, 1874-04-12
PROF. HUXLEY At ABERDEEN.

The reappearnnco-so to call it-of Prof. Hu1-
lev in public life is an event which may cause
mutual congratulation among students OF SCI
ence and the promoters Of liberal thought aad
culture. The hopes entertained OF his complete
restoration to health, after the winter OF 1912
spent in Egypt, were not at tho tirno fully real
ized and for twelve months after his return to
England he was unable to accomplish anything
in the waT Of work. The announcement OF
eighty lectures on Biology, commencing octo-
ber, 1873, aud the delivery Of the Lord Rectore
address at the University Of Aberdeen, indicates
the resumption Of official duties, and readers
OF the address will boar witness that there is no
right hand forget It's cunning from the entorceu'
resting spell he has taken.
Tho Lord Rector Of University is something
like the fifth wheel Of q COACH and, whatever
may have teen the case formerly, the position
at the present day has become that Of an honor
conferred by the students upon some person,
eminent either in science or letters, who, IN re-
turn for their sufTrages, presents an addresa
upon somo topic connected with the higher edu-
cation with which they are presumed to be con-
cerned. =
No name is moro prominent in connection with
edncation in England than that Of Prof. Hux-
lev. As Professor of Natural History in the
Government School OF Mines, Us member OF
the Roy.l Commission on Scientific instruction
and the Advancement Of Science, and OF the
london School Board, his inaueE - has been
powerful in reform, and, as he hlmseh says, IN
season md out Of season he has advocated tho
claims and shown the va1ue Of Science as an es-
genital ingredient in education. In his Aberdeen
address, after rapidly sketching the origin OF the
University of Paris, upon the model OF which the
University Of Aberdeen Was fashioned, he shows
how from all lanrning being at first comprehended
under the Faculty Of Arts there have sprung up
the Faculties Of Law Theology, and Medicine
The Scholastic Philosophy Was built up from the
Scriptures and Aristotle. They contained all the
knowledge worth having in those days. bul
two Influences sapped and mined this system.
First. the study OF classical literature; second,
the slow, sure growth Of phyBich science Ibis
1atter. upon which tradition and authority are
alike powerless either to add to or take from, ID
an irreconciable enemy to the Scholastic Ph1los-
onbv. and demands recognition on nccouns
Of it's bearings on the wants OF MANKIND.
II presses like flood upon the Uni
yersity systcn OF Great Britain, and
already is receiving something like proper ac-
acknowledgement OF its claims. At Oxford, within
twenty years, over s60o, 900 have been expended
upon Physical, Chemical. and Physiological Lab
oratories At Cambridge less is being done, put
within o few years it Will be for no lack OF the
means and appliances OF sound teaching, the
mass Of English Univeraity-men remain In their
present state Of barbarous ignorance OF even tho
rudinentH Of scientific culture.
Addressing himself moro particularly to STU
dents Of the medical profession, Prof Huxley
Two wears to Anatomy and Psychology, with
Physiological Chemistry and PhyRlce' Alter
thorough examination in these there follow
Therapeutics, in its broadcast sense. Practical
Medicine and Surgery. with instruction in Hy-
cicnn and Medical Jurisprudence. Thoroughly
grounded in these, the student has all that ls
required. OF Botany, Zoology, Physics, chem's-
trr and Biology, upon which at present much
time is spent, knowledge Of the fundamental
nrinciples to be gained before commencing
e-,ecial medical studies will be sufficient. The
nonn1ar superstition is that doctors know all
atont thinrs that are queer or nasty to
thu general mind, but ito know the names
at snails. snakes, or s1ugs; to be able
tn rive IN account Of the leading pecu-
liariHes OF the 1farsupialia, or enumerato
tho chief characteristics Of the Composite, will
not aid hyslcian in forming q rational theory
Of the condition of the patient On the Eick-bed.
broad and comprehensive culture is grand
and noble attainment; but, limited as students
are by time, By the capacity Of retaining knowl-
edrc and By the practical question Of success or
failure in lite, it is stern necessity that points
ont this restriction to the branches OF science
which underie q special education
s.Change," says Prof. Huxley, rs IN the air
r. ;s yhi1ling feather-heads into all sorts Of e.
Centric orbits, and filing the steadiest with =.
eanse Of iusecurity. It insists On 1eopenlng al