of ideas and
+feelings to exclude another, and the facts of mental physiology afford
+plenty of other examples.
+
+It is probably because we cannot simultaneously perform two contradictory
+actions, that we cannot contemplate consciousness, or think of an idea and
+at the same time think of that act of thought. In accordance with this,
+even Newton, and other great geniuses, have been unable to accurately
+describe the mental processes by means of which they arrived at their most
+difficult results. In consequence also of this, we cannot define
+consciousness, and are often {101} unable to directly observe or analyse
+our mental actions, especially those of a very abstruse or complex kind.
+Much of the knowledge of the operations of our mind, we are therefore
+obliged to obtain by indirect means; by analogies, and inferences from the
+phenomena of nature, &c., and in this way our knowledge of mental action
+largely depends upon our acquaintance with physical and chemical science,
+and can only advance as it advances. To clearly understand one subject we
+are often obliged to study several others. Ignorance of science in general,
+and of cerebral physiology in particular, is the chief obstacle to our
+acquiring a more accurate knowledge of mind.
+
+Next to consistency, the great principle of causation constitutes the most
+essential part of all natural truth, and to deny the operation of this
+principle in particular cases of mental action, simply because we, with our
+very finite powers, cannot in the extremely imperfect state of our
+knowledge, yet fully explain some of the most difficult, complex,
+transient, and ever-changing phenomena of will and consciousness, is
+contrary to the most weighty evidence. "The Will" is a conscious mental
+effort to effect an object, the idea of which is already in the mind, and
+being a mental "effort" it absorbs the mind and thereby incapacitates it at
+the moment from observing its own action.
+
+If any phenomenon (such as mental action) is essentially dependent upon
+another, it must be connected {102} with it in a never-failing or
+indissoluble manner, so that when the one occurs the other is always
+present, otherwise it would not be essentially dependent. The only known
+connections of this kind are those causation and continuity of phenomena,
+according to which every phenomenon has a cause, and all phenomena are
+indissolubly connected in endless series. The evidence of the truth of
+these principles is so vast, that even all mankind thinking through all
+ages, and after having made an almost infinite number of definite
+experiments and observations, have never yet met with a single well
+verified instance of their failure; and we are therefore justified in
+inferring that they are universal. There are however instances in the
+physical and chemical sciences, as well as in mental action, where the
+dependence of phenomena upon those principles is not very apparent, and has
+not yet been sufficiently proved, but it is probably in consequence of our
+imperfect knowledge and limited faculties, that we are unable as yet to
+fully trace such dependence. The history of science, abundantly proves that
+we should not assume that a phenomenon arises without a natural cause,
+simply for the reason that it is very difficult to trace its origin, but
+wait patiently for more knowledge respecting it. It is unphilosophic and
+contrary to reason to attribute to occult agencies, effects which may be
+explicable by ordinary causes, or to refuse to believe in more abstruse
+causes where the assumption of simple ones is contradicted by some of the
+evidence. {103}
+
+The principle of causation forms the basis of many minor ones, such as
+selection, evolution, differentiation, &c. Plurality of causes also is a
+very common circumstance in all the sciences, and especially in concrete
+phenomena, and in the complex ones of animal life; the arrival of a ship
+for example at a distant port, is a result of many conditions. Similarly
+with most of our mental actions, they are compounds of feeling and
+intellect, and produced by many causes, such as hereditary tendency,
+acquired habit, internal and external mental excitants, dogmatic belief,
+knowledge of empirical rules, and occasionally of verified principles.
+Several of these causes also frequently conspire to produce a single idea
+or decision.
+
+Various general principles of lesser magnitude arise from the combined
+action of two or more of the greater ones, and these also appear to operate
+in mental actions as well as in physical ones. Thus by the combined
+influence of causation and of the principle that every phenomenon occupies
+time, "effects often lag behind their causes;" and in some cases during a
+long period. The greatest heat of summer for example usually occurs several
+weeks after mid-summer. The mental effects of early mistakes are often not
+fully experienced until old age. The decline of a nation also follows a
+long time behind the period of action of the chief causes which produce it.
+
+Although effects are indissolubly connected with their causes, they
+frequently do not occur in an active form until a long period after them.
+In such cases {104} they are stored up in what is termed a potential or
+latent state, ready for liberation at a future occasion, when the suitable
+conditions are present; the storage of chemical power in gunpowder, of
+solar heat in coal, and its subsequent liberation in our fires, are
+suitable examples. The principle of deferred activity and storing up of
+power, occurs also in vital and mental phenomena; potential heat is stored
+up in our food, and is afterwards evolved by oxidation in our tissues.
+Muscular power is stored up during sleep, ready to be evolved during
+labour. The storage also of cerebral impressions, and cerebral energy,
+ready to call forth ideas, and thereby powerful emotions, by the exciting
+action of memory, may also be viewed as an instance of similar kind
+belonging to mental phenomena. A new and striking instance of the storage
+of energy has been shewn in Faure's improved form of secondary voltaic
+battery, in which the most powerful voltaic current may be (at least
+practically) stored up (in a box containing lead plates immersed in dilute
+sulphuric acid) and conveyed to a distance with little loss, and then
+liberated.
+
+Exciting causes operate very extensively in mental actions as well as in
+physical ones, a mere look or word from an eloquent speaker will excite the
+passions and liberate the muscular power of a multitude. Every part of the
+human body, especially the muscles and nerve centres, is a store-house of
+power always ready to be set free by the slightest suitable causes; this is
+strongly illustrated in the irrepressible activity {105} of children, and
+in the excitable passions of young men and women. The more immediate cause
+of this power is the oxidation of assimilated food; and the source of power
+in the food is the heat of the Sun stored up in the plants and animals they
+have eaten.
+
+The subsequent liberation of power under the influence, often of very
+slight causes, long after the original cause has ceased to act, has led us
+to conclude erroneously that causes are not always proportional to effects.
+Proportionality of effect to cause appears to be universal; it probably
+operates in mental as well as in physical actions, our faith in education
+as a means of intelligence is based upon this; the more complete the
+education of a particular individual, the greater usually is his degree of
+intelligence. Proportionality of cause to effect is apparently disobeyed
+not only in physical but also in mental phenomena. Throughout the whole
+realm of nature, minute circumstances often act as exciting, deflecting,
+and guiding causes, and contribute to the production of apparently
+disproportionate effects. Thus a spark will discharge the largest cannon; a
+touch determine the most distant electric signal; a word or look, excite
+the strongest emotions; the little change of position of a railway point
+will direct a train either to distant North or South; the minute change of
+contact of the telegraph switch, will determine the signal to places wide
+asunder; one false idea also at a critical moment will often lead a man or
+woman to ruin; and in all these classes of cases, {106} whilst trifling
+causes _appear_ to produce great effects; the real causes are the stored up
+latent powers set free or directed. It is astonishing how small a
+circumstance will excite an idea, and deflect the entire current of our
+thoughts; and it is equally surprising what great physical and chemical
+effects are often started by most minute exciting or deflecting conditions;
+the explosion of seven tons of dynamite at Hell-gate, near New York, by the
+pressure of a child's finger closing an electric circuit is a suitable
+example.
+
+Every phenomenon therefore whether physical or mental, is probably
+connected in an indissoluble manner with some preceding phenomenon, either
+immediately in point of time, or remotely through some static condition,
+usually that of stored up power. In this sense the great principle of
+continuity of phenomena appears to be universal, and the present state of
+the Universe is said to implicitly or potentially contain all the future
+states of the Universe. Mind also in this way, like each of the physical
+forces, often acts as a link in an endless chain of causes and effects, and
+is connected with non-mental phenomena in accordance with the great
+principles of science.
+
+Science has demonstrated what has been termed the "Convertibility of
+Forces," or, that when one form of energy disappears, another form (or
+forms) of energy, and in precisely equivalent amount, is produced in its
+stead, either in a latent or active state. The equivalent quantities of the
+various forms of {107} energy have also been discovered by actual
+experiment and measurement. A pound weight falling through 772 feet gives
+forth as much energy as would (in the form of heat) raise the temperature
+of one pound of water one Fahrenheit degree. We know that so much
+mechanical power is equal also to so much electric current, chemical
+action, &c., and a large amount of evidence exists to show that these
+transformations of energy occur in all the organs of living creatures, and
+in obedience to the law of their equivalents. How far mental power is a
+"mode of energy" transformable, and obedient to the laws of equivalence,
+are interesting questions for future research.
+
+The mechanical principle of action and reaction is another which can be
+traced in mental as well as in physical phenomena. Mental excitement is
+often succeeded by mental depression, "after pleasure follows pain." The
+power of mental self-guidance and self-education is largely dependent upon
+the two well known scientific principles of latent energy, and action and
+reaction. We are able to liberate energy, not only in cases where it will
+influence inanimate matter but also ourselves. The principle of
+self-guidance is not restricted to living creatures, nor is self-regulation
+limited to mental power. The principle of self-regulation operates in
+clocks, watches, musical boxes, the governors of steam engines, water
+regulators, gas regulators, &c., &c., and upon an immense scale in the
+movements of the heavenly {108} bodies. With the electric locomotive, the
+greater the load it has to draw, or the steeper the incline it has to
+ascend, the more strongly does it exert its strength, up to the full limits
+of its power. Neither in physical nor in mental actions can a body or force
+usually act directly upon itself to change its state whether of activity or
+rest. In both classes of cases however we meet with plenty of instances
+where, a body by an almost imperceptible expenditure of energy on its own
+part either alters some surrounding conditions, or excites a powerful
+liberation of energy in another body which then reacts upon it to change
+its state. In this way the action of clock-work in the self-exploding
+apparatus of a torpedo liberates at a particular moment a spring, and
+causes an explosion which destroys the apparatus. Similarly, whilst a man,
+in many cases, is unable to _directly_ alter his mental state, to increase
+or diminish his mental activity, to cause sleep, &c., he is able
+_indirectly_ to change his mental condition by drinking stimulants or by
+adopting means of self-education; and to induce sleep by means of opium,
+suitable exercise, &c.
+
+The principles of indestructibility or conservation of matter and energy,
+flow from the preceding ones, and are exhibited in mental actions as well
+as in physical ones. Whilst the universal experience of mankind has not yet
+afforded us a single well verified instance of actual creation or
+destruction of matter or energy, it has supplied us with plenty of examples
+of apparent destruction and creation of each of them. {109} But scientific
+knowledge corrects the uncertain testimony of consciousness; whilst we see
+coal burn and be apparently destroyed, science proves to us that the
+elements composing it remain undiminished. We observe also that the heat of
+the fire dissipates and is apparently lost for ever; but science again
+proves that it is either stored up in the latent state, ready to be again
+liberated at a future time, or else converted into other forms of energy. A
+given atom of matter or a portion of energy, therefore, to the best of our
+knowledge, continues and persists for ever. As we cannot either create or
+destroy matter so also can we not create or annihilate energy, and this
+truth probably holds good with regard to mental as well as to physical and
+chemical power. Great changes of state in bodies (as in the combustion of
+wood &c.) have led us to erroneously think that the substances are
+destroyed; and great apparent differences of property, such as those of
+diamond and charcoal, have led us similarly to conclude that they are
+entirely distinct and independent of each other when they are not.
+
+As the cerebrum of man is composed of matter, and during excitement, its
+parts are active, we might confidently predict that its particles obey the
+First law of Motion, viz.: that a body in a state of rest or motion will
+continue in that state of rest or motion until some cause arise to prevent
+it. So it has been found that the action of the vital and mental forces
+have a degree of persistence, like the physical ones. It has been
+experimentally found that portions of {110} living bone transplanted to
+fleshy parts of animals where there was no bone, continued to grow for a
+time by a life of their own, and increased by formation of additional bone,
+like a crystal grows in its medium; but after a time they diminished and
+disappeared. In a similar manner we are all of us aware of the persistency
+of ideas, even in opposition to the will, after the cause of them has been
+removed. Sometimes we cannot retain an idea because of the persistence of
+others; and at other times we cannot get rid of one, for a similar reason.
+Our mental habits also have often very great persistence.
+
+The principle of heredity may be viewed as a result of the First law of
+Motion, and appears as Persistency of state, either of structure, form, or
+mode of action. It appears both in inanimate bodies, living structures, and
+in mental phenomena; in the latter, as hereditary mental peculiarities. The
+principle of Persistency of structure and Heredity of form and property,
+during repeated or even continual dissolution and aggregation of a material
+substance, is more or less manifest nearly throughout the whole of nature.
+In the formation of crystals it is clearly seen; each crystallizable
+substance will only grow into its own shape or shapes; each particle of
+common salt, during an endless series of successive solutions and
+aggregations into the solid state, always forms a more or less perfect
+cube; that of silica a hexagon; and so on throughout the entire series of
+thousands of different crystalline bodies. As each {111} form of crystal
+only produces crystals of like form and property (or at most in certain
+cases a limited number of modified forms, as in the instance of calcic
+carbonate, &c.) so also each seed, both of animals and vegetables, only
+produces its own particular essential shape and collection of functions.
+The same principle shews itself in the transmission of particular types of
+disease, and of eccentricities of organization, from one generation to
+another of animals. Peculiar malformations of body and characteristics of
+mind often persist in families from generation to generation. This
+persistency or heredity of structure and of property is not limited to
+solid bodies, but exists also in liquids: "The effect of vaccine virus upon
+the liquid blood, in producing a permanent and organic change in its
+constitution and character, which continues to exercise a protective
+influence against small-pox, in the great mass of cases, through a long
+life, during which time the blood must have undergone, many thousands, if
+not millions of changes and modifications." (F. Winslow. "Obscure diseases
+of Brain and Mind," page 432). The same persistency of structure and
+property of structure, has even been detected in vapours; the vapour of red
+iodide of mercury for example, deposits only crystals of red iodide, whilst
+that of the yellow deposits only yellow (see Gmelin's Handbook of
+Chemistry, vol. 1, p. 100.)
+
+We often appear to mentally select when we only yield to causes acting upon
+us, _i.e._, to the strongest influence or motive. That "self-preservation
+is the {112} first law of nature," is not only true of living creatures,
+but largely also of dead substances. Inanimate as well as animate matter,
+appears to usually select what is good for itself. Apparent selection,
+which is manifested in the phenomena of instinct, is exhibited not only by
+brain, but by all material substances. Acids appear to select bases, North
+magnetism rejects North and prefers South magnetism. Also if a piece of
+zinc is put into a mixed solution of the nitrates of silver, magnesium,
+calcium, strontium, barium, lithium, sodium, potassium, and rubidium, it
+will select the silver only with which to form a "metallic tree," and
+reject all the other metals. Everything which aggregates or grows to a
+definite shape, appears to select its material; if a crystal of a
+particular salt is placed in a mixture of saturated solutions of different
+salts, it will only select and assimilate to itself suitable material,
+either particles of the same composition as itself, or those which are
+isomorphous with it, _i.e._ belonging to the same crystalline system. In
+living bodies also, the same principle operates; Living tissues, whether of
+animals or vegetables, usually select from their nutrient fluids, and
+assimilate, particles only of those kinds of matter which are suitable for
+their structure; in this way, a bone assimilates lime and phosphoric acid
+from the multitude of different substances conveyed to it by the blood. And
+in all these cases, the selecting material appears to act as if it
+possessed the powers of instinct, perception, comparison, judgment, and
+{113} volition. The act of self-repair is clearly connected with this, and
+is not limited to living structures; Sir David Brewster observed that if a
+portion of the surface of a perfect crystal of alum is very slightly
+abraded by dissolving a film from it, and the crystal be then immersed
+during a very brief period in a saturated solution of alum, the abraded
+portion repairs itself. The subjects of "malformation of crystals," and
+"diseases of crystals" have been scientifically investigated. The power of
+selection (or rather of apparent selection) is no doubt a result of the
+combined action of causation and of the inherent properties of bodies, and
+depends, like consciousness, upon difference of impression, the strongest
+suitable influence determining. If apparent selection can thus be performed
+by inanimate matter, we should not, except for a very sufficient reason,
+assume the existence in living creatures, of a special occult power to
+perform the same function. In the selection of ideas also the intellect
+acts according to the purely scientific method.
+
+We frequently appear to mentally adapt ourselves to particular
+circumstances when we are really determined by causes; and this apparent
+adaptation is also seen in ordinary physical and chemical phenomena. The
+course of a river for instance, adapts itself to the configuration of the
+country through which it flows, and if it cannot pass wholly by one
+channel, as in seasons of flood, or on occasions of accidental obstruction,
+it travels through several; and a similar result {114} occurs with the flow
+of the blood when an artery is tied or becomes obstructed. A plant when
+growing in a dark recess, bends itself towards the light as if it preferred
+light; and its roots adapt themselves to the forms of existing obstacles. A
+decapitated frog jumps away from a source of irritation, as if he still
+possessed sensation, volition, and choice. A man seeking his way through a
+crowd avoids the course in which the throng is densest. The human mind
+also, chooses as it were, the easiest way of solving a problem, and usually
+adapts itself to altered circumstances.
+
+The principle of evolution also operates both in physical and mental
+actions, and is a result of that of causation. Complexity of structure and
+function is evolved out of simplicity of composition and property by
+plurality of causes and conditions. For instance, many complex forms of
+crystals of ice are produced from water. Calcspar crystallizes in more than
+one hundred varieties of form, (all derived from an obtuse rhombohedron)
+under the influence of a number of slightly different conditions of
+temperature, impurities in the solution, &c. The most complex bodies are
+evolved out of the simplest, the bodily frame of man himself (and that of
+other animals) is constructed of less than twenty of the elementary
+substances. The same simple substances are capable of yielding very
+different and more complex bodies under different conditions; thousands of
+different chemical compounds are composed of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon
+only. In the development of {115} living forms from ova, the ultimate form
+produced does not exist in the germ, any more than a crystal exists in its
+solution, but is a natural consequence of the forces acting in and upon the
+germ, like the cubical form of a crystal of common salt is a result of the
+forces acting in its constituents under the conditions of its environment,
+especially those of pressure and temperature. The extent to, and manner in
+which, the force and principle operate, depend upon the material substance,
+and its conditions internal and external.
