The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1896-10-14
PRIVACY no LONGER.
SCIENCE INvapEs EVERYTHING AND
REVEALS ALL SECRETS.

Awe Contemplate the Charges Made by
Infant Science, We Marvel at the i'e-
.uls. which Will Follow When IL
Reaches the Age of Manhood.
Already science has made neighbors
# erstwhile far sundeTed places. Al
ready the feat OF girding the earth IN
"a minutes, once ascribed 20 magical
mower. has been left hopelessiy behind
bv a new and scientific Puck Already
nrivacy has become we'll nigh imp0ssl-
HE. even that of ones bodily interior
being NO longer guaranteed. Already
science has so far conquered the enemies
of life that the living are jostling each
other for elbow room, and already the
nations sleep-if they Ger sleep-Wltn
their fingers ON the tn y r Of the latest
magazine rife. If this be the case Ia
the green tree, what may we expect IN
tbe dryf If infant science, only 20 years
old. has brought this about, what VIII
scierce in n state of manhood do for u.s.
Another question intrudes itself here:
is the transformation, so far as II has
gone. a gain? Are we the better or the
HAMMER for the achievements OF appiled
science. or did men, before the new Gre
ator was born, live more human-shail
we say a more divine-life than is pos
sibIe now? NJ BerthelOt has no reply
m such aueries. He is the embodiment
of the spirit which wrests from nature
ever new powers and turns them loose
upon mankind to fulfill their destiny.
Ii is not for the man of science To DIS
criminate, for how does he know what
goes 10 make a new earth? He also
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 1t Is
only lust beginning; that the most fan
tastic dreams Of our most imaginative
men are TO what will be as humble prose
il TO highest poetry. Who can doubt 1t?
Who can forbear sometimes from at
tempting q conception of the new
earth?'' And how little way can he
whose imagination is most compact ad-
vance without stagger and a fall! IL
is no wonder that science lifts her head
and surveys the future with pride.
NJ. Berthelot promises new man as
well as a new earth. Given the second,
the first is necessity, for the old Adam
in a reconstructed Eden would soon fail
from grace again, unaided by the ser
pent, in whom, by the way, he no Ion
ger believes. Once more imagination
| runs riot. This new man-what Is he 10
be? The new woman we know well
enough to make description superiuous.
The real question is whether we are 10
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 which neither increase nor dl-
| ruinish, but swing backward and for
| ward like the pendulum of the tides.
| As the woman becomes more and
more mannish-of course, without being
ruanly-will the new man become more
and more womanisb? We should like
NJ. Berthelot 20 consider that point III
the light of science, which is now, ap'
parently, cur only guide. Much de
pends on the solution of the problem,
and it is very serious consideration
that nothing in the past can help us t'
it. NJ. Berthelot is reported as saying
that 1.-THE entire social organization II
being transformed amid conditions fol
the COMPREHENSION Of which the pas
offers no suggestive precedents or data
As Mr.. Gilbert observes in a state o
embarrassment, Here's a pretty how
dive dor' We are at sea as TO the new
man, without rudder OF compass, and i
is a mere toss up whether he may 70
turn ont 10 be simply an ~ woman
Our personal concern, truly, is very
small. The man Of the present will las
our time, and, with all his faults, he /
good enough for Us, especially as VIZ
know nothing better. But we are taugh
to identify ourselves with the race, and
doing so, the question as 10 man 5O'
wears hence is one not only of uGcer
taintv, but Of painful interest. We shal
not be able to repudiate him, but, ol
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 seei
to be one of a very disquieting nature
and the sooner the international con
gress Of applied chemistry or othe
learned body throws further light upol
il the better. Surely science can Civ
some inkIing of what its own Adam
likely to be. We do not ask for particu
lars of his Eden, because we know tha
a railway will run through it. aud tina
suffices, but curiosity as to the recreate
gardener are inevitable. "A good mal
and an angel" T" exclaimed the late esti
mable DR.. Young, ''these between
How thin the barrierr We will hop
for the angel, though science may no
recognize such a creature.
Telegraph.