The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-10
AGE OF THE EARTH.
Lord Kelvin Discusses 1t Before the
Victoria Institute.


The Victoria Institute held it's an
nual meeting this month in London. 1t
was the largest gathering of the mem
bers and their friends since the founda-
ton of the society. The chair was taken
by the president, Sir Gabriel Stokes,
Bart, F. r. S., supported by the lord
chancellor and many leading members.
The president having briefly opened
the proceedings, Capt F. Petrie, the
honorary secretary, in reading the re-
port, referred to the object of the So
ciety as founded to associate men OF
cultured mind and calm judgment III
the investigation of important ques-
tons of philosophy and science, notably
such as may be alleged to contraVene
the truths of Holy Writ, so that hasty
conclusions may not afford ground for
unseemly attack on either science or
religion. The report showed that there
had been an advance in the number of
the Institutes home, colonial, American
and foreign members, which now APP
preached 1,500; among those who had
contributed papers and remarks there
on during the session had been the
Duke of Argyle, the bishop Of Ballarat,
Profs. Hull, F. r. S.; Beale, f. R. S;
Cieland, F. r. S.; Macdonald, f. R. S.;
Hilprecht, Hommel Mr.. Rassam, DR..
G. U. Pope, Theo. G. Punches, Mr.. Bald
win-Latham, and others.
The bishop Of Dunedin moved that
the report be received, and that the
council and it's officers should be
thanked for their efficient conduct Of
the business Of the institute In doing
so, he said that the common idea was
that the scientist was positive and alb
solute in his ideas, whereas the pro-
fessor Of religion was merely basing his
ideas upon subjective matters or posi-
tions which were incapable of proof.
Therefore, some said that the scientist
had the advantage, and that science
had gone a long way towards blotting
out religion; or, at any rate, the Chris
tan religion from the face of the earth.
But when the matter was more closely
looked into, it would be seen that the
professors Of science and religion were
proceeding very much on the same
lines, and that the scientist had no
more positive absolute basis to go upon
than the professor of religion. The one
was as much beholden to faith as the
other They had had 1T upon the au-
thority Of Prof. Huxley himself that
science could not go on without poStu-
lates, and the discoveries made by
means of it were merely matters of de-
tail, and did not do away with the>ba-
sis of religion at all.
Sir H Barkly, G. G. M. G., F. r. S.,
seconded the resolution, which was
unanimously agreed to, and Prof. Hull
responded on behalf of the council and
officers.
Lord Kelvin then proceeded to de-
scribe the results of his Investigations
bearing upon the question of 1.-The age
of the earth as an abode fitted for life"
He referred to the experiments he had
made in his labratory at Glasgow III
the conducting power of rocks at high
temperatures, and the valuable results
of the experiments carried out by DR..
Robert Weber, which showed that 1t
was a mistake to assume the greater
conductivity of rock at high tempera-
lures Referring to the ultimate results
Of these Investigations, Lord Kelvin
quoted the confirmation Of DR.. Clarence
King the Well-known American geOlC-
gist. which was that we have no war
rant for extending the earth's age be-
yond twenty-four million years." an
estimate which accorded with the fiji
teen or twenty million OF years for the
age of the sun, as calculated by Helm
hoItZ and Newcomb. He then referred
to the absolute untenability of the vast
periods demanded for the age of the
globe by some leading scientific investi-
gators, whose writing he copiousiy
quoted. Some of these had demanded
three hundred million of years. but
this, Lord Kelvin said, seemed to him
like a person asking the date of the
battle of Hastings, being told that
it was a hundred million years ago.
Considering the various facts which
had to be considered he warned inves-
tigators that at the very outside thirty
million years was the utmost limit that
physical science permitted. The fact
was, he said, that biologists had been
nurtured in a philosophy, some Of
which was very good, but some parts Of
which were very rotten. The idea of
there being neither a beginning nor
an end, and of going on for ever, was
deeply engrained in mems minds, and
it was only by deep thought that peo-
pie could be induced to believe that
there must be a definite beginning and
there must be a definite end of this;
world as an abode of life under present
actions known to US. Lord Kelvin then
referred to the amount of time that
must have elapsed to permit the ade-
quate cooling of the earth to admit the
presence of life on the globe, and held
that the world at very early period
was subjected to more rapid and VIC
lent changes in it's physical condition
than those now occurring. Referring
to the appearance of life on our globe,
he pointed out that this could not exist
without oxygen, the product of vegeta-
ton, and that when life on this world
was introduced ''it was due to a spa
cial act of creation"
At the conclusion of the address, the
lord chancellor Qord Halsbury, F.
r. s. said that. as the meeting had
been dealing so lavishly with millions
of years, they would doubtless not
grudge him few minutes in which to
move a vote of thanks to Lord Kelvin
for his address. (Applause.) Lord KEEL
vim had been dealing with a subject OF
such VaStneSS as to be almost beyond
the expression of language and the
result was that, although he had set
before the meeting some valuable prop
ositions, every one of which would form
subject of most interesting debate, it
was to be feared that they had been
so numerous that some present may
have failed to appreciate them ALL He
Ghe lord chancellor's) impression, how
ever, was that Lord Kelvin had criti-
cised with great power and effect the
theories of a number of gentlemen who
held that if the facts did not accord
with their theories it was so much
worse for the facts. applause and
laughter) 1t was a matter for con-
graduation that a man of Lord KEEL
wins learning and eminence had de-
livered an address of that character to
society which was not afraid to show
that great many of the scientific the
cries which We're supposed to be in con-
flict with the records OF the Christian
religion were utterly without founda-
tion. (Applause)
The resolution having been seconded
by Sir Joseph Fayrer. K. c. S. l., F.
H. s., who referred to the greatly in
was moved by Sidney Shippard, K c.
M. G., and seconded by Capt. Creak,
r. N, +. r. S., that the thanks of the
meeting be accorded to the president.
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