+
+It is a common circumstance, both in physical, mental, and moral subjects,
+for the apparent to be the very opposite of the real. This general truth
+has been repeatedly illustrated in an incidental manner in this book, and
+need not be much further elucidated. Phenomena are none the less real,
+however, because they are not readily manifest; our earth is as much tied
+to the sun by the invisible power of gravity, as if it was attached to it
+by visible material chains. Mistaking the apparent for the real, largely
+explains the persistency of certain beliefs, and why it is that persons
+unacquainted with science, cling to self-deception, and resist some of the
+most firmly established truths. The more evident but untrue explanation is
+believed, whilst the less apparent but true one is rejected. It is the
+chief cause of the belief that "the will is a supernatural power." To a
+scientific man however, apparent contradictions are not unfrequently a sign
+of truth; too accurate results sometimes {116} indicate that they have been
+artificially made to appear correct.
+
+Sympathetic action or propagation of similar influence by immediate
+impulse, is a property of all the natural forms of energy, as well as of
+mind. Similar actions are propagated thus in all kinds of dead substances,
+as well as in the living brain. Matter is sympathetic to sound in the
+phenomena of singing-flames, and a vibrating string responds to a
+particular note in obedience to well-known laws. Iodide of nitrogen may be
+caused to explode by the influence of a particular note from a fiddle. In
+the phenomena of light, with a spectroscope, a luminous gas is sympathetic
+with, and emits and absorbs, only particular kinds of luminous rays. In
+chemical action also, combustion excites combustion, ferment excites
+ferment, infection communicates infection, and the similar chemical change
+is transmitted from molecule to molecule. Mental excitement and disease in
+one person, often excite similar phenomena in another, as is seen in
+"religious revivals," and well-known epidemics, such as the "dancing
+mania," "preaching epidemics," the "leaping ague," the "mewing contagion,"
+etc., etc., (See "Epidemics of the Middle Ages," by Hecker; Sydenham
+Society publications; also Carpenter's Mental Physiology, p. 312.) Like
+excites like in the actions of each of the forces of nature; both in
+physical, chemical, and mental action, the kind of impulse transmitted is
+similar, unless conditions exist which transmute it. Dynamite, {117}
+started into combustion by a flame, burns slowly away; but when started by
+a detonating substance, detonates violently. Guthrie has also discovered
+that if a melted cryohydrate (_e. g._ a chilled saturated aqueous solution
+of a solid salt) is cooled to a certain greater extent, it will not
+solidify--nothing separates out, although the solution is four or five
+degrees below its proper solidifying point. If a little crystal of ice be
+then thrown into it, nothing separates but ice, which comes to the surface.
+If we throw in a little anhydrous salt, nothing but the anhydrous salt
+separates out, and that sinks to the bottom. But if we throw into it a
+crystal of a previous crop of cryohydrate, then nothing but the cryohydrate
+separates. In this case also, like evidently excites like only, in
+obedience to physical laws. (Addresses, Science Conferences; South
+Kensington Museum, 1876; Vol. 2, p. 108). Even two clocks, when hung near
+each other, against a board or surface which readily transmits vibrations,
+have been known to exhibit, by synchronous action, an apparent sympathy,
+which changed their rate of going.
+
+Periodical phenomena, also, brought about by definite causes, occur in
+mental, as well as in physical phenomena. In the former we have the
+phenomena of sleep, and in the latter, definite causes produce summer and
+winter, day and night, the tides, cycles of solar spots, maxima and minima
+of magnetic intensity, etc., etc.
+
+Conversely to the manifestation of the principles of {118} inanimate matter
+by living bodies and in mental action, so have modern inventions
+demonstrated the possibility of the performance by inanimate substances and
+apparatuses, of the functions, not only of our bodily organs, (as of
+locomotion by the steam engine,) but also of our senses and intellect, and
+in some cases, to a degree far surpassing unaided human power. Apparatus,
+sensitive to sound, have been constructed, as in the microphone and
+singing-flames; others capable of reproducing articulate speech, as in the
+phonograph, telephone, etc.; others again sensitive to light, as in the
+production of visible images by photography, and reproducing them at a
+distance through wires by means of the photophone; the power of indicating
+or foretelling future events has also been embodied in instruments called
+"tide predictors," and that of evolving inferences has been shewn in
+Jevon's "Logical machine."
+
+The various facts mentioned in this chapter prove that mind agrees with the
+various forms of physical energy in many essential points, and obeys many
+of the same laws or principles. Examine whatever general phenomena of the
+mind we may, we can always detect some apparent or real connection of them
+with the great principles of inorganic nature; and in order to prove the
+dependence of them upon the great principles of science it is not necessary
+to show that all such actions are subject to those principles. Until the
+whole is explained however, there will always remain mysterious phenomena
+to cavil about. {119}
+
+MORAL PROGRESS.
+
+At the present time few competent persons have largely investigated the
+fundamental relations of morality to Physical Science, consequently moral
+actions are usually considered not to have a scientific basis, and the
+doctrine is still extensively taught that some moral phenomena are
+essentially supernatural.
+
+As new scientific knowledge has increased, belief in witchcraft, sorcery,
+demonology, exorcism, evil influences and omens, unseen spirits, a God of
+evil, supernatural and occult powers, supernatural sources of strange
+diseases, evil presages from comets and eclipses, fetishism, worship of
+images and of the Sun, a belief that the Earth is the chief body in the
+Universe, that man is the "Lord of Creation," &c, &c. have largely passed
+away, and beliefs more consistent with facts and with true inferences drawn
+from them, have taken their place. Belief in the supernatural nature of the
+human will however is still largely retained. A writer on morality,
+says--"In every genuine volition we have a phenomenon not law-determined,
+law-regulated, and law-explained."[15] A popular expositor of religion
+says--"The phenomena of the human soul are essentially different from the
+phenomena with which the student of science is most familiar, and must be
+investigated on other principles and by other methods." "The voluntary
+activity of man lies beyond the limits of science." "Every language man has
+ever spoken--no matter how {120} perfect or how rude--the literature of the
+ancient and the modern world, the indestructible instincts of the human
+soul, the testimony of consciousness, unite to affirm that the human will
+is independent of natural law." "The will is a supernatural power." "I
+myself am not under the dominion of natural law;" "my moral life is
+essentially a supernatural thing." "As soon as you approach the
+intellectual and moral life of man, you enter a region in which you have to
+do with a new order of facts." &c.[16]
+
+Morality, the subject of duty, or of right and wrong-doing in conscious
+creatures, is usually considered to relate only to those actions over which
+a man has or might have had control, and which it was his duty either to
+perform or avoid, and not to those which are entirely beyond his influence,
+it is therefore essentially dependent upon the power of selection or
+choosing. As then all moral actions require voluntary choice between right
+and wrong, and every act of choice is a mental one of comparison of two or
+more things, all moral actions are mental ones. We cannot compare things
+which have not made any mental impression upon us. We know further, and the
+evidence already given proves, that mental actions are intimately dependent
+upon the principles of nature operating within and around us. If then all
+acts of morality (or immorality) are mental ones, and if all mental actions
+are intimately dependent upon the great principles of nature; then all acts
+of morality {121} are dependent upon those principles. Morality also cannot
+be properly understood without a knowledge of various sciences, especially
+biology, because it relates to human creatures, all of whom are morally
+affected by the various forces and substances belonging to the physical and
+chemical sciences.
+
+Having shown that moral actions are mental ones, and adduced evidence to
+prove that mental actions are largely subject to scientific principles;--it
+follows as a necessary consequence, that moral actions also largely obey
+those principles, and I need not repeat that evidence.
+
+The extension of scientific knowledge conduces in a very general way to
+moral progress, by diffusing the "scientific spirit," increasing our love
+of truth, facilitating the attainment of greater certainty and accuracy,
+enabling us to more perfectly avoid error, reducing our ignorance,
+dispelling superstition, inculcating obedience to law, diminishing
+difference of opinion and thereby lessening strife, conducing to humility,
+to greater economy of means, to increased cleanliness, &c, &c. Scientific
+research also, by disclosing to man his true position in nature, enables
+him to act in harmony therewith, and thus increase his morality and general
+happiness.
+
+Knowledge is as free as the air, once diffused it becomes impressed upon
+the brains of men and cannot be easily destroyed or restrained; and the
+greatest moral effects of science are cosmopolitan ones. Inventions based
+upon new scientific truths are gradually {122} breaking down the barriers
+between the various nations of the Earth, and infusing common interests
+amongst all mankind. Nothing is uniting the sympathies of different
+nations, increasing the friendly feelings between them, and diminishing the
+probability of war, more than the increasing facilities of communication
+brought about in a great measure by the developments of science and art;
+more particularly by ocean steam navigation, rapid postal communication and
+the telegraph, (see p. 51). At the present time there are about six
+Atlantic telegraph cables in use, and an almost daily service of passenger
+steam ships across that ocean. The use of inventions based upon scientific
+discovery has aided moral progress in various ways. All inventions are made
+with the object of supplying some real or supposed want, and nearly
+everything which supplies a common want, conduces to contentment and
+happiness and the general progress of mankind. No one can possibly measure
+or estimate the advantage of the inventions of writing and printing, in
+helping men to avoid quarrels, to settle differences of opinion, to
+sympathise with suffering, to give advice: &c. Similar moral functions are
+also performed by the electric telegraph, and a few specimens of some of
+the messages sent through the wire would clearly illustrate this fact.
+Great moral progress has also resulted from cheap daily intelligence,
+collected largely with the aid of the telegraph; and of cheap books
+produced by means of the steam engine. It is estimated that 250 millions
+{123} of copies of newspapers are yearly published in Great Britain. The
+Bible and Religious Tract Societies could hardly have existed had not the
+properties of the ingredients of ink been discovered. The present
+multiplicity of testaments, prayer-books, hymn-books, &c., has also been
+rendered possible by the invention of printing. As darkness is favourable
+to crime, so the invention of gaslight has conduced to morality. The
+numerous sources of intellectual and moral enjoyment, developed by
+inventions based upon scientific discovery, have attracted mankind from
+more sensual and less moral amusements, and the invention of the
+piano-forte has operated largely in a similar manner.
+
+In many respects, the poor man of to-day can command social comforts,
+conveniences, and pleasures, which an emperor could not in former times.
+Who can estimate the amount of beneficial moral influences of an indirect
+kind obtained by means of modern science? The relief from pain by
+chloroform and other new medicines, the diminution of domestic toil by the
+sewing machine; the increased health and pleasure obtained by access to the
+country and seaside by means of railways; the diminution of anxiety
+resulting from more speedy conveyance of letters, and especially of
+messages by telegraphs, the increased pleasure of life resulting from being
+surrounded by objects of beauty multiplied cheaply by means of scientific
+processes, such as photography?
+
+The human mind cannot greatly resist impression, the various effects of
+scientific research necessarily {124} produce an influence upon it. Whilst
+great deep-seated truths make a powerful impression on the minds of
+philosophers, the great practical effects of science in inventions, &c.,
+profoundly impress the mass of mankind. One of the chief influences of the
+discovery of important scientific truths and of their practical application
+in some wonderful way, such as in the telescope and microscope, phosphorus
+matches, photography, electro-plating, the electric light, the
+spectroscope, microphone, telephone, &c., is to produce a profound and
+wide-spread impression of the existence of a great and mysterious
+influence, which produces (or enables us to produce) such striking effects.
+
+Whilst also the novelty of the practical effects of new scientific truths
+in inventions, astonish persons in general; the definiteness of scientific
+phenomena, and the certainty with which they may be reproduced convince all
+competent persons who examine them, that they are rigidly subject to
+definite laws. In this way the antique belief that natural phenomena are
+produced by supernatural agencies, is gradually being abandoned, and the
+more moral conviction of the omnipresence and universality of law has been
+largely established in its stead. Every new scientific fact and invention
+thus becomes a new proof of the universality of law. Belief in the
+supernatural has diminished in proportion as scientific knowledge has
+advanced; instead of natural phenomena being erroneously ascribed to
+demons, spirits, supernatural {125} powers, and occult causes, they have
+been proved to be results of natural powers, acting in accordance with
+known principles. Assertions which have been made, that "the will is a
+supernatural power, independent of natural law" &c., are not supported by
+evidence at all equal in cogency to that in proof of the statement, that
+our mental and moral powers as a whole act in accordance with the great
+principles of science.
+
+That moral phenomena, like those of the physical sciences, are capable of
+being made the subject of experiment, observation, comparison, analysis,
+and inference, is very manifest. Every case of bribery may be viewed as an
+experiment in morality. The very common case where an employer tests the
+honesty of a servant by some contrivance, is also a trial of a similar
+kind. The dependence of the moral powers upon scientific conditions, is
+clearly seen in the influences of intoxicating drinks. A mere natural
+substance could not possibly overcome the influence of a power which exists
+entirely independent of it; _i.e._, a "supernatural" one. Even the greatest
+believer in the "supernatural" power of the human will, deplores the
+serious injury which the abuse of alcoholic liquors produces upon mankind,
+rendering the will powerless, and debasing the moral sentiments. The
+effects of opium, haschisch, &c., are other examples. A vast number of
+experiments remain to be made of the effects of drugs and organic
+compounds, both solid, liquid and gaseous, upon moral actions; {126} which
+will probably prove a still greater degree of dependence of those actions
+upon purely physical and chemical conditions.
+
+The "order of facts" in the subject of morality requires precisely similar
+mental treatment to those to which scientific investigation has been
+already applied with such great success, and which include all phenomena
+admitting of observation, comparison, analysis and inference; and not only
+those in which we are able, but also those in which we are not able to
+produce by means of experiment, the phenomena to be observed, such as those
+of astronomy and geology. Different subjects also are experimental in
+different degrees, physical science is more experimental, physiology is
+more observational; morality is partly experimental, and therefore capable
+of reduction to scientific system by means of our intellectual powers.
+
+In consequence of the essential nature of truth being the same in all
+subjects, and of the fundamental processes of mental action in the
+determination of truth being also alike in all, the essential modes of
+arriving at and detecting moral truth are the same as those employed in
+research in the physical sciences. We possess therefore no special faculty,
+call it "conscience," or what we may, by which we are enabled to infallibly
+arrive at truth in moral questions. What is right and good, and what is
+wrong and evil, are determined by precisely the same general means as what
+is true; our much vaunted consciousness alone does not infallibly tell us;
+reason alone, {127} acting upon the evidence, is the final arbiter in any
+doubtful or disputed case. The truth of moral questions must be examined
+and tested by precisely the same mental faculties and processes as those
+employed in physical science, viz:--by the faculties of perception,
+observation, comparison, and inference, acting upon the whole of the
+evidence; and by the processes of observing facts, comparing them,
+inferring conclusions; by analysing and cross-examining the evidence in
+every possible way, and extracting from it the largest amount of consistent
+knowledge.
+
+Although we cannot detect moral truth by any other than intellectual
+processes, we may however arrive at correct moral conduct in two ways,
+viz:--either blindly or intelligently. We arrive at it blindly or
+automatically by the process of trusting to our inherited and acquire
+tendencies and dogmatic beliefs; and intelligently by the conscious use of
+our knowledge and intellectual powers; and each of these methods has its
+advantages. The former process being an empirical one, is very uncertain
+and cannot be employed for the judicial detection of truth, or the certain
+discrimination of it from error, it has however to be trusted to in all
+cases where we are deficient in knowledge, or have not time for
+investigation. Truthful ideas and correct conduct also, which at first
+require the exercise of considerable intellect and much self-discipline, in
+order to arrive at them, become by habit so completely converted into
+acquired tendencies as to be automatic. It is not improbable {128} that
+many of our truthful ideas and correct tendencies were originally arrived
+at by intellectual processes; and have become incorporated into our mental
+and physical structure by habit, education, and inheritance.
+
+The scientific basis of morality is further shewn and essentially proved by
+the fact that the fundamental rules of morality are dependent upon
+scientific principles. According to Dr. Clarke, the two fundamental "rules
+of righteousness" which regulate our moral conduct are, first, that we
+should do unto another what we would, under like circumstances, have him do
+unto us; and second, that we should constantly endeavour to promote to the
+utmost of our power, the welfare and happiness of all men (to the latter
+might well be added, the welfare of all sentient creatures). The first of
+these rules is essentially dependent upon the scientific principle of
+causation, viz:--that the same cause, acting under the same circumstances,
+always produces the same effect, if what we did for another person under
+like circumstances might produce a different effect to what it would when
+done for ourself, the rule could not be depended upon and would be of no
+use. The second also agrees with the great principles of science, for the
+more we obey those principles, the more do we really "promote the happiness
+and welfare of all men." The first of these rules however in the form
+usually stated, is incomplete, because it does not provide for the
+circumstance, that many persons desire to have done unto themselves, not
+that which {129} is most right, and really most for their welfare and that
+of mankind in general, but that which would most please them. The desire of
+immediate pleasure or consolation is greater than the love of truth in
+nearly all men, and this is connected with another fact, viz:--that persons
+unacquainted with the great principles of science, have not the advantage
+of the moral sustaining power of those principles, and are compelled in
+circumstances of trial to seek extraneous mental relief.
+
+The desire to do right is not the primary source of morality; there must be
+a cause for that desire, and this fact also shews that moral phenomena are
+dependent upon the scientific principle of causation. We can also much
+better understand a subject, especially a complex one like that of morals,
+when we can co ordinate its facts in a scientific manner, by referring them
+to some general principle which governs or includes them. Referring moral
+actions to a verified scientific principle, is more satisfactory than
+referring them to a less definite source such as "conscience"; the
+"testimony of consciousness"; or "the indestructible instincts of the human
+soul," because a principle affords a more consistent explanation than a
+dogmatic idea. The fact also that the discoveries of science usually
+precede the developments of the moral advantages of science to mankind, is
+in harmony with the general truth that effects follow their causes, and
+with the conclusion that moral rules and moral progress have a scientific
+basis. {130}
+
+In a general way, the influence of science upon moral progress is connected
+with what has been termed, "the scientific spirit." This characteristic
+consists mainly of an intense love of truth, a desire to acquire new
+knowledge, to arrive at certainty and accuracy; also an obedience to law in
+general, and a consequent philosophic resignation to inevitable ills.
+Science inculcates these qualities, and it is well known that scientific
+discoverers have usually been highly moral persons, truthful, accurate, law
+abiding, patient, persevering, temperate, &c. On the other hand, the most
+lawless persons are usually those who are most ignorant of the great laws
+which govern their actions, who over-estimate human power and ability, and
+are impelled by ill-regulated enthusiasm or feeling.
