New-York tribune., 1870-12-21
THE STRUGGLES OF SCIENCE.
LECTURE BY DR. GEO. b. LoRING.


r Loring, NJ. D., of Salem, Mass, On the struggles OF
Science" Among those on the platform were fe'er
Cooper Prof. Tllman, Prof Whitney, President bar
uard end Gen. Cochrane. n. W. Ely presided, ana
trieay introduced the lecturer, who said
DR. LoRISG's ADDRESS.
LANES AND GENTLEMEN II would not he easy 10 find
more appropriate spot than this for the Inauguration OF
course of Scientific Lectures intended doubt not Tor
the practeal benefit Of mankind We are here upon 'ne
common ground OF all natonaes, Of all interests oi
All religions OF all Industries, OF all specuanons Oh u"
experiments. NewYork, the great commercial emporium
Of America also the center around which has
tho greatest diversity of society with all Its wants anu
necessities and tastes and opportunities IN te
common purpose Of developing every social anu lio
vidua faculty and OF working out the problem OF Scuoh
busy vigorous, and almost desperate me- "ine ever!
other locality brings forth It's speoinc Hu ana sehus
out ts representatives marked with easily
recognized everywhere. and under all circumstances
Rew-York 10 absorb everything ana send iorth
everything attaching s her family to herself by that
mysterious influence which power and greatness always
exert and developing faculties adapted to every locality
Partisan for Paris Englishmsn for London, Bos-
tonan for RostOu Puritan for Plymouth and always
Eew-Yorker stD Twenty cities twenty nationalities
twenty civil organizations as u We're all IN one-can
Won tC me the theory which II not explored the thought
which is not Investigated, the science which is not ap
cd to vitaEe and develop this wonderful aggregation
Of human forest Prom the time when Henry Hudson,
fleeing from the ice OF the polar seas ran down 10 the
great mouth Of the Chesapeake Bay, and looking IN,
passed up the highlands Of Nevernk and AZ last east
anchor of sandy HoOknow two hundred and siIty-one
yeare-what various and intricate powers been
poyed IN developing this social and civn organization
fOr her commerce, astronomy has mapped out the
heavens and pointed out the pathways OF the sea- real
Enc the hopes Of Calico he pointed his telescope for
the first time To the satellites OF Jupiter and
- Xed laws those astronomical notions" which en-
ablod Columbus to grope his way to world; and
furnishing guide TO 0ngitudes and distances which the
been unable 10 dspaoe For her trade all natural re
sources have been explored and 1or heT %o nS ss
ply has determined all the principal features OF our own
have been traversed In various dlrectons Io boknaIa
and the ONus 20 the Chinese wall the hafknoWn rNer
Xeyed the lev Continent around the southern has
dsoOvered the North West passage the tgns
s stripped Of its fabulous terrors OF the Niger
IL no longer myth, and the sublime secret OF ht Nt II
Moon sought for through 2oO years have been behed
by Caucasian eye; an English steamer mas ssceh1eu @
Eyre, Jeiohhard and sturt have penetrated the
wilderness Of Australia the Russians have explored te
Irkutsk the mouth OF the AmOor the antquated walls
of Chinese prejudice have cracked and are fast
tumbling down; and the canvas screens which sur,
rounded Japan have been cut by the soarp eogt vi
American enterprise Profound and accurate researches
by mneraogsts and geologists-Silman and Hitchcock
and Dana and Newbery, and sterry Hunt-hsye pointed
out where in the midst Of the mysterious fields OF
creation, lie the valuable mineral and agricultural
Conceive, II you can moreover ~lat modern
chemistry has done for the smelling Of ores the Prepsra
tion OF chemicals and mordants for dyeing the develop
OF the power Of electricity and magnetism tne Cold
binaon OF me useful TO the Observation-Disclosures
The fixing OF methods by which carbonc acid can be re
moved from crowded rooms the exploration into the
soluble and insouble salts Of soils and fertilizers into
life giving aDd nOXious gases the preparation OF medi
eins and nutritious compounds III order TO promote te
health and comfort and luxury ana htellgenee ana re-
nement OF this city. Contemplate the elegant and sub
stsnal structures which challenge your admiration on
every hand traverse the streets and bridges and the
great iron highways, along which flows the tide OF life
necessarily back and forth the systoe and dastole from
your heart 10 the remOtest regions where your interests
lie, and you may learn what architecture ana clvl en-
gineerng are doing for your grandeur ana PrCsPeS
effort and progress. Al the work Of sanitary ruations
a ward Of disease and i'll the thera~utics Of
10 IT, the science OF medicine has been brought
TO the highest Stendard and the achievements OF sur
gerry in removing deormity and restoring the bruised
and brken frame rise almost into the regions Oh the
miraculous. The earth trembes, and the waters are
vcxed, with the application of all those forces which
ION and power over the material world The victory Of
Fulton and Fitch and Watt and Arkwrght and stephen
great of thought and speculation, where faith 10
I've confirmed and unerrng dOgmas OF public economy are
% be proclaimed am sure the ast step w9ua theh
have been taken toward making this great and diverse
municipality as perfect in its religion and politics astt
ifc' %SS j. !" d" '"' - ~ ''''' ''''''' " ~ ~
THE SCIENTIFIC PERIOD.
