Evening journal., 1896-10-06
PRIVACY NO LONGER.
SCIENCE INvADES EVERYTHING AND
REVEALS ALL SECRETS.


suits Which WIN Follow When 1t
Reaches the Age of Manhood.
Already science has made neighbors
of erstwhile far sundered places. AL
ready the feat Of girding the earth in
40 minutes, once ascribed to magical
power, has been left hopelessly behind
by a new and scientific Puck. Already
privacy has become well nigh impossi-
bic, even that of one's bodily interior
being no longer guaranteed. Already
science has 50 far conquered the enemies
Of life that the living are jostling each
other for elbow room, and already the
nations sleep--if they ever sleep-with
their fingers on the trigger Of the latest
magazine rife. If this be the case in
the greon tree, what may we expect in
the dry? If infant science, only 70 years
old, has brought this about; what will
science in a state of manhood do for Us?
Another question intrudes itself here:
Is the transformation, so far as it has
gone, a gain? Are we the better or the
happier for the achievements of applied
science, or did men, before the new Gre
ator was born, live more human-shall
we say q more divine-life than is pos
sible now? M Berthelot has no reply
to such queries. He is the embodiment
of the spirit which wrests from nature
ever new powers and turns them loose
upon mankind TO fulfill their destiny
IL Is not for the man of science to dis
criminate, for how does he know what
n "a 10 - 10 al
must fulfill his destiny.
Sometimes we read that the age Of
romance has passed, but ask the interna-
tional congress of applied chemistry
and you will probably hear that it is
only just beginning; that the most fan
tastic dreams of our most imaginative
men are TO what will be as humble prose
is to highest poetry. Who can doubt it?
Who can forbear sometimes from at
tempting a conception of the "ncw
earth?" And how little way can he
whose imagination is most compact ad-
vance without stagger and a'fall? 1t
is no wonder that science lifts her head
and surveys the future with pride.
M. Berthelot promises a new man as
well as new earth. Given the second,
the first is a necessity, for the old Adam
in a recohstituted Eden would soon fall
| from grace again, unaided by the SER
pent, in whom, by the way, ne no lon
ger believes. Once more imagination
runs riot. This new man-what is he TO
bei The new woman we know well
enough TO make description superhuous.
| The real question is whether we are to
argue from this feminine to the as yet
| undetermined masculine. Let US hope
not, for otherwise the lookout is ex-
| tremely bad. 1t may be, however, that
the new man Of applied science will ex-
| emplify the mysterious law regulating
forces whioh neither increase nor di-
minish, but swing backward and for
ward like the pendulum Of the tides.
As the woman becomes more and
more mannish-of course without being
manly-will the new man become more
and moie womanish? We should like
M. Berthelot to consider that point in
the light Of science, which is now, ap-
parently, our only guide. Much de-
pends on the solution of the problem,
and it is a very serious consideration
that nothing in the past can help us tc
it, NJ Berthelot is reported as saying
that 'the entire social organization il
being transformed amid conditions foi
the comprehension CT which the past
offers no suggestive precedents or data q
AS Mr.. Gilbert observes in a state Of
embarrassment, Here's a pretty how
dye dop' We are at sea as to the new
man, without rudder or compass, and il
is a mere toss up whether he may no
turn out to be simply an old woman
Our personal concern, truly, is very
small. The man Of the present will las
our time, and, with all his faults, he il
| good enough for US, especially as we
know nothing better. But we are taugh
TO identify ourselves with the race and
doing so, tho question as to man 50l
years hence is one not only Of uncer
tainty, but Of painful interest. We shal
not be able to repudiate him, but, o.
the other hand, he may disclaim us
just as many people nowadays scorn
fully reject the theory of mans descen
from the ape The subject is thus seer
to be one of very disquieting nature
and the sooner the international con
gress of applied chemistry or othe
learned body throws further light upol
it the better. Surely science can Civ,
some inkling of what its own Adam il
likely to be. We do not ask for particu
lars of his Eden, because we know tha
a railway will run through it, and thai
sufiices, but curiosity as to the recreateC
gardener are inevitable "A good maj
and an angel, " exclaimed the late esti
! mable DR.. Young, "these between
How thin the harrierr' We will hop
0 for the angel, though science may no
recognize such a creature. -Londoi
; Telegraph.