+
+Belief in and obedience to law, being a fundamental moral quality, is in
+its turn the source of other moral qualities of less importance; for
+instance, it tends to produce calmness, resignation, contentment, patience,
+submission to the inevitable, &c. No man can be highly moral who disobeys
+the great principles of nature. We may however obey those laws either
+intelligently, by acquiring a scientific knowledge of them; empirically, by
+obeying rules framed in accordance with them; or blindly, by obeying dogmas
+which happen to agree with them. Those who do not understand laws cannot of
+course intelligently obey them, and those who most disobey them, consist
+nearly wholly of those who do not understand them. {131} Superstition,
+ignorance of natural law, and a belief in occult powers, encourages
+lawlessness, injures the moral sentiments, and is often attended by
+bigotry, associated with strife, schism, and sectarian dispute.
+
+Probably the greatest influence which scientific discovery has had upon the
+moral progress of mankind, has been by inculcating an intelligent love of
+truth on account of its own intrinsic goodness; in this respect it stands
+pre-eminent. Love of truth is a fundamental virtue because it is the basis
+of many smaller ones. It is more virtuous, also, to pursue truth on account
+of its own intrinsic and unqualified goodness in all respects, than for any
+narrow extrinsic quality, such as the personal pleasure or utility it may
+afford, or on account of any personal gain or loss, reward or punishment,
+which may result from pursuing or neglecting it. In the present imperfect
+state of civilization however, the great bulk of mankind unavoidably employ
+less noble, as well as the noblest motives, as a means of improvement. Most
+men can only be moved to do right by means of inferior motives, one of the
+most effectual of which in a commercial nation is "small investments, large
+profits, and quick returns;" an expectation of great reward in return for
+small self-sacrifice.
+
+The discovery and dissemination of verified scientific knowledge is a purer
+kind of occupation than the promulgation of any kind of dogma, because the
+statements of verified science are usually capable of demonstration, whilst
+those of doctrine, being often {132} contradictory, may, or may not be
+true; mere affirmation also, when not based upon proof, is often dangerous
+to morality. In dogmatic subjects a man may tell untruths with impunity,
+because no one can disprove or convict him; but in demonstrable ones, a man
+dare not utter falsehoods, because others will prove his statements to be
+erroneous. It is demonstration rather than doctrine that is of divine
+origin. A man also who practises scientific research is largely compelled
+to adopt the most truthful views of nature, in order to enable him to make
+discoveries.
+
+Real science is largely independent of opinion or faith. Whether we believe
+or not that a piece of clean iron immersed in a mixture of oil of vitriol
+and water, evolves hydrogen gas, the fact itself remains unaltered. It is a
+great and glorious circumstance for mankind, that human progress depends
+essentially upon a knowledge of new verified truth. As verified
+experimental knowledge can only come from the great source of all that is
+good, to doubt the value of new demonstrable truth, is practical atheism.
+Those also who systematically investigate sources of verifiable truth, are
+much more likely to ultimately arrive at the fountain of all truth, than
+those who employ unsystematic methods, or prefer unproved beliefs to
+verified knowledge.
+
+Another of the most powerful ways in which scientific discovery has
+promoted moral progress has been an indirect one, viz., by diminishing
+ignorance. Deficiency of knowledge is the parent of a vast {133} amount of
+evil and failure. "There is no instance on record of an active ignorant
+man, who, having good intentions, and supreme power to enforce them, has
+not done far more evil than good." (Buckle, "History of Civilization," vol.
+1, p. 167). Ignorance largely precludes happiness, and intelligence is an
+indispensable condition of the highest morality. There are plenty of
+difficult positions in life in which the desire to do right is not alone
+sufficient, we must intelligently know what is the right course to pursue.
+We are all of us ignorant in different degrees, and must be content in many
+matters to walk by faith until we can walk by sight, and to act according
+to rule and precept until we have discovered general principles to guide
+us:--blind dogmatic morality and "rule of thumb" method is vastly better
+than none, and has rendered great services to mankind. Whether comforting
+doctrines are true or not, the great bulk of mankind prefer them because
+they afford immediate relief; and whether they be erroneous or truthful,
+men will be benefited by them and continue to believe in them, until their
+minds are sufficiently advanced to receive a knowledge of verified
+principles. Rules of morality however, when presented to us with a basis of
+demonstrable truth, come with a degree of divine authority, and possess
+greater claim to our observance, than the same rules presented to us as
+empirical or dogmatic statements only.
+
+In proportion to our ignorance the more we dislike to be apprised of our
+defects and the more inclined are {134} we to continue uninformed; because
+the less intelligent we are the less are we able to perceive the evil
+effects of our blindness or the advantages of knowledge. As also the
+present state of civilization is very imperfect, and unsolved problems
+exist in all directions, ignorance and all its evil consequences are
+extremely prevalent. It causes the great mass of mankind to neglect better
+objects for the sake of money. It indirectly constrains lawyers to neglect
+moral evidence. It induces medical men to withhold truth from ignorant
+patients. It causes ministers of religion to prefer doctrine to
+demonstration. It would therefore be comparatively easy to compose lists of
+our moral deficiencies, and of improvements urgently needed in morality,
+far more extensive than the very incomplete ones of our material
+shortcomings already given (see pp. 68 to 78). To enumerate however the
+imperfections in the moral conduct of mankind, the frauds in trades, the
+undue advantage taken of the defenceless, the deceit and empiricism in
+professions, the professional trading on human weakness, the cruelty of
+field sports, the hollow motives of social, political, and religious life,
+the propagating as infallible truth, doctrines which may be fallacious, is
+not the object of this Chapter; but rather to make clear the fact, that the
+extension of the domain of verified truth by means of scientific research
+is highly conducive to moral progress.
+
+The extension of new scientific knowledge is influencing morality and
+gradually reducing the selfishness {135} of mankind, by proving that there
+exist no royal roads to happiness, and that the greatest amount of
+individual and national success can only be secured by a genuine pursuit of
+truth, as an individual and cosmopolitan duty. Increased knowledge is
+gradually proving to mankind that the purest happiness is to be obtained by
+intelligent and virtuous conduct. By shewing Man the unreasonable character
+of some of his fears and hopes, and substituting for them a greater variety
+and extent of intellectual pleasures, science is slowly making him more
+satisfied with his lot on this Earth. Meanwhile the great mass of mankind
+are still pursuing the ever retreating phantom of an easy way to happiness;
+the great laws of nature however cannot be evaded, the avoidance of evil
+and the attainment of good can only be secured by obeying all the great
+laws which govern our nature.
+
+Progress in morality is largely dependent upon the diffusion of belief in
+the universality of scientific laws. When men understand those laws, know
+that their action is irresistible, and that they have no alternative but to
+obey them or suffer, they acquire a habit of obeying them. Universality of
+law in moral actions is often considered to be incompatible with the
+existence of freedom of the will in selecting ideas, and choosing courses
+of conduct; but we are free or not, according to circumstances, both to
+think and to act. All things are free to be active or not, in accordance
+with their properties and surrounding conditions, but not in {136}
+contradiction to them; and the human will is no exception to this
+statement. The "will" is only free within certain limits; it cannot act in
+opposition to its strongest motives or causes of action. We believe
+ourselves to be much more free than we are, because we often do not know
+the causes which determine us, and we frequently fail to detect those
+influences, because we cannot think, and at the same time clearly observe
+our act of thought and its motives. Freedom of the will does not enable us
+to set aside laws: entire freedom from law in any instance is probably only
+apparent. This limited degree of freedom of the will indicates the
+dependence of volition upon scientific laws, because a supernatural power,
+being entirely independent of natural law, could not be limited by it. To
+affirm without proof that the human will is a "supernatural power" is to
+implicitly deny the universality and constancy of natural laws. New
+knowledge developed by Science, imparts to us liberty, but not license;
+and, so far from diminishing the freedom of the will, increases it by
+showing us what conditions we must fulfil and obey in order to effect our
+objects. We acquire power by being first obedient; and this is in
+accordance with the principles and facts of science; we must obey nature
+before we can make nature obey us; the elementary bodies, also, usually
+acquire the free state, latent power, and the ability to evolve heat and
+electric energy, only by being first subjected in their crude state to a
+process of reduction and purification. {137}
+
+Few circumstances connected with the discovery of new truths of science,
+have had a greater moral effect, than the very high degree of certainty of
+such truths. The moral result of this is a corresponding degree of
+confidence in the statements of science. Trustworthiness is a great moral
+quality. Uncertainty is a continual hindrance to action and enjoyment; and
+many persons are driven to believe in error, and hence to commit sin,
+rather than remain in suspense. Contradictions of doctrine, and the
+consequent uncertainty of belief, in any subject, are fertile sources of
+strife. Science consists, not merely of opinions and words, but also of the
+tangible realities which those opinions and words represent, the forces,
+substances and phenomena of the material Universe. Some persons however
+fancy that the results of science are as uncertain as those of the
+undemonstrable subjects with which they are familiar.
+
+Another way in which science has contributed to moral progress, has been by
+requiring greater accuracy in nearly all human actions, and thereby
+diffusing greater exactitude of language and of conduct, which has spread
+itself throughout all civilised society. Previous to the use of watches and
+clocks, persons were no doubt much less exact in fulfilling their
+appointments; the establishment also in our chief towns, of electric
+time-keepers regulated from Greenwich Observatory, is increasing exactitude
+in our large communities. Since the introduction of railways, millions of
+persons have been compelled to be more {138} exact in their movements, by
+the risk they incur of missing their train. Numerous inventions and
+processes based upon scientific discoveries could not be worked at all
+unless men possessed habits of greater accuracy than formerly. Workmen now
+require higher moral and intellectual education, and their duties require
+more intelligence and involve greater responsibility.
+
+Science diminishes error, and the avoidance of error is a large step
+towards the attainment of truth. There is no tyranny equal to that of false
+ideas. Error often produces immoral acts, and every act of immorality is a
+mental error. "The ignorant justice-loving man, enamoured of the right, is
+blinded by the speciousness of wrong." "Inaccuracy of thought is the cause
+not only of the errors we meet with in the sciences, but also of the
+majority of the offences which are committed in civil life,--of unjust
+quarrels, unfounded law suits, rash counsel, and ill-arranged undertakings.
+There are few of those which have not their origin in some error, and in
+some fault of judgment, so that there is no defect which it more concerns
+us to correct."[17]
+
+Our senses and consciousness are often great deceivers, and unless
+corrected by sufficient knowledge, are frequently as great a source of
+error in moral questions as in mental ones.[18] Their incessant influence
+is a cause of selfishness, and of the fallacious tendency existing in
+nearly every man, to exaggerate the importance of himself and of everything
+relating to him. {139} It has led man to consider himself "the Lord of
+Creation";--to believe that his volitions are not subject to natural laws
+&c.:--and has given rise to the comparatively narrow-minded idea "the study
+of mankind is man." The fact that consciousness frequently misleads men of
+energetic temperament who feel their energy, indicates its connection with
+a physical basis.
+
+Consciousness is also an essential condition of what we term evil. If we
+define evil as that which produces pain or discomfort in sentient
+creatures, then evil is that influence only which unpleasantly affects
+consciousness. And if we admit this, then all evil is relative, and there
+is no absolute evil; because, if there were no sentient creatures, there
+would be no evil. It is manifest also, that if the existence of evil is
+dependent upon that of sentient creatures, and if the existence of such
+creatures depends upon physical conditions, and upon the operations of the
+great principles of science, then the existence of evil must itself depend
+to that extent upon those conditions and principles. What we term Evil, is
+caused, not only by the actions of man, but also on a large scale by the
+operation of the simplest forces of matter, in earth-quakes, storms,
+volcanic outbursts, droughts and famines, pestilences, etc. Evil (as well
+as good) may therefore be viewed as a result, to some extent, of the
+operation of the laws of the Universe; and here again we are compelled to
+recognise a scientific basis of morality. {140}
+
+That the same causes, acting under different conditions, produce different
+and even opposite effects, is a well-known scientific truth. The same heat
+of summer which causes our foods to decay, promotes the growth of plants in
+the soil; the same cold of winter which increases the pain of bronchial
+affections, and cuts short the lives of aged and infirm persons, acts as a
+stimulant and a source of pleasure to the young and healthy. We need not
+therefore be surprised, that the same physical conditions and principles of
+nature, act as causes or conditions both of what we term evil and what we
+term good. If, also the theory of relativity in physical and mental action
+is true, that change of impression is a necessary cause or condition of
+consciousness, and that previous experience of pain increases the
+perception of pleasure, we possess in that theory, as one of the general
+ideas of science, a partial basis of morality. All these remarks tend to
+shew, that in order to obtain a truly scientific view of the nature of man,
+and of man's position and duties in the Universe, we must avoid the errors
+caused by uncorrected consciousness.
+
+Another great moral effect of the continual discovery of new truth in
+science, is the gradual production and diffusion of uniformity of belief,
+first amongst scientific men, and then amongst the mass of mankind. This
+uniformity of belief is a necessary result of the invariability of fact and
+law; it does not extend to scientific opinions, hypotheses or theories,
+because they are not necessarily facts, and may be {141} erroneous. A
+knowledge of science tends to remove differences of opinion between man and
+man, because it enables every honest examiner to obtain essentially similar
+results. Scientific research will gradually disclose what is true and what
+is untrue in doctrine and empirical rules; and what is true will be
+retained. A universal religion or a scientific philosophy which is composed
+of contradictory creeds cannot be wholly true. Science is gradually
+superseding unreasonable beliefs, and inaugurating a true universal gospel
+in which all men will eventually think alike in fundamental matters. The
+continued discovery of new truth must of necessity sooner or later lead
+mankind to the source of all truth and to universal satisfaction and
+happiness. It has been frequently stated that science is antagonistic to
+religion; it is evident however that as science is so conducive to
+morality, it cannot be opposed to true religion, but only to false or
+unfounded beliefs. Nothing shews more plainly a weakness of moral
+confidence and a deficiency of faith in an over-ruling power, than a fear
+that the pursuit of scientific truth will lead to results injurious to
+mankind. What we most need to fear is, not that our most cherished
+doctrinal beliefs may be proved to be mistakes, but that we through
+deficiency of knowledge may be led to do wrong.
+
+There are plenty of questions, especially in matters of theory and doctrine
+in concrete subjects, which science cannot directly and absolutely decide
+either one way or the other, but respecting which, by the {142} aid of new
+knowledge and of inference based upon it, science gradually accumulates so
+large a preponderence of evidence as conclusively settles them to the
+conviction of every unprejudiced and reasonable person. Many of the most
+deeply interesting questions in mental science and morality are of this
+kind; and will probably be settled in this manner. It is well-known also to
+scientific men that the indirect conclusions of the intellect and reasoning
+power are often more certain than the direct evidence of the senses and
+consciousness; we are more certain for instance that the Earth is a sphere
+than that it is a plane, although the former conclusion is arrived at
+largely by inference, whilst the latter is the direct testimony of
+uneducated consciousness. Whilst our senses and consciousness inform us
+that the Earth is a fixed body, inference proves to us that it is rushing
+through space at an immense velocity. Sense and consciousness are not
+intellect, although they are often treated as such. Their functions are to
+perceive and observe, to act as witnesses, to supply evidence to the
+judgment, and not to usurp the reasoning power. Even the universal
+consciousness of all mankind is insufficient to overthrow the final
+decisions of the intellect, or to decide what is true or false, because the
+senses and consciousness cannot compare or infer. As it is the force and
+repitition, and not the truthfulness of mental impressions, which largely
+determines belief, we are capable of believing error as well as truth, and
+we believe much that is erroneous until the {143} corrections of the
+intellect are applied to the evidence of the senses and feelings. The
+correctness or otherwise of our present beliefs will be tested in the
+future as others have been in the past, and the new experiences requisite
+for the purpose will probably be obtained by means of original research. It
+is a great mistake to suppose that the warrantable inferences deduced from
+scientific knowledge will not sooner or later profoundly influence
+questions relating to the highest hopes and aspirations of the human race,
+such as the independent existence and immortality of the human soul; that
+of a personal Ruler of the Universe; freedom of the will; the origin of
+evil; future reward and punishment; &c. By extension of knowledge a
+scientific system of morality will be formed. The great principles which
+govern the phenomena of all bodies are gradually being discovered, and when
+found we deductively apply them to ourselves, and thus arrive at a
+knowledge of our true position in nature, our duties, our proper course of
+conduct, &c. Science also by disclosing to us the true relations of matter
+to mind in the human brain, will probably not only make known to us the
+true limits of our mental powers and of the knowable, but also help to
+solve the problems of the relations of the Universe and of Man to an
+intelligent Creator. It will decide such questions, largely by shewing us
+whether or not the ideas we entertain respecting them are consistent with
+the more extensive knowledge evolved by research. A part of the data from
+which we may {144} safely predict that science will in the future exercise
+so great a moral influence over mankind, is the fact that its chief
+principles are fundamental guides and regulators of human action.
+
+Probably nothing has a greater effect in making a man humble and reverent
+than a thorough knowledge of science. By the inventions of the telescope,
+microscope, spectroscope, telegraph, microphone, telephone, &c., the
+extremely finite extent of all our faculties has been abundantly
+demonstrated. Whilst the wonders of the telescope have developed an
+intelligent sentiment of reverence, by revealing to us a portion of the
+vast amount of the Universe of matter and energy, those of the microscope
+have strengthened that sentiment by affording us an insight into the almost
+endless complexity of minute creatures, substances and actions. Whilst also
+these and other scientific instruments and appliances have proved the
+excessively limited extent of our senses; the inscrutable character and
+immense number and variety of problems of nature yet unsolved, equally
+demonstrate the extreme feebleness of our mental powers. To obtain an
+accurate acquaintance with science also, and especially to discover new
+scientific truths, it is absolutely necessary to set aside human pride, and
+approach the subject like a little child; no other course is possible.
+
+A knowledge of geology and astronomy also makes a man humble and reverent.
+The fact that this globe must have existed myriads of years; and is always
+moving at the immense velocity of more than 62,000 {145} miles an hour in
+its orbit, is sufficient to convince any unprejudiced person of his own
+transient physical existence and his comparative physical feebleness and
+insignificance. Hitherto, man has largely been accustomed, through the
+influence of uncorrected impressions and other causes, to view all nature
+as having been expressly provided for him, but science informs us that
+whilst this Earth is suitable for his abode, and Nature ministers to his
+necessities and pleasures, it is only on condition that he first obeys the
+great laws of matter and energy, and adapts himself to their requirements.
+The operation of those laws often ruthlessly destroys thousands of men by
+pestilence, famine, drought, and other great calamities, and man can do
+nothing which is incompatible with them without suffering a penalty.
