Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-07-25
THE TENDENCY OF SCIENTIFIC
INQUIRY.

Sir Henry Barkly, @. G. M. g., FIR
S., took the chair at the annual meeting
of the Victoria (PhilosophicaD Institute,
at 7, Adelphi Terrace, London, in the
last week in June. The Honorary Sec
retary, Captain F. Petrie, F. r. S. L.,
read the report by which it appeared
that the Institute, te,-founded to investi-
gate all questions Of Philosophy and Sci
ence, and more especially any alleged to
initiate against the truth of Revelation,
had row risen to ,020 members, of whom
about one-third were Foreign, Colonial,
and American, and new applications to
join were constantly coming in. An
increasing number of leading men OF
Science had joined IFS ranks, and men
of Science, whether in It's ranks or not,
co-operated in its work. During the ses-
sion a careful analysis had been under
taken by Professor Stokes, +. R. S., Sir
j. r. Bennett, Vice Pres. r. S. Professor
Beale, F. R. S., and others, of the various
theories of Evolution, and it was reported
that, as yet, no scientific evidence had
been met with givinggcountenance to the
theory that man had been evolved from
lower order in animals; and Professor
Virchow had declared that there was
complete absence Of any fossil type of a
lower stage in the development of man;
and that any positive advance in the
provinc eof prehistoric and anthropology
has actually removed us further from
proofs of such Dection,-namely, with
the rest of the Animal kingdom. In this,
Professor Barrande, the great pal@ontol-
ogist, had concurred, declaring that in
none of his investigations had he found
any one fossil species develop into an
other In fact, it would seem that no
scientific man had yet discoveries link
between man and the ape. between fish
and frog, or between the vertebrate and
the invertebrate animals; further, there
was no evidence of any one species, fossil
or other, losing its peculiar characteris-
ties to acquire new ones belonging to
other species; for instance, however sim
liar the dog to the wolf, there was no
connecting link, and among extinct
species the same was the case; there was
no gradual passage from one to another.
Moreover, the first animals that existed
Of the earth were by no means to be con-
sidered as inferior or degraded. Among
other Investigations. one into the truth
of the argument from Design in Nature
had been carried on, and had hitherto
tended to fully confirm that doctrine.
The question of the Assyrian inscriptions
and the recent Babylonian researches
had been under the leadership of Mr..
Hormuzd Rassam, who, on his arrival
from Nineveh, had given full report of
the extent of his new excavations, which
were of the highest interest. His dis
covery Of Sepharyaim, one of the first
cities mentioned in Holy Writ, was
most important Professor Delitch and
others aided in the consideration Of
the discoveries and the inscriptions
found. Two meetings had been held to
consider the questions raised in Mr.. Her
bert Spencer's Philosophy, and Lord
ONneill and others had shown, by
careful analysis of his arguments, that a
greater attention to accuracy In state
ment would have kept Mr.. Spencer from
arriving at those hasty conclusions which
had made his philosophy remarkable. It
was announced that the results of ex-
plorations now being carried on in Egypt
would be laid before the Institute early
in the winter The discoveries were very
important, especially that of the site Of
5uccoth, which, like the results of tie
survey of Palestine, was confrmatory of
the Sacred Record. The quarterly Jour
nal, which had been published for six
teen wears, was now issued free to all
Members and Associates, whether at
home or abroad. Several interesting
speeches having been made, the Members
and their friends adjourned to the Mu-
scum, where refreshments were served.