The Press., 1883-07-19
THE TENDENCY OF SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY.

Sir Henry Barkly, G.C.M.G., FRS.
 took the chair at the annual meeting O
 the Victory (PhilosophicaD Institute, at 7
 Adelphi Terrace, London, in the last week in June. The Honorary secretary, Cap tain F. Petrie, F.R.S.L., read the report
 by which it appeared that the institute,- founded to investigate all questions of phil
 osophy and science, and more especially
 any alleged to initiate against the truth ot
 revelation, had now risen to 1,O2O mem
 bers, of whom about one-third were for
 eign, colonial and American, and new ap
 plications to join were constantly coming
 in. An increasing number eff leading men
 of scence had joined its ranks, and men oi
 science, whether in its ranks or not, O.
 operated in its work. During the session
 careful analysis had been undertaken by
 Professor Stokes, FRS, Sir J. R. Ben.
 nett, Vice-Pres, R.S., Professor Beale, F.
 R.S., and others, of the various theories oi
 evolution, and it was reported that, as yet,
 no scientific evidence had been met with
 giving countenance to the theory that man
 had been evolved from lower order in
 animals and Professor Virchow had de-
 clared that there was complete absence of any fossil type of lower stage in the development of man and that any posi-
 UlV0 AlxN4uCG Ill Ul4O P1ON1uCt O1 anthropology has actually removed us fur ther from proofs of such connection,- namely, with the rest of the animal king dom. In this, Professor Barrande, the great paleontologist, had concurred, de- elaring that in none of his Investigations had he found any one fossil species de- velope into another. In fact, it would seem that no scientific man had yet dis covered link between man and the ape. between fish and frog, or between the yer tebrate and the invertebrate animals fur ther. there was no evidence of any one species, fossil or other, losing it's peculiar characteristics to acquire new ones belong ing to other species for instance, how ever similar 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 on the earth were by no means to be consid- cred as inferior or degraded Among oth- CT Investigations, one into the truth of the from Design in Nature had been carried on, and had hitherto tended to full ly confirm that doctrine. The question of the Assyrian inscriptions and the recent reseasches had been under the leadership of MT. Hormuzd Rassam, who, on his arrival from Nineveh, had given a full report of the extent of his new exca- vations, which were of the highest inter est. His discovery of Sepharvaim, one of the first cities mentioned in Holy Writ, was most important. Professor Delitsch and others aided in the consideration of the discoveries and the inscriptions found Two meetings had been held to consider the questions raised in Mir. Herbert Spen- eer's philosophy, and Lord O'Neill and others had shown, by careful analysis of his arguments, that greater attention to accuracy in statement would have kept MT. Spencer from arriving at those hasty conclusions which had made his philosophy It was announced that the results of explorations now being carried on in Egypt would be laid before the h. ,titute early in the winter. The discov- cries were very important, especially that of the site of Succoth, which, like the re- suits of the survey of Palestine, was con- of the Sacred Record. The quarterly Journal, which had been pub ished for sixteen years, was now issued free to all members and associates, whether st home or abroad. Several interesting speeches having been made, the members and their friends adjourned to the Muse nm, where refreshments were served.