+Science shews that man is but one out of at least 320,000 different species
+of animals; it also discloses the fact that the entire human population of
+this globe constitute only about one 50,575,785 millionth part of the
+Earth, and proves to us that the Earth itself is but a speck in the
+Universe, one out of at least 75 millions of worlds; and that not only is
+it merely a planet revolving round the Sun, but that the Sun is only one of
+a multitude of Suns, and is itself, with all its planets, revolving round a
+still more distant centre in space.
+
+There is scarcely a faculty man possesses, which is not immeasurably
+limited in comparison with the powers and capabilities of inanimate nature.
+His physical energy, when compared with that of the {146} momentum of this
+Earth, is so exceedingly small that it can hardly be conveyed to our minds
+by means of figures; even the steam engine, excessively wasteful as it is
+of power, far surpasses him in strength. The duration of his existence is
+to that of the world he inhabits, as nothing to infinity. His power and
+speed of locomotion are also very limited; the globe to which he is fixed
+by gravity, moves in one hour through a distance greater than he could walk
+in twenty years. Practically, by circumstances, he is almost rooted like a
+vegetable to the locality where he exists; comparatively few men have
+walked even a hundred miles from their homes, or have been conveyed round
+this little globe by the aid of all our improved means of transport. A
+balloon can ascend in the air, but a man cannot; without the aid of that
+apparatus he is absolutely fixed to the surface of the Earth, and with the
+assistance of all the appliances of science, he cannot yet ascend even ten
+miles into the atmosphere, nor dive more than a few fathoms into the sea.
+His senses are equally contracted; his perceptions of touch and sound are
+far less delicate than that of the microphone; a photographic surface will
+detect vibrations of light which he cannot at all perceive, and record
+images more quickly than his brain; and for the detection of magnetism and
+the chemical rays of light he possesses no sense whatever:--electrometers
+and galvanometers can detect thousands of times smaller quantities of
+electricity than he can perceive:--whilst a bolometer renders manifest a
+one {147} hundred-thousandth of a Centigrade degree change of temperature,
+he can hardly detect a difference of an entire degree; and whilst carbon
+and platinum may be heated to whiteness without material change, a rise or
+fall of about five Fahrenheit degrees in his temperature endangers his
+life. His mental and intellectual powers are as limited as his senses; he
+can hardly reckon without making an error even a single million, nor can he
+conceive an adequate idea of a billion; a million miles or a millionth of
+an inch are each quite beyond his immediate perception; an extremely minute
+circumstance also is capable of disturbing and entirely diverting his train
+of thought. He cannot create or destroy even a particle of dust, nor form
+out of nothing a single idea. The velocity of transmission of his nervous
+power, and the speed of his execution of will, are also extremely slow in
+comparison with that of an electric current in a copper wire. Every person
+is aware that he can only very slowly receive and understand a new idea.
+His mental advance is as tardy as his locomotion, a sixth part of his life
+is spent in acquiring the merest rudiments of universal knowledge. Whilst
+his reasoning power, when applied to actual and truthfully stated
+experience, is truly "the great guide" of his life, it only renders
+explicit what was already contained in that experience; for when he draws
+an inference, he usually only states in one form of words, what he has
+already implicitly included in the propositions; and if the inference
+contains more than this it is {148} unwarranted. His mental helplessness in
+the absence of knowledge, is equal to his physical incapacity in the
+absence of light. Nearly every problem of nature also is so complex, and
+affected by so many conditions, that his reasoning power only enables him
+to advance a very minute step at a time in the discovery of new knowledge;
+he is then obliged to halt, and have recourse to new experiences obtained
+either by means of experiment and observation, or by the latter alone.
+
+Man's moral actions are largely the effect of circumstances; his thoughts
+and actions are probably the whole of them limited by law. He is never free
+from the influence of causation. His mental and moral freedom are limited
+by the epoch in which he lives, by the customs of his nation, by the
+individuals by whom he is immediately surrounded, by the alcoholic
+stimulants of which he partakes, and by his own physical and mental
+constitution, his degree of intelligence, &c., &c. Whether he is willing or
+not, he is incessantly compelled to receive sensuous and mental
+impressions, and be influenced by an almost infinite number and variety of
+agencies acting upon him both from within and without:--To be mentally and
+physically active, and perform all the bodily functions and acts necessary
+to his existence:--To live on this globe in presence of all its phenomena,
+and be carried through space at an immense velocity:--To undergo through a
+long series of generations a progressive existence and development of
+civilization, &c., &c. {149} He is more subject to the laws of the Universe
+than those laws are subject to him; and he can only exercise his will
+successfully and become their master by first obeying them.
+
+Under the influence of the light and heat of the Sun, the entire population
+of this planet (about fifteen hundred millions) are renewed out of the
+crust of the Earth every few years, by breathing the air, drinking the
+water, feeding upon plants which take their constituents from the Earth,
+water and air; or by eating animals which have lived upon plants; and if
+that heat and light, or that supply of food and air, were to cease, all
+those human beings would die, and all the moral phenomena of man on this
+globe would terminate. Whilst man cannot exist without the support of
+inanimate nature and the operation of its laws, inanimate nature and its
+laws can exist without him. That also which is naturally ordained by
+Creative power to be dependent, cannot be essentially more important than
+that upon which it depends for its existence. The essential importance of
+man in relation to the Universe, exists only in his own imagination.
+
+These facts shew that the principles of science, and the physical and
+chemical properties of substances, lie at the very basis of man's existence
+and activity and it would therefore be incorrect to say that the physical
+system of the Universe is unimportant in comparison with the moral
+phenomena of mankind.
+
+That science conduces to humanity by preventing {150} and alleviating
+animal suffering has been already alluded to (p. 80-81). True humanity
+consists not in the abolition of experiments upon living creatures, but in
+the judicious employment of them. Instead of barbarously treating our
+suffering fellow creatures by indolently and ignorantly allowing causes of
+disease and pain to continually occur and take their course, it urgently
+enforces upon us the duty of extending our knowledge of physiology by means
+of new experiments, observations and study. It would be untruthful to say
+that experiments purposely made upon men and other animals do not yield new
+and valuable information;--Pharmacopoeias and Materia-Medicaes are full of
+descriptions of the properties of curative agents discovered by these and
+other scientific methods.
+
+Amongst the lesser virtues which have been greatly promoted by means of
+scientific research is that of cleanliness. The origin of soap was the
+discovery of the detergent properties of a boiled mixture of fat and
+alkali. The numerous inventions which have cheapened the most important
+soap-producing material, viz., washing soda, and those which have cheapened
+oil of vitriol, the chief substance consumed in making washing-soda, have
+all contributed to the cleanliness of mankind; and it has been stated that
+the degree of civilization of a nation might be ascertained by the amounts
+consumed of those substances.
+
+Even the minor virtue of economy has been greatly promoted by the results
+of scientific research. New {151} scientific truth has through inventions
+taught us how to obtain greater effects with less expenditure of space, of
+time, of materials, and forces. It has enabled us to effect our objects
+quicker and with a diminution of waste. In the sugar manufacture for
+example, by means of the centrifugal machine, the sugar is deprived as
+perfectly of molasses in three minutes, as it was previously in three days,
+and the necessary manufacturing apparatus has been so much reduced in
+magnitude as not to require more than one half the space. The process of
+bleaching linen, which formerly required weeks, has by the discovery of
+chlorine been reduced to hours. Journeys which at one time occupied weeks
+now only require days. Messages are now transmitted in hours which formerly
+required months. Multitudes of instances might be adduced of the diminished
+cost of the comforts and conveniences of life, resulting in consequence of
+discovery of new scientific knowledge. Ultramarine for example, which at
+one time cost from ten to twenty pounds an ounce, has by means of chemical
+research been reduced in price to a few pence per pound; phosphorus, which
+formerly cost several guineas an ounce, now costs only as many pence.
+
+Numerous substances which were formerly thrown away, destroyed, or
+neglected, are now utilized. Coal tar and gas-water, which were at one time
+waste products in the making of gas, and which when thrown away were the
+causes of costly litigation to gas-companies, by polluting streams and
+wells, &c., {152} are now sources of very large income to those companies.
+Those substances yield great quantities of salts of ammonia, the beautiful
+aniline dyes, paraffin, benzene, napthaline, alizarine, and other valuable
+products. Glycerine also, which formerly was a most offensive waste product
+in soap-making, is now purified and used, to an extent of twenty millions
+of pounds annually, for a great number of purposes; as an emollient for the
+skin; as a source of nitro-glycerine and dynamite, used in blasting rocks,
+in warfare, &c. The immense beds of native sulphide of iron also, notably
+those of Tharsis and Rio Tinto in Spain, and of many other places, are now
+utilized, literally in millions of tons, for the production of sulphur,
+copper, oxide of iron, &c. A long list of instances of this class might be
+adduced if it were necessary, some of them of very great importance.[19]
+
+The promotion of morality by enabling us to detect crime, is one of the
+smaller influences of scientific research, and may be referred to as a
+set-off against the bad uses sometimes made of scientific knowledge. The
+telegraph is very commonly employed to assist in tracking and capturing
+criminals. Photography is also largely used in our gaols as a means of
+recognising offenders.
+
+Knowledge of science conduces also to self-discipline and self-mastery, it
+tends to bridle our vicious passions by making known to us the penalties
+which must be paid for their indulgence; it limits our self-will by shewing
+us that we must respect and obey the {153} laws of nature whether we are
+willing or not, no man can improperly manipulate dangerous substances or
+forces with impunity; it moderates our bigotry by exhibiting to us the
+great uncertainty of unproved opinions; it restrains undue credulity in
+men's assertions, by shewing us their frequent fallacy; it gives us
+confidence in the laws of nature, by proving to us their uniformity; it
+withdraws us from self-deception by compelling us to accept the truths of
+nature as they exist ready made for us, whether they harmonise with our
+preconceived ideas or not; men cannot argue with nature, as they can with
+their fellow-men, but must submit to the influence of verified truth. It
+supplies us with principles instead of empirical "rule of thumb" methods as
+guides of morality. Whilst it liberates us from the terror of irrational
+fears, it cautions us against entertaining unreasonable hopes. It
+substitutes for ignorant wonder and awe, an intelligent appreciation of
+created things; and when fully developed it will probably satisfy all the
+reasonable instincts and desires of men.
+
+Whilst law, medicine and divinity, direct man's attention almost
+exclusively to matters concerning himself, and thus tend to limit his
+sphere of perception and knowledge, and unconsciously impress him with the
+idea that all other existences are less important than himself, science not
+only enlightens him respecting all the departments of his own nature, but
+extends his mental vision in all directions by exciting his mind to observe
+and reflect upon all other bodies {154} and actions throughout the
+Universe. Whilst also music, painting, sculpture, poetry and the drama,
+afford excitement and pleasure to his senses, feelings and sentiments, and
+are largely personal; science not only constitutes the basis of those arts,
+but shews the relations of them to Man and to the external Universe, and
+thus more largely cultivates the intellect and corrects and refines the
+senses, feelings and sentiments.
+
+New scientific knowledge affords advantages to all classes of men; to the
+minister of religion, by supplying him with new illustrations of Creative
+power, in the greatness, smallness, and vast variety of nature; to the
+physician, by explaining to him more perfectly the structure and phenomena
+of the human body, and by providing him with new remedies; to the statesman
+and politician, by making known to him the great and increasing relations
+of science to national progress, by its influence upon wages, capital, the
+employment of workmen, the art of war, the means of communication with
+foreign countries, &c.; to the philanthropist, as an endless source of
+employment for poor persons, by the development of new discoveries,
+inventions, and improvements in arts and manufactories; to the military
+man, by affording him new engines and materials for warfare and defence; to
+the inventor, by supplying him with new discoveries upon which to found
+inventions; to the merchant and man of trade, by the influence of new
+products and processes upon the prices of his commodities; to the
+manufacturer, as a means of improving his materials, {155} apparatus, and
+processes; and to the investor of money, by assisting him to judge what new
+technical schemes are likely to succeed.
+
+As the domain of rational enjoyment afforded by means of science gradually
+enlarges, that derivable from less intellectual sources will probably be
+modified; indeed this change is already progressing, and is manifested in
+the alterations occurring in theological views, and in the extensive
+adoption of scientific entertainments by religious bodies. The recognition
+of science by professors of religion is also shewn by the already extensive
+use of railways on Sundays as a means of conveyance to churches and
+chapels; also by the publication by the Society for Promoting Christian
+Knowledge, of Manuals of Electricity, Astronomy, Botany, Chemistry,
+Crystallography, Geology, Physiology, Zoology, Matter and Motion, the
+Spectroscope, &c.
+
+Having shewn some of the chief modes in which new scientific truth is a
+basis of mental and moral progress, it is not necessary to say much
+respecting the evil uses sometimes made of science, because every good
+thing is liable to be abused by ignorant or ill-intentioned persons. The
+abuses of scientific knowledge do not arise from the true spirit of
+research, viz., a desire for new knowledge on account of its intrinsic
+goodness and value to man, but from an absence of that sentiment. The
+Bremerhaven explosion, the assassination of the Czar, the uses of
+photography to forge letters of credit, and of the {156} telegraph in
+swindling operations, the employment of electro-gilding and silvering in
+coining base money, &c., &c., are all attributable to motives other than a
+love of science.
+
+All the facts mentioned in this chapter, and the various points of
+essential similarity between physical, physiological, and mental phenomena,
+justify the conclusion that both moral and other mental actions, like
+physical and chemical ones, are obedient to the great principles of
+science. And from the evidence here adduced and alluded to, it is certain
+that those principles influence human progress, not only in a few
+conspicuous direct ways, but in a multitude of varied, deep-seated, and
+indirect ones.
+
+If the statements made in this Chapter are true, that the innate properties
+of matter really are motive powers of the human organism, and the
+principles of science are regulators of mental and moral action; that Man
+is a feeble epitome of the principles and powers of inorganic matter; that
+the laws of Nature operate in utter disregard of his erroneous beliefs;
+that nearly all man's sins and sufferings are traceable to his ignorance
+and limited powers; that in proportion to his ignorance of science so is he
+unable to foresee the more remote consequences of his thoughts and acts;
+and if new knowledge does correct erroneous beliefs and purify human
+thought and action, it behoves teachers of morality to make themselves
+adequately acquainted with the principles and newest developments of
+science.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+{157}
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+------
+
+NEW TRUTH, AND ITS GENERAL RELATION TO HUMAN PROGRESS.
+
+The great source of the success of applying science to trade, and of the
+beneficent effect of science upon human welfare in general, is simply the
+influence of demonstrable truth. We know that if we have once discovered
+all the principles, laws, and conditions of some scientific phenomenon, or
+of some improved process or result in a manufacture, the reproduction of
+exactly the same conditions will hereafter enable us to invariably produce
+the same result. In this respect science differs from dogma, the truth or
+falsity of which cannot be demonstrated; it also differs from empiricism,
+because when empirically working a process we are ignorant of the
+principles or laws which are operating, whilst with a scientific knowledge
+we understand those laws, and can direct them to our particular purposes.
+In the process of electro-plating for example, we understand the laws of
+the phenomena, and can direct them so as to obtain silver of a hard or soft
+quality, brittle or tough, crystalline silver, &c., according to our wish;
+but if we had only an empirical knowledge of the subject we could not thus
+vary the process. {158}
+
+The highest test of truth is verified prediction; if we calculate
+beforehand that an eclipse of the Sun will occur at a certain hour and
+minute, and that eclipse occurs accurately at the predicted moment, we may
+rest assured that our knowledge upon that point is true and complete. If we
+say that a piece of clean iron, immersed in a solution of blue vitriol,
+will become covered with a layer of metallic copper, and we find upon trial
+that this result invariably occurs when we fulfil those conditions, we may
+be certain that our knowledge of this phenomenon and its conditions is also
+of a definite and certain character. Similarly, when we become able to
+predict with certainty the conditions of the Sun's surface, we shall
+probably also be able to predict severe winters, famines, &c., and
+therefore be prepared to suggest precautions to be taken against them. Even
+now the new truth necessary for this purpose is beginning to be evolved by
+means of scientific research.[20]
+
+Amongst the great axioms and principles of science, possessing great
+certainty, and which enable us to predict, are, _1st._ the general truth
+known as the Principle of Causation, that every effect has a cause; that
+the same cause, acting under the same conditions, always produces the same
+effect; and that causation acts through all time and all space:--_2nd._ the
+great truth, that every phenomenon requires time; and every substance
+occupies space:--_3rd._ the Principles of Conservation and Persistency of
+Matter {159} and Energy; that out of nothing, nothing comes; and out of
+everything, everything proceeds; that all the future states of the Universe
+are implicitly contained in and will be evolved out of the present state of
+the Universe; that we have no experience and possess no verified knowledge
+either of creation or annihilation of Matter or Energy; that we cannot
+absolutely create or destroy even an idea;[21] and that Matter and Energy
+appear to be eternal:--_4th._ the Principle of Convertibility and
+Equivalency of the different forms of Energy, according to which the
+various forces known as mechanical power, heat, light, electricity,
+magnetism, chemical action, &c., being modes of motion, are convertible
+into each other in equivalent quantities and without addition or loss.
+These and other great principles constitute the basis of physical and
+chemical science, by obeying which, we have been enabled to evolve all the
+wonderful practical realities of science of the present day.[22] To these
+great principles may be added the more concrete truth called the "Law of
+Progress," the essential idea of which is time, a time-rate; which
+regulates the speed of increase of civilization, and is evidently connected
+with the great truth that every phenomenon occupies time.
+
+The Principle of Gravitation, demonstrated by Newton, explains a vast
+number of facts relating to the motions of the Heavenly bodies:--the {160}
+Undulatory Theory of Light, largely developed by the labours of Fresnel,
+renders equally clear and systematic an almost endless number and variety
+of optical phenomena; Oersted's law of Electro-magnetism similarly explains
+and renders consistent a multitude of facts respecting the movements of
+magnets and electric conductors, which would otherwise be confusing to
+remember and impossible to satisfactorily explain. And the great mental
+value of these comprehensive ideas to mankind, consists largely in
+relieving the memory and diminishing mental confusion, by co-ordinating a
+large number of different facts and apparently inconsistent phenomena by
+means of a general conception which embraces the whole of them. Thus a
+knowledge of the Principle of Gravitation informs us that both the ascent
+of a balloon in the air, and the descent of a stone in water, are alike due
+to the same force of gravity; and that of Chemical Affinity proves to us
+that the apparently unlike phenomena of slow rusting of iron and vivid
+combustion of phosphorus are essentially alike and due to the same cause.
