The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1896-11-13

SCIENCE iNvADes EVERYTHING AND
REVEALS ALL SECRETS.
A. We Contemplate tho Changes Made BY
Infant Science. We Marvel 1T the Re
cults which VIII Follow when IL
Reaches the Age Of Manhood.

Infant Science. We Marvel 1T the Re-
cults which VIII Follow when II
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 new and scientific Suck. Already
privacy has become well nigh impossi-
Bile, 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 ever sieep-with
their fingers on the trigger Of the latest
magazine rife II this be the case III
the green tree. what may we expect in
the dry? II infant science. only rs years
old, has brought this about. what will
science in q state Of manhood do for us?
Another question intrudes itself here ;
Is the transformation, 10 far as it has
gone q 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 more divine-life than is pos
sible now? NJ 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.
1t is not for the man of science to dis
criminate. for how does he know what
goes to make q 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 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 conception Of the new
earth?' And how little way can be
whose imagination is most compact ad-
vance without stagger and fall? IL
is no wonder that science lifts her head
and surveys the future with pride
NJ. Berthelot promises new man as
we'll as new earth. Given the second.
the first is necessity, for the old Adam
in a reconstructed Eden would soon fall
from grace again, unaided by the ser
pent, in whom. by the way. he no lon
ger believes. Once more imagination
runs riot This new man-what is he to
be! The new woman we know well
enough to make description superfuous.
The real question is whether we are to
argue from this feminine to the as yet
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 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
the new man become more
and more womanish? We should like
NJ. Berthelot to consider that point in
the light of science, which is now. ap-
parently, our only guide. Much de-
ponds on the solution of the problem.
and it is very serious consideration
that nothing in the past can help us to
it. NJ. Berthelot is reported AZ saying
that 1.-THE entire social organization IL
being transformed amid conditions for
the comprehension Of which the past
offers no suggestive precedents or data. :"
As Mr.. Gilbert observes in state OF
embarrassment, Here's a pretty how
d We dor We are at sea as to the new
man, without rudder w compose, and 1t
is a mere toss up whether he may not
turn out to be simply an old woman.
Our personal concern, truly, 10 very
small. The man Of the present will last
our time, and. with all his faults, he il
good enough for NJ. especially as we
know nothing better. But we are taught
to identify ourselves with the race, and.
doing 30. the question a. to man 900
years hence is one not only OF uncer-
tainty, but Of painful interest. We shall
not be able to repudiate him, but, on
the other hand. he may disclaim us,
Just a. many people nowadays scorn-
fully reject the theory Of mans descent
from the ape. The subject 10 thus seen
to be one Of q very disquieting nature,
and the sooner the international con-
gress Of applied chemistry or other
learned body throws further light upon
il the better. Surely science can give
some inkling Of what its own Adam il
likely to be. We do not ask for particu-
lars Of his Eden, because we know that
a railway will run through it, and that
suffices. but curiosity as to the recreated
gardener are inevitable. "A good man
and an angel" exclaimed the late esti.
mable DIR. Young, these between.
How thin the barrierW We will hope
for the angel, though science may not
recognize such creature. London
Telegraph.