But here alone il this work going on Everywhere
In cultivated and civilized society may he found in
tense and serious effort To nfuse the accuracy of scen
tifc investigation into all practical affairs, and into the
broad foundations the Church and the state Turn your
eyes in any direction. and you will ind the most power
period has arrived The profound and mastery minds Of
the age Humboldt just now gone AgaSsz resting for an
imperial in the realms Of science and their great
Investigating fraternity on both continents have placed
science at the divine regions Of human genus
occupied by the poets and historians ana orators
aDd philosophers who long enjoyed undispued sway
IS masters df human thought The prediction made by
DR. Young in the latter part OF the last century, pre-
dction then and familiar reality nOw--has been more
than fulfilled Remembering. as be did that the last
40 years have done much more Tor the promonon or
knowledge than the 1900 Year, which preceded them he
says 1--WE have, therefore, the satisfaction Of viewing
the knowledge of nature not only III stare OF advance
ment but advancing with increasing rapdity ana
the universal diffusion Of taste for science appears to
promise that the numbers Of itS increases
fscts will be continually discovered ana those Weh
are already known will he better understood and more
benehcialiy applied" And he adds word, which |
quote here the encouragement of the American nst
tute that OF usefulness which has thus FAR grown
with its growth and with is srength ana
which may not pause until lts cheering lhnuenee T. 5et
throughout the entire domain OF pfaccal SCIENCE me
smar nature, will have the merit on assisting ID tht ds
seminstOn OF knOvedge and III the cultivation OF taste
pursuit and the advantages arising from the gen
era introduction Of philosophical studies ana r0m the
adoption Of the practical Improvements depending on
s1s So ns1e S G%Py St ae1g ssSy IN hs O0r
and support Of associations so truly laudaole; Not,
the centuries preceding this declaration
In the half century preceding hut IN the snort ana
eventful period which has followed, have the great
achievements been made. The brilliant Of Button
had Just closed bm Lsplace and Cuvierz ana Davy,
sill lived sS made promise OF thst ~on9ei9i We marca 90
might now be lost in admiration before ihe imposing
monument erected upon the foundations laid by his dis
tiDgushed cOtempOrares. For now it woald not be the
labOrs Of the great alone which he would De called upon
10 admire, but that deliberate and concurring judg
ment of common minds" Lord Bacon calls II, which
has made science familiar TO us ALL and has tled the
hicbways and By-Vsys OF society with its lfegiving
fruits aud the human mind with It's nvlgOratng modes
of thought
RELIGIOUS PERsEcUuoS or SCIENCE.
And now surrounded we are by all the blessings
which science can bestOw aud by s the promises which
its enthusiasm can Imake, we cannot and should not
forget the severe and desperate struggles 81 has been
obliged 10 make in its upward progress 1be crnel
agony and torture which have visited The religion.
Teforper; the poverty and contempt, ana despair
which have made death welcome TO 80 many OF lhe SON
.f getius. whose Immortality u now mans great
inheritance; the hard and unequal warfare Dalntane9
by those who have fought for human Hosaon anu M
sie triai alone hut al aud have fallen upon and
harassed and persecuted those who have endeavCred by
srcntidc research to anelorafe the condition of msn
IL. afI.ra "a uall