+
+All bodies, whether living or dead, and all forms of energy, appear to be
+absolutely subject to the great laws of Causation, Progress, Conservation,
+&c., no one can escape them; the man who transgresses the Law of Progress
+by being too much in advance of his epoch, is punished as certainly as he
+who lags behind it; all must advance together, and at approximately the
+prescribed rates. {161}
+
+The real source of all that is good in new scientific knowledge arises from
+its verified and verifiable character, its high degree of certainty, and
+its capacity of withstanding all the tests which can be applied to it. By
+the term "scientific knowledge" in this case I mean that only that which
+has been verified, and I purposely exclude all matters of hypothesis, mere
+opinion or belief. Scientific research is the chief basis of national
+progress, not only because it is continually disclosing new truths to us,
+but also because the truths it reveals are frequently of the most definite
+kind.
+
+As the term "verified truth" may appear vague, the questions may well be
+asked, what is truth? And how may we best detect it? And especially what is
+new truth? and how may it best be recognised? Truth may be conveniently
+defined as universal consistency; or that which perfectly conforms to
+facts, and agrees with the widest experience, when tested by means of all
+our intellectual powers, the reasoning faculty in particular. The usual
+modern criterion of it, is consistency with the fundamental axioms of
+logic, and with all the great principles of nature as established by means
+of scientific research, such as the universality of causation, the
+continuity of phenomena, the indestructibility of matter and energy, the
+convertibility and equivalency of forces, &c. All truth whatever is one in
+character by possessing the inseparable attribute of complete consistency.
+The truthfulness of scientific knowledge is proved by its agreement with
+universal experience and with the {162} fundamental logical axioms:--a
+thing either is or is not:--a thing cannot both be and not be:--a thing
+must either be or not be:--things equal to the same are equal to each
+other; &c. It is chiefly by means of knowledge of these axioms and of the
+above principles of science, and of their varied and numerous modes of
+operation and application, that the man of science "explains" the
+multitudinous phenomena of nature, predicts future events, and is enabled
+to discover new truths and develope new inventions in the arts. Unlike
+other persons; when he sees a new effect, or hears of a new phenomenon, he
+at once refers it to these principles, in order to test its correctness or
+to explain it.
+
+With regard to the detection of truth, that is often a difficult and
+complex process. There exists no royal or easy method; usually it can only
+be recognised by means of laborious and critical examination of the whole
+of the evidence obtainable in the case; and even then we are often obliged
+to be satisfied with only an approximation, or it may be with even a mere
+probability. Frequently also the truthfulness or otherwise of a statement
+cannot be decided in any degree in consequence of the absence of suitable
+or sufficient evidence, and for that we may have to wait for ages. We are
+now waiting for evidence necessary to decide many questions respecting the
+human mind.
+
+With regard to the question, what is new truth?; that also is a difficult
+one to solve. The forms in which different truths appear are so various,
+and those {163} also in which even the same truth may shew itself are so
+diverse, that it is often impossible to discriminate new truth from old
+ideas clothed in a new form of words. The newness of an idea is entirely a
+question of evidence, and to determine it, usually requires a complete
+knowledge of all the circumstances affecting the particular case.
+
+New truth appears to be usually derived from new physical or mental
+experiences of phenomena external to our perceiving faculty; either by
+observing matter or its forces under new conditions or from a new aspect;
+and the knowledge comes to us either through the avenues of our feelings
+and senses, or by means of direct observations, by comparison of such
+impressions, or by inferences drawn from them. From the results of such
+mental operations, additional new truths are evolved by the more complex
+process of analysis, combination and permutation of ideas. New truths are
+also evolved from old ones by each of these latter methods; but sooner or
+later the implicit contents of our stock of old knowledge becomes exhausted
+when used for such a purpose, and we are then obliged to seek new
+experience.
+
+As new truths may be acquired in the more direct manner, by acquisition of
+new experience; and less directly, by mental operations upon old ideas,
+other subjects of less fundamental and more concrete nature than the simple
+sciences, such as sociology, &c., are also sources of progress, when
+treated in these ways. {164}
+
+Of all subjects, the simple sciences of physics and chemistry, are at the
+present time, apparently making the most rapid advance, and the chief
+reasons for this probably are, _1st._ they treat of facts and principles
+which can be verified, and _2nd._ because the more complex sciences,
+together with the arts and manufactures based upon them, can only improve
+in proportion as they are developed. All the essentially human subjects,
+such as sociology, politics, morality, religious worship, &c., are in this
+position, and are probably results partly of the operation of the great
+principles of nature acting through the body and mind of man.
+
+The chief method of discovering new truth is that of observation,
+experiment, and study, and further mental treatment of the results. The
+most systematic methods also of evolving new truths are those employed by
+scientific men in making discoveries, and when any person arrives at a new
+idea, he usually (either consciously or unconsciously) employs them.
+
+The acquisition of new knowledge must of necessity precede its diffusion.
+Immediately a new truth, especially an important one, is discovered, its
+influence begins to permeate the existing mass of knowledge in various
+directions, causing us to view many of our old ideas in a new aspect;
+giving rise also by comparison and inference, and by processes of
+combination, permutation and analysis of ideas, to a multitude of other new
+truths, usually less important ones, which themselves also affect previous
+knowledge in similar ways, {165} and by analogous treatment give rise to
+additional new conceptions.
+
+But although we evolve truthful new conceptions from previous ones by these
+purely mental methods, there is a limit to the number capable of being
+evolved from a limited stock of ideas, because the number of combinations
+and permutations of such a stock, though usually large, are themselves
+limited. The number however is large in proportion to the degree of
+essential importance of the ideas, and is greatest when we employ those of
+the fundamental principles of nature, already referred to; for instance a
+greater number of new ideas have been evolved by means of appropriate
+mental processes from the law of gravitation and from that of
+electro-magnetism than from any minor truth in science. Persons therefore
+who are the least familiar with great demonstrable principles are usually
+the least able to conceive new truthful ideas of intrinsic importance, or
+to draw new verifiable inferences of much theoretical value.
+
+Every inventor and student knows that he continually requires new materials
+of thought, and if he does not obtain them, an obstacle, like a wall of
+adamant, rises before his mind in all directions, and prevents his forming
+new ideas. That also which is true of each individual is true of the
+collection of individuals, mankind; if new truths are not obtained, the
+thoughts of men flow in circles, and mental progress ceases. The mental
+characteristics of sequestered communities in remote isolated districts,
+are examples of this {166} fact. The influence of printing, railways,
+telegraphs, postal communication and other scientific developments, in
+aiding mental progress, afford other illustrations. A multitude of facts of
+this kind, and many others, leads us to the conclusion that each new idea
+requires a cause to produce it, and that human knowledge is subject to the
+great law of causation; also that the creation of an idea out of nothing
+would be a miracle, a phenomenon without a cause. Our present knowledge was
+not created by us, but was originated by previous knowledge and experience,
+including of course inherited impressions. Even in what is termed the
+"noblest effort of the mind," an act of reasoning or inference, we do not
+create an idea, but only render explicit in a new form of words, ideas
+already implicitly contained in the words of the propositions employed, as
+may easily be rendered manifest by mechanical means in Jevons's "Logical
+Machine;" a proper inference never contains more than its data. In the
+so-called "creation" of ideas by the imagination also, the new ideas are
+evolved from old ones, and rendered explicit by mental processes of
+analysis, combination, permutation, &c. Our scientific inventions also,
+being mental conceptions, an unlimited number of them cannot be made by
+means of a limited stock of old knowledge. It was in consequence of this
+limit, viz., the impossibility of actually creating ideas out of nothing,
+that human knowledge was not more advanced by metaphysical speculations
+until science with its experiments and {167} observations came to its
+assistance. These various facts prove the statement made in the Preface of
+this book, that present knowledge only enables mankind to maintain its
+present state.
+
+Not only the mental, but also the physical advance of mankind is
+essentially dependent upon the discovery of new truths. Men's physical
+actions are determined not alone by their inherited and acquired tendencies
+and the influence of external nature upon them, but also by their ideas; as
+a man thinks, so also to a large extent does he act. Nations who do not
+adopt new ideas do not either mentally or physically advance, but change
+only so far as their immediate surroundings change; the Chinese are a
+remarkable example of this; even the tendencies which men inherit, were
+largely produced in their ancestors by the influence of ideas. The great
+fact of the essential dependence of human progress upon new knowledge, is a
+truth, the importance of which to man cannot be over-estimated, and is one
+which statesmen, ministers of religion, and philanthropists should
+seriously study.
+
+Much of the apparent advance of this nation however is not real. The great
+bulk of our newly published knowledge, even that which is scientific, and
+considered by the public to be new, consists, not of new truths, but of old
+ones dressed in new forms of expression:--
+
+ "The tale repeated o'er and o'er,
+  With change of place and change of name.
+  Disguised, transformed, and yet the same
+  We've heard a hundred times before."--_Longfellow._
+
+{168}
+
+It falls to the lot of but comparatively few men to discover or evolve
+important new truths. The great majority of learned men also, have through
+all historic time been occupied, and are still, not in evolving new ideas,
+but in re-expressing old ones in different forms of words; the literary
+spirit, is in civilised nations, almost universal. In ordinary writings it
+is a rare circumstance to meet with an important and really new idea; it is
+usually in books written by men who are acquainted or imbued with the great
+principles and truths of science, that the newest demonstrable ideas are
+most frequently found. The difference between evolving new ideas, and
+re-expressing and permutating old ones; largely characterises the
+dissimilarity of the scientific and the literary and theological minds. All
+however are necessary to the welfare of mankind, the former to advance and
+the other to maintain the condition of man. If all were not necessary they
+would probably not exist.
+
+There are two great artificial divisions of scientific knowledge also, upon
+the development of which national progress largely depends, viz., knowledge
+of inanimate matter and knowledge of man; the latter we have largely
+cultivated but the former we have greatly neglected:--and even our study of
+man has been largely one-sided and literary. It is far less important to
+know what is man, than to know what are the great principles which underlie
+the actions of all living creatures, and in obedience to which man is
+compelled to work out his destiny in the Universe and the infinite future.
+{169}
+
+It is evident from this, that much of the mental activity around us is not
+progress, but rather a process of maintaining present state, a prevention
+of decline, a continually going round and round in conventional varied
+step, a kind of intellectual mill. Under these circumstances it is not the
+original discoverer, but he who in this occupation, can best express old
+ideas, in the most varied forms and choicest language, who is most
+generally considered to be the greatest intellectual chief.
+
+Although originality even in literature and art is very imperfectly
+encouraged in this country, both art and literature are much more readily
+understood and appreciated than scientific research, and treated as if they
+were more important. Whilst most persons can understand and appreciate the
+gift of a work of art to a public art collection, few can understand or
+properly value the discovery and gift of a new scientific truth of far
+greater intrinsic value to the public stock of knowledge; the treatment
+received by Priestley and other discoverers in comparison with that of
+local donors, sufficiently illustrates this. Even publishers of lucrative
+newspapers prefer to give prizes and pay liberally for sensational tales,
+than to pay for articles on the public advantages of new scientific
+knowledge.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+{170}
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+------
+
+THE PROMOTION OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH.
+
+Nearly the whole of the most distinguished mathematicians, physicists,
+chemists, biologists, and physiologists of Great Britain, also the Earl of
+Derby, the Marquis of Salisbury, Sir Stafford Northcote and many other
+eminent men, have given evidence before the Royal Commissioners on
+"Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science"[23] to the
+following effect:--_1st._ That the promotion of original scientific
+research is neglected in this country. _2nd._ That such research is
+encouraged more by the State in Germany than here. And _3rd_. That much
+greater encouragement of it by our Government, by the Universities and the
+Public, is highly necessary to our commercial prosperity. They have also
+stated in evidence their opinions as to the best ways in which they
+consider it may be assisted. The additional fact that all the greatest
+scientific men who have ever existed have pursued research, and sacrificed
+much for it, is a practical proof that they also approved of its
+encouragement.
+
+That research should be promoted is further the opinion of many men learned
+in politics, literature, art, and science. The views expressed in numerous
+letters on the subject, received by me from Members {171} of the Privy
+Council, and of both Houses of Parliament, and from other eminent persons,
+confirm this. It has also been adopted as a chief part of the programme of
+the "Association for the Organization of Academical Study."[24]
+
+"M. de Candolle, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Science, Paris, is
+a strong advocate for the encouragement of a class of sinecurists like the
+non-working Fellows of our Colleges, who should have leisure to investigate
+and not be pestered by the petty mechanical work of continued teaching and
+examining." "The modern ideas of democracy are adverse to places to which
+definite work is not attached, and from which definite results do not flow.
+This principle is a wise one for the mass of mankind; but is utterly
+misplaced when applied to those who have the zeal for investigation, and
+who work best when left quite alone."
+
+The correctness of the principle of promoting research is also recognised
+by our Governments in their yearly grants of money to the Royal Society,
+and to the Royal Irish Academy[25] to aid research, also by the Council of
+the Chemical Society, which has established a fund for the same purpose;
+and by the British Association in their annual grants for the promotion of
+scientific enquiry. The Fishmonger's Company also presented to Mr. W. R.
+Parker, F.R.S., the sum of L50, followed by an annual gift of L20 for {172}
+the three years, to assist him in bearing the expenses of his researches on
+the skulls of vertebrate animals. And the British Pharmaceutical Conference
+voted the sum of L80 from the Bell and Hills fund, during the period of
+three years, in aid of research in connection with pharmaceutical science.
+A small fund for the purpose of research exists also at the Royal
+Institution. Fellowships also with a similar object have been founded at
+the Victoria University. Dr. Priestley also was aided in his researches by
+contributions from a small circle of friends. In recognition of the same
+principle, nearly all of the most eminent scientific men on the Continent
+have been assisted by their respective Governments. The total amount of aid
+to research in this country is however very small, and to one acquainted
+with the great commercial and other any valuable results of such labour, it
+is simply astounding that we have not systematically organized a powerful
+means of promoting discovery.
+
+A few scientific persons however still continue to oppose aid to research;
+quite recently, scientific investigators have been spoken of as a class of
+"men amusing themselves without any result whatever."[26] That idea however
+abundantly refuted in the foregoing pages. It has also been remarked[27]
+that "practically, endowment of research comes to the creation of positions
+where there is payment without corresponding labour." "In England above all
+countries in the world, there will always be plenty of {173} amateurs ready
+and willing to assist in research, and it is notorious that in England,
+almost without exception, all the great advances in science have been made
+by such amateurs. Therefore I do not think it at all desirable that the
+British tax-payer should be required to put his hand in his pocket to
+provide salaries for gentlemen who might be working rightly or wrongly. He
+could not control them, and while there are such a body of amateurs in the
+country, I think the researches may be very well left to them."
+
+The first of these statements is not correct; the endowment of research
+does not amount to "payment without corresponding labour." Scientific
+discoverers have always been distinguished as a body of men intensely
+devoted to their labours, and willing to perform much work for small
+payment. Most of the great advances in science also in England, have been
+made not by "amateurs," but by men of great experience, such as Newton,
+Herschel, Priestley, Davy, Faraday, Graham, and many others. Endowment of
+research is not desired for wealthy amateurs, but for investigators of
+proved ability and small pecuniary means and who require assistance. Such
+men, although not infallible, are the least likely to "work wrongly," and
+much less likely to do so than amateurs. Many scientific investigators also
+of repute, object to give their services wholly to a wealthy nation,
+because they cannot afford to do so, and because it is only just that the
+nation should make them some pecuniary return for their skill and labour.
+The great evils {174} in this country requiring new knowledge to remedy
+them[28] also prove that there are not "plenty of amateurs ready and
+willing to assist in research here," or that "the researches may be very
+well left to them."
+
+Whilst some investigators have had abundant means to carry on research, and
+have excelled in that occupation, many of the most eminent have been
+persons of limited circumstances; and their insufficient pecuniary means
+has often restricted their degree of success. The argument also that
+insufficiency of means stimulates research, is only employed by persons who
+are not making investigations under such a condition.
+
+The President of the Royal Society, Dr. Spottiswoode, in his recent
+address[29] also remarked:--"The question has been raised whether it be
+wise, even in the interests of science, to encourage any one not yet of
+independent income, to interrupt the main business of his life. It is too
+often assumed that a profession or a business may be worked at half speed,
+or may be laid down and taken up again, whenever we like. But this is not
+so, and a profession temporarily, or even partially laid aside, may prove
+irrecoverable, and the temptation to diverge from the dull and laborious
+path of business may prove to have been a snare." Each of these remarks
+appears to be made upon the assumption that it is still a doubtful question
+whether persons qualified for research should be encouraged or not to
+abandon occupations they reluctantly follow, and for which they are less
+fitted, in order to become scientific {175} discoverers. As it is a fact
+that the welfare of this country is suffering through deficiency of
+encouragement of research, it is certainly desirable to encourage, by every
+proper means, qualified persons to occupy themselves in such labour. Some
+of the greatest discoveries have been made by men "not yet of independent
+income," for instance, those made by Scheele, Priestley, Dalton, Faraday,
+W. Herschel, and many others.
+
+The late Astronomer Royal, also,[30] who has made many researches, and was
+a scientific official paid by the State, says:--"I think that successful
+researches have in nearly every instance originated with private persons,
+or with persons whose positions were so nearly private that the
+investigators acted under private influence, without incurring the danger
+attending connection with the State. Certainly I do not consider a
+Government is justified in endeavouring to force, at public expense,
+investigations of undefined character, and, at best, of doubtful utility;
+and I think it probable that any such attempt will lead to consequences
+disreputable to science. The very utmost, in my opinion, to which the State
+should be expected to contribute, is exhibited in the large grants
+intrusted to the Royal Society. The world, I think, is not unanimous in
+believing that they have been useful." He then enumerates what he considers
+"the proper foundations of claims upon the State," which he illustrates,
+and substantially includes in and {176} limits by, the kinds of scientific
+research done under his direction at the Royal Observatory. He further
+adds--"The Royal Observatory was founded expressly for a definite
+utilitarian purpose (the promotion of navigation) necessarily connected
+with the highest science. And this utilitarian purpose has been steadily
+kept in view for two centuries, and is now followed with greater vigour
+than ever before. To its original plan have also been added--but still in
+the utilitarian sense--the publication of time, the broader observation of
+terrestrial magnetism, and local meteorology." His views therefore appear
+to be, that State aid to research should be limited to utilitarian objects;
+and that it is with propriety given to his own department, which is
+connected with the State. It has however been abundantly proved that nearly
+all the great scientific utilities of every-day life, had their origin in
+the pursuit, not of utilities, but of pure truth, and that immediate
+usefulness is neither the most successful nor the highest motive in
+scientific research, nor should research be limited by so narrow a
+condition. The investigations also made by the aid of Government Grants
+possess the usual degree of definiteness and of utility of such labours,
+and it cannot be reasonably expected that the world would be unanimous
+respecting any measure, especially respecting a subject so little
+understood by the public as the Endowment of Research.
+
+If investigators were to limit their researches to utilities, or what
+appeared to be such, scarcely any {177} essentially new experiments or new
+discoveries of importance would be made. No attempts would be made to
+discover essentially novel facts, nor would many trials be made to test
+fundamental abstract questions which affect the very basis of scientific
+knowledge. The principles of electro-magnetism, of magneto-electric action,
+and of the magnetic rotation of polarized light, were each discovered by
+means of perfectly novel experiments, in which immediate utility was not
+the motive.
+
+It is worthy of notice that of the very small proportion of scientific
+investigators who disapprove of State aid to Research, nearly every one
+already possesses sufficient pecuniary means to carry on investigations,
+and therefore cannot adequately appreciate the position and necessities of
+investigators having only small incomes. In some cases also the objections
+to aid investigators come from scientific men who have attempted to make
+discoveries but have not succeeded.
+
+Dr. Robinson of Armagh, a well-known investigator, has very properly
+pointed out[31] what has been done in this country towards giving
+assistance to those engaged in the pursuit of science, and mentions the
+Observatories maintained by the Universities and by the Nation. He says
+also that if anything more were to be done in increasing the amount of
+grants of money to assist scientific work, he thinks "it might be best
+applied in establishing in the great commercial {178} centres of the realm,
+physical and chemical laboratories such as that which the Duke of
+Devonshire has established at Cambridge, provided with the most refined
+apparatus, and accessible to all who are considered privileged by a
+competent tribunal." He also says "when there is found a man so far
+surpassing his fellows in any department of science that he may be expected
+to do work beyond their power, he ought to be made independent of any other
+pursuit, so that none of his time and energy may be lost, such a case is
+exceptional, and when it occurs it should be exceptionally provided for."
+
+Original research will for a long time to come, be opposed by a large
+section of the non-scientific public:--by the numerous persons whose source
+of income depends upon the ignorance of their fellow-men:--by those who are
+deficient of faith in demonstrable truth, and fear that their most
+cherished beliefs are endangered by it:--and by many of those who are
+insufficiently acquainted with it to perceive its great value to mankind.
+
+With regard to the fears of many objectors that the Endowment of Research
+would lead to jobbery and abuses, and thus retard the progress of discovery
+instead of promoting it; it is evident that such a risk is an inseparable
+concomitant of every remunerated office and is not peculiar to that of
+research, and must therefore be accepted as unavoidable and be provided
+against in the usual ways. It does not however appear probable that the
+risk in this respect is at all greater {179} than that already existing and
+provided against in many other appointments.
+
+Many persons, not clearly perceiving the difference between pure research
+and other scientific occupations, suppose that because science is
+encouraged in various ways in this country; and because sums of money are
+occasionally given to scientific institutions, and some scientific men are
+evidently receiving good incomes, that discoverers are remunerated, but
+this is a great mistake; there is probably not a scientific man in the
+kingdom who is wholly employed in such work in abstract physics or
+chemistry, and paid for his entire skill, time, and labour. Wherever
+payment is made for scientific labour, it is nearly always for that
+performed with a view to some immediate practical application. Inventors
+and expositors are remunerated, but discoverers are not.
+
+At the present time in this country scientific men are paid for teaching,
+lecturing, writing popular scientific articles, compiling scientific books,
+editing scientific journals, making chemical analyses and experiments for
+manufacturers, companies, and others, for practical purposes, or to obtain
+evidence for legal cases, giving evidence on scientific subjects in courts
+of law, with consultations and advice to manufacturers and others,
+superintending scientific commercial undertakings, &c. Some also
+unfortunately obtain an income and cheap publicity by the empirical
+contrivance of selling to tradesmen, their scientific opinions in the form
+of testimonials which are extensively {180} advertised at the cost of the
+purchasers. But not one of these occupations constitutes pure research, or
+is an immediate source of new discoveries. Payment is made for all kinds of
+scientific labour which will immediately benefit individuals or
+corporations, but very little for pure investigation, and nearly every
+inducement exists to attract men of science from pursuing such labour.
+
+It might be supposed that investigators would patent or sell their
+discoveries; but discoveries in pure science cannot usually be patented or
+sold, because they have not been converted by invention into commercial
+commodities. New scientific truth is utterly unsaleable; no one will
+purchase it. Whilst the real or intrinsic value of it is great, its
+extrinsic value is small and is the sum of money it will sell for in the
+market. No one would have purchased Oersted's great discovery of
+electro-magnetism. It would also be less to public advantage if
+investigators were to neglect discovering new knowledge in order to apply
+that knowledge to practical uses. It requires a different training of
+mental power to discover new truths, than to utilize them by means of
+invention, teaching or lecturing; and men who can invent and instruct are
+far more numerous than those who are able to discover. Discoveries are also
+generally much more valuable than inventions, because a single discovery
+(that of gutta percha for example) not unfrequently forms the basis of many
+inventions. Discoverers not unfrequently meet with new facts {181} which
+they perceive might be applied to valuable technical uses, but they
+hesitate to patent them because the process of invention, taking out a
+patent, seeking a manufacturer to work it, and protecting their patent from
+piracy, would occupy a large portion of their time, and take them away from
+research. Sir D. Brewster got no money by patenting his kaleidoscope
+because the patent was instantly pirated in all directions.
+
+Some persons have suggested that scientific men should keep their
+discoveries secret, but this would usually be a greater disadvantage to the
+investigator even than publishing them, and no one would then derive any
+benefit; discoveries also, being often capable of numerous applications,
+and not being in a saleable shape, cannot usually be monopolised by any
+one. New scientific knowledge is like a powerful light, it cannot be
+hidden. Discoveries are eminently national knowledge, and research should
+therefore be national employment.
+
+Other persons suppose that investigators should be satisfied with the fame
+of their discoveries, and not require any payment; but this is a most
+unfair supposition, because no man can live without means, and every useful
+person deserves to be paid for his labour. Ought the late Duke of
+Wellington to have been satisfied with the fame alone of his exploits,
+without being paid any salary? Ought a Bishop to be content with the renown
+of his eloquence, without receiving any payment for his services? Genius
+alone is {182} appropriately rewarded by fame, but time, unusual skill,
+labour and expenditure, should be repaid by money.
+
+It has been suggested that an investigator, if he is a man of practical
+ability, is very often put into an office, the duties of which he can
+efficiently discharge, and yet have leisure for original research, as in
+the case of the late Dr. Graham, the eminent Master of the Mint,[32] our
+Astronomers Royal, &c., and thus obtain his reward. But this is a very
+imperfect plan, because research is very difficult, and to be carried out
+effectually, requires the whole of a man's time and attention; the
+investigator would also be taken from more important work to do that which
+is of less value to the nation, and which might be performed by a more
+suitable person; appointments also of the kind referred to are much too few
+in number. Such a plan as this, of relegating important national work to
+odd hours spared from official duties, is a makeshift, and quite unworthy
+of this nation. Entire occupation in research, combined with efficient
+publication of the results, is the only satisfactory plan of procedure.
+
+Probably one of the most satisfactory ways of rewarding scientific
+discoverers and serving national interests at the same time, would be to
+create salaried professorships of original research, and appoint
+discoverers of repute to fill them.
+
+The time is near at hand when this nation will be compelled by the
+injurious consequences arising from its neglect of scientific research, to
+acquire a {183} knowledge of the relations of science to national existence
+and welfare, and to adopt some means of encouraging discovery. The greatest
+difficulty, probably, which has to be overcome, is not so much how to
+obtain funds for the purpose, as how to employ them successfully, and
+especially how to prevent their getting into the hands of unsuitable
+persons. But, as methods have been found of remunerating all other classes
+of persons, ways may be devised of remunerating scientific investigators.
+It is only because the case is novel that it seems difficult; it is
+probably no more intrinsically difficult to establish a professorship of
+research than to found an ecclesiastical benefice.
+
+The great difficulty of determining from what source discoverers should be
+paid for their labours, arises from the fact that all classes of the
+community share in the benefit. It is evident they should in some measure
+be paid from a source towards which all classes either directly or
+indirectly contribute, and therefore from some public fund. The persons who
+first use scientific knowledge are the compilers of scientific books, and
+teachers of science; but these only disseminate the knowledge, and do not
+derive from it any great pecuniary advantage, they are only the agents for
+supplying the knowledge to others. The persons who first convert such
+knowledge into valuable commercial commodities are inventors and
+manufacturers who have received scientific education or advice; but those
+who derive the greatest pecuniary benefit from it, and who should therefore
+either {184} directly or indirectly pay in the largest degree for it, are
+the great manufacturers, capitalists, and landowners. Whilst the question
+is being settled as to what class of persons shall primarily bear the
+expense of research, discoverers themselves are suffering great injustice,
+and our manufactures and commerce are passing into the hands of foreign
+nations. What the amount of loss and disadvantage suffered by this nation,
+through want of encouragement of scientific enquiry is, cannot be
+estimated, but it is certainly enormous. Had even a very moderate amount of
+payment been made for such labour, and the expenses out of pocket paid in
+full, the amount of research performed would have been greatly increased.
+
+Under present circumstances, many promising young men, fitted to become
+good investigators, have been driven out of science altogether. I have
+found by long experience and persistent enquiry, that there are many young
+men distributed over this country, who are very desirous of engaging in
+scientific research, and likely to make good investigators, but are
+entirely prevented by the non-remunerative character of the labour, every
+one wishes to know "what will it lead to"? Even amongst our most able
+discoverers, scarcely one who has not possessed private means has continued
+research beyond the middle age of life, because such labour enables no
+provision to be made for old age; and all those who have left have devoted
+themselves to less important but more lucrative occupations. Most of these
+gentlemen have been {185} obliged to abandon research at a period of life
+when their faculties were in the most perfect state for continuing it.
+
+Where one young beginner in science meets with the fortunate circumstance
+of a helping hand, as Scheele did in Bergmann, and Faraday in Davy, many
+are crushed out. The want of encouragement to scientific discovery in this
+country is so very great that extremely few men are able to struggle
+through it, and this is one reason why we have had so few discoveries. Some
+persons have argued that the very difficulties and discouragements offered
+are an advantage to science by producing only men of the very highest
+eminence in discovery; but it is manifest that however great the amount of
+ability may be that is developed by discouragement, that amount would
+probably be still greater by judicious assistance. Moreover, progress in
+the developement of the national scientific intellect is not so much to be
+reckoned by the few great successes which have occurred in spite of all
+obstacles, but rather by the much more numerous ones which would have
+resulted from proper encouragement. The advocates of such an argument can
+have no idea of the heart-sickening feeling of long deferred hope
+experienced by the young beginner in science; or the disgust gradually
+engendered in his mind at the injustice of other men taking all the profits
+of his labours and leaving him without means of support; or they would
+never adduce it. In this country the success of the few {186} eminent men
+of science has resulted from the accidental combination of a few more or
+less fortuitous circumstances, and their own great natural determination,
+and not from legitimate and just support. How many investigators we have
+lost from the above causes it is impossible to tell. The encouragement also
+of unusual ability should not be left to accident.
+
+As scientific research has proved itself to be of such great value to this
+nation, the question naturally arises, how can it best be promoted? A
+number of plans have been proposed. Amongst these may be mentioned. _1st._
+By founding State Laboratories, in which discoverers of established repute,
+supplied with every aid and appliance, should be wholly engaged in research
+in their respective subjects, and be paid by the State. _2nd._ By founding
+colleges or Professorships of original research in each of the
+Universities, and appointing professors similarly. _3rd._ By founding
+provincial colleges or Professorships of research, the funds being raised
+locally by means of subscriptions, donations, and endowments, with or
+without State assistance. _4th._ By State or Local aid, in the form of
+additional salary, to Professors in colleges, to enable them to pursue
+research. _5th._ By an extension of the present Government grants
+distributed by the Royal Society. _6th._ By making it a condition at each
+of our Universities that every student entering for a degree in science,
+should previously make an original research. _7th._ By the formation by
+learned societies, of Endowment of {187} Research Funds, and making grants
+of money therefrom to recognised investigators. _8th._ By aid to local
+scientific investigators by Municipal bodies out of the rates. And _9th._
+The support of Institutes of Scientific Research by private munificence.
+Aid to research, in Germany, has been chiefly been made by the State, by
+affording means to the Professors in the Universities; in America, more by
+munificence of wealthy individuals; and in this country, chiefly in the
+form of Government grants of money to investigators. The greatest
+difficulty to be surmounted in carrying out any of these schemes, is the
+very general ignorance in this country of the value and necessity of
+research; and this can only be overcome by scientific men themselves
+performing their duty of enlightening the public on the subject.
+
+_1st._ _By founding State Laboratories._ One of the first duties of a
+Government is to protect its subjects in the enjoyment of their property;
+but as no law reserves to discoverers the fruits of their ability, it is
+clearly a duty of the State to protect them in other ways. It is believed
+to be a duty of the State to provide and pay for pure scientific research,
+for the following reasons:--because research is eminently national work;
+because the results of such labour are indispensable to national welfare
+and progress, and are of immense value to the nation, and especially to the
+Government; because nearly the whole pecuniary benefit of it goes to the
+nation, and scarcely any to the discoverer; because research is not
+sufficiently {188} provided for by means of voluntary effort, nor can its
+benefits be restricted to a locality; and because there appears to be
+scarcely any other way (except by application of University revenues) in
+which discoverers can be satisfactorily recompenced for their labour. Also
+"Government should for its own sake honour the men who do honour and
+service to the country." (Faraday.)
+
+The founding of State laboratories for original research was proposed and
+advocated by the late Lieutenant-Colonel Strange, F.R.S., in communications
+read before the British Association, and in evidence given before the Royal
+Commissioners.[33] As the erection and maintenance of State laboratories
+would require a large sum of money, and as all classes of the community
+would share in the benefit, it is reasonable to suggest that the money
+should come from some source towards which all classes of the community,
+either directly or indirectly contribute, and therefore from some national
+fund.
+
+In national improvements, expense is quite a secondary consideration; the
+funds however for providing State laboratories already exist; the sum of
+nearly L600,000 has accumulated in the form of fees received by Government
+for the granting of patents for inventions; and as the discoveries made by
+scientific men form the materials by means of which those inventions were
+made, the money thus accumulated may be justly claimed by scientific
+discoverers as a suitable {189} source from which their labours should be
+remunerated by the State.
+
+Strong arguments might be adduced both against and in favour of the
+application of this money for the purpose. Inventors are a great
+wealth-producing class of the community; they are at present very highly
+taxed, and receive but little advantage in return; to tax them without
+giving them equivalent advantages, strikes very near to the root of
+commercial prosperity, by diminishing improvements in arts and
+manufactures. If an inventor is poor and his patent is valuable, he is also
+frequently harassed out of it by litigation. Inventors are usually poor,
+and but little able to pay taxes on patents at all; their pecuniary
+position in this country is not greatly better than that of discoverers;
+they are largely at the mercy of manufacturers and capitalists; and the
+injustice to which they are sometimes subjected is notorious and
+disgraceful. On the other hand, the fund already exists; inventors also
+receive an equivalent from investigators, discovery is the indispensable
+basis of nearly all invention; patented inventions are formed by means of
+the knowledge obtained by pure scientific research. The poverty of a man
+does not justify his taking the fruits of the labours of another man
+without paying for them. If also the patent fees were thus applied, the
+cost of research would then be paid for by all classes of the community,
+somewhat in proportion to the benefit derived, because the cost of patents
+in general ultimately falls upon the public at {190} large, in the shape of
+an increased price put upon the commodity, in order to pay the cost of the
+patent, like the grower of wheat is paid by the consumers of bread, through
+the medium of the baker, the miller, and corn merchant.
+
+Whilst the benefits derived from the labours of discoverers, flows chiefly
+in the form of money into the hands of wealthy manufacturers, and finally
+gets locked up in the possession of capitalists and landowners, it is
+hardly to be expected that the Government will be in possession of funds
+necessary to promote research unless some such plan as this is adopted.
+Should the wealthy and governing classes however become sufficiently
+acquainted with the value of research, and of the essential and permanent
+dependence of their material prosperity upon it, there will then be some
+hope that they will be willing to contribute in a more direct manner their
+just share towards paying the expenses. There is, however, but little
+prospect of this whilst the influence of wealth so depresses the scientific
+education of those classes at the Universities.
+
+The fundamental object in founding State laboratories should be to keep a
+staff of the most competent men wholly engaged in original research in pure
+science, and a secondary object might be to train assistants to become
+investigators. Such laboratories would doubtless be located in London, and
+be on a scale of magnitude creditable to science and the nation. They might
+very suitably include {191} departments for the simpler pure sciences and
+even for biology.
+
+It is manifest that the arguments which support the proposition for
+professorships of original research in those sciences apply in a greater or
+less degree to other sciences; and it has been stated that "there is no
+ground upon which the scheme can be limited to the subject of natural
+philosophy." In reference to this remark, (which, like most objections,
+contains some truth), it must be remembered that there is a natural order
+of dependence of the sciences upon each other, in which order also they are
+being evolved. It is a general truth that the physical sciences of light
+and heat are based upon mechanical conditions of the particles of matter;
+that the science of chemistry is founded upon physics; that biological
+phenomena are dependent upon physical and chemical conditions; that
+psychological subjects are based upon biology; and that biological science
+cannot progress excepting in proportion to the advance of the sciences on
+which it is based. In addition to this general order of precedence of
+evolution in point of time, the various sciences are so mutually related
+that all must advance together, the simple ones taking the lead, and the
+concrete and more complex sciences, with their attendant arts, following
+behind.
+
+As this natural order of dependence and development of the sciences is a
+great fact of nature, over which we have little or no control, and as a
+scheme for the simultaneous establishment of professorships of research in
+all the sciences, simple, complex, and {192} concrete, would probably be
+too great an undertaking, the most proper course would be to commence with
+the simpler ones, such as those of mathematics, mechanics, physics, and
+chemistry, and perhaps biology. If it be argued that it would be
+unadvisable to commence with the simple and purely experimental sciences,
+it would be still more unadvisable to commence with the concrete subjects
+of "natural history, medicine, civil history, law, and theology," or with
+the arts which also depend upon science.
+
+The number of investigators in such an institution would not be large,
+because few of high repute could be obtained, many of our ablest ones
+abandon research for remunerative pursuits. In order to make the plan
+succeed, the conditions of the appointments should be such as to limit the
+election to the most competent persons. In the selection of such gentlemen,
+the verdict of opinion of scientific men generally, upon the published
+researches of the candidates, would have previously determined who were
+qualified for the office. Any man who had published reliable papers in the
+Transactions of the Royal Society, might very properly be considered a fit
+candidate, and the selection and appointment might be made by the
+Government, with the advice of the Council of the Royal Society.
+
+Probably there exists no class of persons upon whom the country might more
+rely for industry in office than eminent investigators, because they have
+pursued truth for its good effects alone. Men who had {193} previously
+exercised the degree of self-sacrifice necessary to make a number of long
+and difficult experimental researches, with only very limited pecuniary
+means, must necessarily be possessed of great enthusiasm in their calling,
+and would therefore be extremely unlikely persons to become idle by being
+supplied with a sufficiency only of means to carry on their labours.
+Further, such men might at present obtain a much larger income than they
+would receive in such a post, by abandoning research and devoting
+themselves to the various profitable engagements which are open to every
+man of scientific ability who is willing to devote himself to applied
+science. The actual work of research is much too arduous and difficult to
+permit such an office to become an object of desire to a place-seeking or
+idle person. But in order to exclude with certainty those who might devote
+themselves to research solely or primarily for the purpose of subsequently
+obtaining a well paid appointment, (as persons sometimes devote themselves
+to learning, with the object of getting an "idle Fellowship,") and to
+ensure in all cases a reasonable continuance of industry, it would be
+necessary, that whilst the salaries paid should be sufficient to render the
+professors free from care, if expended with a reasonable degree of economy,
+they should not be so large as to conduce to idleness. The professors
+should undertake not to engage in any other remunerative employment, and
+provision should be made, that in case a professor persistently failed to
+make, complete, or publish his {194} researches, or devoted less than the
+stipulated amount of time to such labour in the Institution, without
+reasonable cause, he should be removed.
+
+Many persons fancy that "it must be very nice to be always making
+experiments," and that they "should be delighted with such an occupation"
+if they "could only spare the time." But such an idea is only another
+illustration of the general ignorance of the subject, and it is only
+expressed by those who have never made a laborious and difficult research.
+Pure research is by far the most difficult of all scientific occupations,
+and this is another chief reason why discoverers are few, and why they will
+probably remain so.
+
+To succeed in research, a man must set aside all human pride, and approach
+the subject with perfect humility; and this is not an easy task, men cannot
+so readily abandon preconceived and cherished notions. Many researches are
+moreover extremely dangerous. Thilorier was killed by the explosion of a
+vessel of liquefied carbonic anhydride; Dulong lost an eye and finger, and
+Sir Humphrey Davy was wounded by an explosion of chloride of nitrogen.
+Faraday was near being blinded by an experiment with oxygen. Nickles of
+Nancy, and Louyet of Brussels, lost their lives, and two other chemists
+were seriously injured in health by exposure to the excessively dangerous
+fumes of hydrofluoric acid. Bunsen lost the sight of an eye and was nearly
+poisoned by an explosion whilst analysing cyanide of cacodyl.[34] Hennel
+was killed by an {195} explosion of fulminate of silver, and Chapman by one
+of nitrate of methyl; and nearly every chemical investigator could tell of
+some narrow escape of life in his own experience. Any one who wishes to
+know whether it is "very nice to be always making experiments" should
+attempt the isolation of fluorine, the chemical examination of some
+offensive substance, or the determination of some difficult physical, or
+chemical problem.
+
+That a professorship of original research would "involve substantial work"
+does not admit of doubt, and therefore "there would be some security that
+it would be worthily bestowed." It would not become an "ornamental
+sinecure," in which "there is pay but no work," unless, by assigning to it
+too large a stipend, inducement was held out to that numerous class of
+persons whose love of money is stronger than their love of truth, to seek
+the office; to say the utmost, it could hardly become so largely a sinecure
+as many offices now held by ecclesiastics. Jobbery and abuse of patronage
+would be still further prevented by making the duties sufficiently heavy.
+
+The appointment, and remuneration by salary, of professor of research,
+would not lessen the independence of scientific men if the office was not
+placed under the superintendence of active and interfering officials
+ignorant of science. Although the professors might not be highly paid, the
+appointment would increase their independence because it would be one of
+the most honourable to which scientific men could {196} attain, and because
+they would thereby be put into a sphere in which they could exercise their
+talents to the fullest extent, and render the greatest service and honour
+to the nation. If also the salaries offered were not too great, those
+persons only would become candidates who at present have insufficient means
+to defray the considerable cost of experiments.
+
+It would be necessary to appoint only persons who would undertake to devote
+their time solely to the discovery of new facts and principles in science,
+and the determination of purely scientific questions, and not to the making
+of inventions; because discovery is of far greater national value than
+invention; and because inventions would immediately on their publication be
+seized, modified, and patented by individuals for their own personal
+benefit. Discoveries, on the other hand, would require a large additional
+amount of labour expended upon them by inventors before they could be
+converted into saleable commodities.
+
+Each professor should be allowed perfect freedom to choose his own special
+subjects of research in the sciences he had been accustomed to study,
+because each investigator is usually the best judge of what researches are
+the most likely to yield him important results. No discoverer of repute
+would be very likely to trespass on another man's sphere of research,
+because he would usually have an abundance of good subjects of his own; and
+every honourable man would purposely avoid doing so; and we find this
+practically to be the case at the present time. Separate sets of {197}
+rooms would be necessary for each investigator in order to keep the
+researches private and distinct.
+
+The whole of the new knowledge obtained by research should be treated as
+national property, and all of it worthy of publication should be made known
+without the least reserve, it would also be desirable to publish the
+results at reasonable intervals of time. The publication might take place,
+as at present, in the journals of the learned Societies, or in the leading
+scientific magazines, and the value of the work would be largely guaranteed
+by such a mode of publication. The professors should also engage not to
+sell, patent, or prematurely disclose any of the knowledge obtained. By
+electing to such offices only discoverers of repute, the nation might
+reasonably depend for the results upon the known ability and industry of
+the men. That the results obtained would, many of them, be highly valuable,
+does not admit of doubt, because long experience has uniformly proved it;
+but no discoverer can tell beforehand what results he will obtain,
+otherwise research would hardly be needed.
+
+An objection has been made that no one can tell how long it will be after a
+discovery is made before the nation will derive the chief benefit. The
+length of time which elapses between the publication of discoveries and
+their practical fruits is very variable. Usually benefit commences at once
+and gradually widens; directly discoveries are published they begin to be
+used by compilers of scientific books, and by teachers and lecturers in
+science, and are thus diffused {198} amongst the public in general, and
+begin to produce beneficial effects. Inventors, manufacturers, medical men,
+and others, also begin to apply them to their respective purposes. In some
+cases striking applications are immediately made of them, and public
+attention is thus directed to the useful result; but in many cases the
+beneficial effects are small, numerous, and indirect, and it is difficult
+to trace and describe them. The objection also is deficient in force,
+because expenditure in any other occupation, and receipt of the profit upon
+it, are rarely simultaneous. Many of the wisest reforms in this country
+have been a long time in producing their results. We must therefore be
+content, as in all ordinary cases of investment, with the conviction that
+the expenditure will be profitable, and we must wait patiently for the
+certain harvest. In research, as in many other human enterprises, a man who
+will not move until he is absolutely certain that what he intends to do
+will at at once succeed, must sit still and perish.
+
+Suggestions have also been made to appoint a Government Committee, or
+Council, whose function should be to value scientific discoveries, and make
+corresponding amounts of reward to the discoverers. But this appears to be
+a less feasible plan, because no man can, at the period of discovery,
+determine what amount of practical result a discovery will ultimately
+produce. Who could have foretold with certainty at the date of Oersted's
+discovery of electro-magnetism, that this discovery would result in {199}
+the expenditure of hundreds of millions of pounds upon telegraphs
+alone?[35]
+
+Objections have been made to definite payment for labour in research, on
+the ground of indefiniteness of the results, and the impossibility of
+measuring their value. Can we expect to buy new scientific knowledge at so
+much a pound, or to retail discovery by the pint? The work of discoverers
+is as definite as that of many other persons who are paid. Who can measure
+the value of the cure of souls, of the duties of a judge, or of those of a
+field-marshal? Instead of paying for the labour of research in a definite
+way, we have adopted unsatisfactory makeshifts. Exceptional gifts, and
+semi-charitable pensions, have been with difficulty obtained in a few cases
+for scientific men; most often for those who applied scientific knowledge
+to practical uses than for those who discovered that knowledge. In this
+country, neither lawyers, medical men, military persons, nor clergymen are
+paid definitely by results, but by time and labour, in accordance with the
+reputation of the man, and there is no sufficient reason why investigators
+should not be similarly remunerated. The differences in the cases are only
+ones of degree.
+
+The time has arrived when this great evil should be made known and
+remedied, and men of science should press upon our Government, as a matter
+of justice to themselves, and necessary for the nation's welfare, that the
+accumulated fees from patents should be applied to the establishment of a
+Scientific {200} department of the State, the erection of State
+laboratories, and the payment of discoverers for the national work of
+research.
+
+_2nd._ _Professorships of Research at the Universities._ Most of the
+remarks already made respecting the appointment and maintenance of
+professors of research in State laboratories, would apply equally to those
+proposed in connection with the Universities. Amongst the reasons which may
+be adduced in favour of the establishment of such professorships the
+following may be selected. Because the advancement of learning is
+peculiarly the function of a University, and one of the chief objects for
+which such institutions were founded. The word University implies a seat of
+universal knowledge, and it is reasonable to assume that Universities
+should act as fountains of new theoretical knowledge, as well as perform
+the function of diffusing it; such an addition would also raise their
+intellectual position, and make them much more respected, both at home and
+abroad.
+
+With regard to such professorships, the "Association for the Organization
+of Academical Study," consisting of a number of learned men belonging to
+the Universities, the Royal Society, and other learned bodies, adopted the
+following resolutions:--
+
+"That the chief end to be kept in view in any redistribution of the
+revenues of Oxford and Cambridge is the adequate maintenance of Mature
+Study and Scientific Research, as well for their own sake as with the view
+of bringing the higher education within the {201} reach of all who are
+desirous of profiting by it." "That to have a class of men whose lives are
+devoted to research is a national object." "That it is desirable, in the
+interest of national progress and education, that Professorships and
+special institutions shall be founded in the Universities for the promotion
+of Scientific Research." "That the present mode of awarding Fellowships as
+prizes, has been unsuccessful as a means of promoting Mature Study and
+Original Research, and that it is therefore desirable that it should be
+discontinued."
+
+With regard to the funds necessary:--It has been estimated that the money
+paid in the form of sinecure fellowships or retiring pensions, to young men
+in Oxford alone now amounts to about L80,000 or L90,000 a year; and it has
+been suggested that this money be applied to the purpose. These funds were
+originally intended for promoting knowledge, but vested interests prevent
+their being used for discovering new truths.
+
+The chief object of such professorships would be the same as that in the
+proposed State laboratories, viz.--to keep a staff of the most competent
+men wholly engaged upon research in pure science. The professors of
+physical and chemical research might be selected in accordance with the
+suggestions already made, and be appointed by the Senate or other governing
+body, with the advice of the Council of the Royal Society. All the
+precautions which have been already suggested under the head of "State
+laboratories," would {202} have to be taken in order to exclude unsuitable
+persons, and to secure industry in the professors. The remarks also,
+already made respecting the limitation of the duties of the professors to
+research in pure science, the exclusion of invention, the publication of
+results, the class of sciences with which a commencement might best be
+made, etc., apply equally in this case. I do not however mean by these
+remarks to suggest the disendowment of research in the more complex or
+concrete subjects, in order to make a commencement with the simpler
+sciences.
+
+The existence within the Universities of offices in which the faculties of
+scientific men might be developed to their fullest extent, would induce
+those engaged in the work of scientific instruction in those institutions
+to devote more time to research, in order that they might improve their
+scientific talents, and in their turn become fitted to occupy such posts.
+
+It has been suggested that discoverers should teach as well as investigate;
+but this would be an imperfect plan, and would largely convert the position
+of a professor into that of one at an ordinary college. Every person who
+has had much experience in experimental investigation also knows, that to
+carry it out effectually, requires the whole of his time and attention. If,
+therefore, teaching or lecturing constitutes a part of the duties, a
+portion of the professor's time must be taken from the more important
+occupation of research, and the fundamental object of the institution will
+be frustrated. Research evolves new knowledge; {203} teaching simply
+distributes it. The labours of a scientific teacher or lecturer consist
+essentially of a continued series of repetitions of other men's
+discoveries. For each single man who can discover, there exist many who can
+teach. With teaching in addition to research, all the usual educational
+machinery, lecture theatres and apparatus, diagrams, audiences, pupils,
+registration of students, receipt of fees, examinations, marking of papers,
+valuing of answers, attending annual meetings, etc., would be brought into
+requisition, and the result would probably be, as it is at present, the
+duties of teaching would, in nearly all cases, swallow up the time, and
+prevent the freedom from interruption necessary for successful research
+Under present circumstances, it is the testimony of nearly every teacher
+and lecturer in science, that he "has no time for research." If teaching is
+also carried on, the Research laboratories will compete with educational
+institutions, established and carried on by private enterprize, and place
+them at a disadvantage, and thus discourage voluntary effort in the
+diffusion of science; but by limiting the functions of the professors
+entirely to pure research, there will be no competition with any private
+interests, because no persons gain a livelihood entirely by means of such
+occupation.
+
+That the practice of teaching is however of very great use in preparing the
+mind of a scientific man for research is quite certain, because it compels
+him to study all parts of his subject, and whilst doing so, many questions
+for investigation occur to his mind. {204} Many of our most eminent
+discoverers have also been teachers. But teaching is not a necessary
+condition of success in research, nor even a necessary preparation for it;
+the examples of various able discoverers prove this. In some cases
+discoverers have devoted themselves to teaching, only after having attained
+high repute in research; in others they have not been teachers at all.
+Original research itself usually suggests plenty of new subjects of
+investigation, without the additional ones suggested by teaching.
+
+In order that self improvement in a man of science might never stagnate,
+there should exist a continuous and complete series of steps of preferment,
+by which the merest beginners in scientific knowledge, might be enabled to
+attain to the highest scientific position; and finally become wholly
+occupied in that kind of labour by which their scientific faculties would
+be developed to their fullest extent, but this last step is wanting. By the
+proposed plan however a student would become a teacher; the teacher
+develope into a professor; and a professor might employ for a period a
+portion of his time in research, and thus become qualified for entire
+devotion to original investigation and discovery.
+
+After a scientific teacher has acquired a thorough knowledge of his
+subjects, and a high position in his profession, his occupation becomes to
+him a species of intellectual routine, in which he is continually going
+through the same courses of lectures and examinations over and over again,
+and his personal improvement stagnates. But if there was remuneration for
+research, {205} or there existed some post or employment, to which those
+who had acquired the ability to investigate might be appointed, there would
+be an inducement to continued intellectual improvement, and a sphere in
+which the most valuable faculties of scientific men might be developed for
+national benefit to their fullest extent.
+
+_3rd._ _Provincial Colleges of Research._--The success of this plan would
+depend essentially upon the diffusion of a knowledge of the importance of
+scientific research amongst the richer classes. There are at present a very
+few wealthy persons in this country who perceive to some extent the value
+of such research, and the dependence of their wealth upon it, who would be
+willing to contribute to a fund for the purpose; and there are many more
+who would assist if the importance of the subject was properly explained to
+them. The chief argument in favour of provincial colleges of research is,
+that it is a duty of wealthy persons to aid research, because they have
+derived, and are continually deriving great benefits from it, for which
+they make no payment. The ways in which some of those benefits have been
+derived have been already briefly stated. As the large manufacturers and
+capitalists are generally the persons who derive great pecuniary benefit
+from the progress of science, it might be reasonably urged that they should
+contribute freely towards its advancement.
+
+Such an institution might be located in each of the {206} largest centres
+of industry. The objects of the institution; the branches of science to be
+investigated in it; the number of professors, the mode of selecting them,
+and of excluding unsuitable candidates for the office; the means by which
+industry might be secured and jobbery prevented; the exclusion of
+invention, and of teaching and lecturing; the publication of results,
+removal of professors, etc., have already been treated of under the head of
+"State laboratories." The chief difficulties to be overcome in this, as in
+all other plans of aiding research, are to find a sufficient number of
+influential persons acquainted with the subject to practically carry out
+the plan; to secure investigators of high ability; and to prevent the
+offices being filled by incompetent persons.
+
+_4th._ _Aid to Professors of Science in Colleges._--Another way by which
+research might be promoted, would be by giving assistance in the form of a
+definite amount of additional salary, for the purpose of pure research, to
+professors and teachers in colleges and institutions; the money being
+supplied by the State or from the funds of the Institution. In carrying out
+this plan, it would be necessary to assist only those persons who had
+already published a good research, and thus proved their ability; and who
+would engage to devote a definite portion of their time to the labour as a
+part of their duty. The selection of suitable men might be made with the
+advice of the Council of the Royal Society. {207} The additional salary
+should be entirely in the form of remuneration for labour, time, and
+materials, etc., expended upon research in pure science, and not in
+effecting inventions. The knowledge obtained should be treated as public
+property, and be published in the usual manner, and the investigator should
+not be permitted to sell or patent it. It would be necessary to provide
+that in case the investigator failed to make or publish a reasonable amount
+of good research, the additional salary should cease. Publication in the
+journals of the Royal Society, or in a leading scientific magazine, might
+be considered a sufficient proof of the satisfactory quality of the labour.
+
+It is very desirable that all the higher teachers and professors of science
+in our educational institution should devote a portion of their time to
+original research. It would make their lectures more reliable, because
+research yields experience in the detection of error; whilst there is
+usually only one way of succeeding in making an experiment, there are
+always many ways of failing, and in the directions given in books, the
+latter are usually omitted. It would also induce the students to take a
+greater interest in the subject, and feel more respect for the teacher. The
+special excellence of the German system of teaching consists in the union
+of teaching and original research. This plan of aiding research would
+induce some of our teachers of science who have not yet made researches, to
+attempt such labour, it would also develope a superior class of scientific
+teachers generally; and produce a supply of candidates for professorships
+of research. {208}
+
+A great obstacle to the carrying out of this plan lies in the fact that in
+consequence of the ignorance of the value of original research by the
+founders of such Institutions, no definite provision usually exists in the
+Trust deeds to authorise the Trustees to devote any of the funds to such a
+purpose.
+
+_5th._ _Extension of the Government Grant System._--During a number of
+years the British Government has entrusted to the Royal Society the annual
+sum of L1,000 for the purpose of aiding science; and that sum has been
+given in varying portions to different investigators who have applied for
+grants in aid of their expenses in making investigations.
+
+Although the total amount to be disbursed annually was not large, very few
+persons, qualified to make good researches, usually applied for its
+assistance, and it was difficult to dispose of the whole. The chief causes
+of this difficulty were:--a grant from the fund was an unprofitable gift to
+accept, because it was only sufficient to partly pay the expenses out of
+pocket for chemicals and apparatus, and allowed nothing for the skill,
+time, or labour, nor for payments made to assistants. Further, "By order of
+the Council, all instruments, apparatus, and drawings, made or obtained by
+aid of the Government Grants, shall, after serving the purpose for which
+they were procured, and in the absence of any specific understanding to the
+contrary, be delivered into the custody of the Royal Society."
+
+By far the greater part of the expense of an investigation in physics or
+chemistry is the exceedingly large {209} amount of time it occupies. Many
+necessary preliminary experiments have to be made, which yield either
+negative, unsuccessful, or incomplete results, and make the undertaking
+expensive. A good investigation in chemistry also not unfrequently costs
+the investigator a sovereign a day if he is wholly employed upon it. In
+some cases, for each L100 received as a grant, at least a L1,000, was
+directly and indirectly expended. Any person therefore who undertook a
+research became a loser, and aid from the Government Grant fund did not
+entirely cover his loss. Only scientific men who had other sources of
+income were able to avail themselves of the grants. The existence of the
+grants also was not widely known. The advantages of the plan were, it
+diminished the loss to the investigator, and the fact of being allotted a
+sum from the fund was considered highly creditable to the recipient.
+
+In consequence largely of the evidence collected from eminent men of
+science from all parts of Great Britain, and the recommendations based upon
+it, by the Royal Commission for the Advancement of Science, the Grant
+system has been extended; our Government recently placed an additional
+amount of L4,000 a year, for five years, to be distributed in sums at the
+recommendation of the Royal Society to suitable applicants, and the five
+years have now elapsed.
+
+This extension of the Grant system has been an {210} improvement. It has
+resulted both in a large increase in the number of applicants and of
+researches; and has shown that there exists in this country a large amount
+of scientific ability in need of encouragement. The amounts granted were
+increased in magnitude so as to cover in some cases payments made to
+assistants and the entire outlay made for experiments, also a small payment
+for a portion of the time occupied in actual research. The plan of awarding
+the grants has been for work proposed by the applicants to be done, and not
+for that already performed. How far a retrospective method might be worthy
+of trial, is difficult to decide. It has been objected to it that the
+claims of scientific investigators for researches already made, would be so
+great and so convincing that it would be impossible to resist them, and the
+funds required to satisfy those claims would be so large as to render the
+plan quite impracticable; if however the retrospective period was limited
+to a short time, a year for example, the difficulty would be lessened.
+There would still however remain the great difficulty of valuing the
+results. This might probably be overcome by regulating the money payment
+according to the time, labour, pecuniary expenditure, and scientific status
+of the particular investigator, and leaving genius to be rewarded by the
+fame and honour of the results.
+
+No system of aid however can place scientific investigation in a
+satisfactory position in this country, which does not include certain
+remuneration for time, {211} money and labour expended; and no sound
+argument can be adduced why investigators should not be adequately
+recompenced. The genius alone of a discoverer should be rewarded by fame,
+and his time, labour, and expenditure, in accordance with his professional
+reputation, be repaid by money, as in all other intellectual occupations.
+The same amount of time and labour expended in any ordinary profession,
+requiring an equal, or even less amount of preparatory education and
+experience, and less rare ability, would yield an income of several
+thousand pounds a year. Although the lives of a few eminent discoverers
+have proved that it has been possible for them to do a considerable amount
+of research under the conditions which have existed, that is no reason why
+they should not be remunerated. Previous success in research has been due
+to the unusually great perseverance, industry, and self-denial of the men,
+and but little to any pecuniary encouragement received. The fewness of such
+men, supports this view of the case. The plan of aiding research by grants
+which include no certain payment for time or labour, is quite
+incommensurate with the importance of the subject and entirely unworthy of
+the reputation of a great nation.
+
+_6th._ _Students pursuing Research at the Universities._ In the German
+Universities each student is required to make an original research before
+he can obtain a degree in Science, and the plan has worked successfully;
+also in the Victoria University, Manchester, {212} several Fellowships have
+recently been established for the encouragement of students in original
+investigation.
+
+If this plan could be carried out in our old Universities it would produce
+most valuable results, because the governing, wealthy, and influential
+classes of this nation are chiefly educated at those institutions, and they
+would then acquire habits of more accurate scientific thought, and some
+knowledge of the nature and importance of scientific research, and of the
+essential dependence of national welfare upon it.
+
+But a great and probably insuperable obstacle exists to the carrying out of
+such a plan, viz., the wealth possessed by the parents of students. An
+original research cannot be made without considerable industry, and the
+greatest opponent of industry, especially with young men, is the possession
+or expectation of wealth. According to college tutors at our old
+Universities, there is no large class of industrious students at those
+institutions. The greatest cause of the idleness of the students is
+parental neglect and the habits of wealthy society. Many parents allow
+their sons too much money, and over-look too readily their idleness and
+frivolity; the young men also know their parents are rich, and act
+accordingly. Many persons send their sons to those places chiefly to form
+aristocratic acquaintances, and for other purposes than those of
+educational discipline and learning. The college authorities have also
+largely acquiesced in the wishes of the parents and students. And in this
+way {213} scientific research has been almost entirely excluded from our
+old Universities. If the present tutors and governing bodies of those
+Institutions cannot induce students generally to be industrious, by what
+means can it be expected that these young men can be persuaded to exercise
+the still greater degree of industry and intelligence requisite to
+prosecute research, whilst they are decoyed from it by the attractions of
+wealth? In Germany the conditions are very different, the students in the
+Universities of that country have much less money at their disposal. Nearly
+the whole of the educational courses also at the Grammar schools and other
+educational institutions in this country, are formed upon the plan of
+sending all the superior scholars to our Universities, and thus the
+defective state of scientific training at the Universities operates through
+our whole scholastic system, and depresses the entire scientific
+instruction of the nation. It is evident that in this way the undue wealth
+of this country largely retards national progress.
+
+_7th._ _Local Endowment of Research Funds._ In addition to the foregoing
+means, local efforts might be made to encourage research in each great
+centre of industry; through the medium of the local scientific societies.
+Nearly as early as the year 1660, Cowley in a treatise, proposed a
+Philosophical Society to be established near London, with liberal salaries
+to learned men to make experiments; but he could not get the money raised.
+A plan of this kind is in operation in Birmingham and carried out by the
+{214} Council of the Birmingham Philosophical Society in accordance with
+the following:--
+
+    "SCHEME FOR ESTABLISHING AND ADMINISTERING A FUND FOR THE ENDOWMENT OF
+    RESEARCH IN BIRMINGHAM."
+
+"The Council are of opinion that this Society would be omitting a principal
+means of the advancement of Science--the end for which all such
+associations exist--if it neglected the question of the Endowment of
+Research. To maintain a successful investigator in his labours, even though
+no results of immediate or obvious utility can be shown to spring out of
+them, is of interest to the community at large. Indeed, it is just because
+the practical usefulness of such work is not immediate or obvious that it
+becomes necessary to give it special support, for otherwise it would have
+its own market value, and endowment would be superfluous. But the proper
+and effectual administration of an Endowment Fund is perceived to be so
+beset with difficulty, as often to deter even those who recognise the
+principle from advocating it in practice. Most of the dangers usually
+foreseen would, however, as a rule be avoided, simply by the distribution
+of such funds from local centres, under such a scheme as is now proposed.
+The Council, are therefore, anxious to establish a Fund, in connection at
+once with the Society and the Town, for the direct Endowment of Scientific
+Research."[36]
+
+{215}
+
+_8th._ _Local Laboratories of Research._ Another plan would be for local
+scientific societies to raise money by soliciting subscriptions and
+donations for the support of local laboratories; a prospectus of the
+following kind being issued:--
+
+    PROPOSAL TO FOUND A LABORATORY OF PURE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN ----.
+
+"As the manufacturers, merchants, capitalists, land-owners, and the public
+generally, of this town and district, have derived and are still deriving
+great pecuniary and other benefits from the discovery of new knowledge by
+means of pure research in the sciences of Physics and Chemistry; and as in
+consequence of the great neglect of such research in this country, and the
+increased cultivation of it in other lands, our commerce is suffering, and
+a great many evils in manufacturing and other operations, in sanitary and
+many other matters dependant upon physical and chemical conditions, remain
+unremedied; it is proposed to found a Local Laboratory of original research
+in those sciences, with every suitable appliance in it; and to employ one
+or more investigators of repute, with assistants, who shall be wholly
+engaged in such labour in their respective sciences."
+
+As it is largely the custom in this country to effect great objects by
+means of individual liberality and corporate enterprise, instead of
+trusting to State assistance, it is not improbable that when the great
+importance of scientific research and its claims {216} to encouragement
+have become more generally known, that aid which has hitherto been
+with-held from it will be rendered by private generosity; and local
+institutions, wholly for the purpose of original scientific research will
+be established and supported by public-spirited wealthy persons. An
+institution of this kind upon a small scale, and called "The Institute of
+Scientific Research" has already been established in Birmingham, (see Note
+p. 40). By founding local institutions of this kind there exist
+opportunities for wealthy persons to do great good to mankind, and acquire
+renown as philanthropists by the action.
+
+And _9th_. In consequence of the great benefit derived from scientific
+research by the inhabitants of each locality, it has become a duty of each
+large community to promote it, and local Town Councils might with advantage
+and perfect justice to the public, devote a portion of municipal funds to
+the purpose of aiding local scientific research. To this plan it may be
+objected, that as the results of research are cosmopolitan, diffusing
+themselves everywhere, and this diffusion cannot be prevented; the benefits
+arising from research cannot be restricted even to a large community. In
+reply to this:--As knowledge and its advantages are cosmopolitan, the duty
+of promoting research must be equally extensive. There is also a real
+return received by the public for expenditure of money in research, in the
+free liberty to use all new knowledge developed everywhere by such labour,
+and although the money expended by a {217} community upon particular
+researches or upon an individual investigator, does not directly produce an
+immediate return; practically an immediate and direct benefit is received
+by that community, because new scientific knowledge for the use of teachers
+and popular lecturers, and new inventions based upon it, of local value to
+that society, continually become public. Every civilized community has also
+received beforehand such benefits to an enormous extent; and each
+investigator may reasonably claim public support on the ground that he
+contributes to the general stock of new knowledge. Some persons however,
+who have not fully considered the subject, wish to receive not only the
+advantages accruing from the common stock of knowledge, but also to reserve
+to themselves the entire benefit arising from their own special
+contributions.
+
+Experience alone will prove which of the foregoing schemes is the most
+suitable in this country, or in particular cases. At present the plan
+largest in operation is the system of Government Grants, next in magnitude
+are the other funds distributed by the Royal Society, the British
+Association, the Chemical Society, the Royal Institution, the Birmingham
+Philosophical Society, and those provided by the munificence of private
+individuals. It is greatly to be hoped that the liberal spirit of private
+individuals will yet further remove the great blot which lies upon the
+reputation of the wealthy manufacturers, capitalists, and land-owners, who
+have derived such great profits from {218} scientific research and have
+scarcely aided it at all in return. It is also to be desired that the
+Corporations of manufacturing towns will recognise the value of original
+scientific enquiry to their fellow townsmen, and will undertake the
+responsibility of voting money from municipal funds to promote it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Notes
+
+[1] See p.p. 165 to 167.
+
+[2] Essays and Addresses, Owen's College, 1874, pp. 172-182.
+
+[3] See Chapter 2, Section B.
+
+[4] In the year 1870, a gentleman of the name of Davis bequeathed L2,000 to
+the Royal Institution, London, to aid original scientific research.
+
+[5] As a notable exception to the above statement:--"Scientific research
+has now an Institute of its own in Birmingham, without being indebted to
+the public funds. A fund has already been collected for carrying on the
+work. The building is called 'The Institute of Scientific Research.'" See
+_Nature_, January 7th, 1881, p. 366; the _Athenaeum_, February 5th, 1881, p.
+204; the _English Mechanic_, p. 537, February 11th, 1881.
+
+[6] Professor Bache left 50,000 dollars, and Smithson bequeathed 541,000
+dollars to this Institution.
+
+[7] Respecting the Members of our Houses of Legislature, a former
+Postmaster-General remarked to me, that a dose of scientific research would
+be too much for them.
+
+[8] The Victoria University has recently become a partial exception to this
+statement.
+
+[9] See "Royal Society Catalogue of Scientific Papers," vol. 5, pp. 719 and
+890; and vol. 8, p. 1,010.
+
+[10] See _Nature_, April 24th and May 1st, 1873, pp. 485 and 13; also _Work
+and Wages_, by Brassey, pp. 170 and 178.
+
+[11] NOTE.--See "Work and Wages," by Brassey, p.p. 15-131 and 132; also the
+"Laboratory," vol. 1, p.p. 313-316, 378 and 380.
+
+[12] NOTE.--The whole of this chapter, especially the Moral Section, is
+capable of great amplification and much more copious illustration.
+
+[13] NOTE.--See also p. 95.
+
+[14] NOTE.--Athenaeum, Aug. 3, 1877. p. 242.
+
+[15] "Wish and Will," by L. Turner, M.A.
+
+[16] "The Mutual Relations of Physical Science and Religious Faith."
+
+[17] Port Royal Logic, Discourse 1.
+
+[18] See p. 91-92.
+
+[19] See "Waste Products and Undeveloped Substances," by P. W. Simmonds.
+
+[20] See "Barometer Cycles," by Balfour Stewart, F.R.S.--_Nature_, Jan. 13,
+1881, p. 237.
+
+[21] See p. 165, et seq.
+
+[22] It would I consider be an improvement in our educational arrangements,
+if a Professorial chair, solely devoted to teaching those laws and
+principles, existed in each Scientific College.
+
+[23] See vols. 1 (1872) 2 (1874) of the Reports of that Commission.
+
+[24] See pages 100 and 101.
+
+[25] "_Nature_," April 3rd, 1873. p. 431.
+
+[26] Sir Edmund Beckett, "_English Mechanic_", 1881, No. 830, p. 560.
+
+[27] The Earl of Craufurd, "_English Mechanic_," 1881, No. 830, p. 560.
+
+[28] See page 68, et seq. p. 134.
+
+[29] See "_Nature_," Dec. 2nd, 1880, p. 112.
+
+[30] "_English Mechanic_," 1881, No. 831, pp. 586, 587.
+
+[31] "_English Mechanic_," August 17th, 1881, p. 83.
+
+[32] The Mastership of the Mint is no longer given to scientific men.
+
+[33] See Reports of Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction and
+Advancement of Science, Vol 2, pp. 75-92.
+
+[34] See "_Nature_" No. 600, p. 597, April 28th, 1881.
+
+[35] A fleet of thirty ships, varying in size from 500 to 5000 tons each,
+is employed in laying and repairing telegraph cables, and 25 millions of
+pounds have already been invested in submarine cable enterprises.
+
+[36] See "_Nature_," vol. XXII, page 203.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Changes made against printed original.
+
+Page 11. "our knowledge of the substance": 'knowwledge' in original.
+
+Page 24. "Nearly every manufacturer": 'ever' in original.
+
+Page 32. "Persons in general can easily understand": 'ean easily' in
+original.
+
+Page 39. "wealthy persons who have devoted themselves": 'themselver' in
+original.
+
+Page 62. "also all terrestrial forces": 'terrestial' in original.
+
+Page 81. "better systems of hygiene": 'hygeine' in original.
+
+Page 114. "course in which the throng is densest": 'the' repeated across
+line break in original.
+
+Ibid. "thousands of different chemical compounds": 'compouuds' in original.
+
+Page 116. "emits and absorbs": 'aborbs' in original.
+
+Page 119. "In every genuine volition": 'volitition' in original.
+
+Page 126. "purely physical and chemical conditions.": 'physicial' in
+original.
+
+Page 127. "the judicial detection of truth": 'judical' in original.
+
+Ibid. "completely converted into acquired tendencies": 'completly ...
+tendences' in original.
+
+Page 134. "the present state of civilization": 'civilzation' in original.
+
+Ibid. "to withhold truth from ignorant patients": 'withold' in original.
+
+Ibid. "lists of our moral deficiencies": 'deficiences' in original.
+
+Page 135. "there exist no royal roads to happiness": 'their exist' in
+original.
+
+Page 151. "a diminution of waste": 'dimunition' in original.
+
+Page 152. "twenty millions of pounds annually": 'anually' in original.
+
+Ibid. "Photography is also largely used in our gaols": 'in our goals' in
+original.
+
+Page 158. "acting under the same conditions": 'conitions' in original.
+
+Ibid. "every phenomenon requires time": 'requiries' in original.
+
+Page 182. "to be carried out effectually": 'effectualy' in original.
+
+Page 184. "been driven out of science altogether": 'althogether' in
+original.
+
+Page 186. "more or less fortuitous circumstances": 'fortuitious' in
+original.
+
+Page 189. "their labours should be remunerated by the State.": 'remuerated'
+in original.
+
+Page 199. "should not be similarly remunerated": 'similarily' in original.
+
+Page 203. "consist essentially of a continued series of repetitions":
+'esssentially' in original.
+
+Page 217. "of local value to that society": 'of' repeated across line break
+in original.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Scientific Basis of National
+Progress, by George Gore
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