New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-10-01
4 CENTTRY or SCIENCE.
SIR MICHAEL FOSTERS TALK To THE BRIT.
ISL ASSOCIATION AT DOVER

ISL ASSOCIATION AT DOVER
In his review Of the advances made in scie,co
during ia" last century at tn. recent meeting
OF the British Association sir Michael Foster
hrst touched upon chemistry The ancicnts
thought that but four elements cxisted-frc
an earth and water Anything like correct
n"'Ioh OF the composition Of matter dates from
inc Iatt"i part OF the eighteenth century whom
friestley and Lavoisier revealed To the world
t"e nature or oxygen and thus led TO a long
series OF fruitful discoveries.
IN" whole history of electricity as A servant
u man Is confined To the last sixty or seventy
years ana really springs from Volta's invention
oi inc saVanic battery. Frictiona ele .ricity
hau 'ohs been known but nothing but curious
ia'"'d'"N experiments We're conducted with II
Inc Investigations and discoveries ~ Oers,.s
anu faraday. which made possible the tele-
N'"P" ">"''n" trolley and telephone follow I
'"' Invention OF means to produce a steady
current Of electricity Volta's announ,.,,.,.
was made in 1799
"e'iosy' too IS new born science Although
NUMEROUS ingenious theories wor. entertained
!" '6''u 10 the origin AMI significance IF the
ms II vas only at the close Of the eighteenth
century mat men began 70 recognize that tho
car crust with its various layers IF ro.l
was a vast book of history. each leaf r which
'''u OF periods Of thousands or millions e.,
S'arS. me SLOW Processes Of formation. and the
eihp'HiinS of remains Of the animal ana yeee-
'@ole NE 'f those ancient tines We're only IT.
'efpr''el Alright after Hutton. P.ayflir and
Cuvier wrestled with The problem
Ihasiiuch as the president 81 the British A.
ISOLATION this year is phys oiosist hi, opinions
regarding advances in biology are Of special .n
'rfest This department of knowledge deals
win the nature Of living things. and aids man
IN better understanding himself one NJ H..
great gains 81 the cantury is IN our insight into
nervous rhenoncna. We now know that Al..t
takes place along tiny thread SEE call a ner..
ibre differs from that whi u takes place alon.
ITS ieio" threads. that differing nervous ....
pulses travel along different nerve nbres. ami
that nervous and rsy hical events are the OUT,
cone IF thc rashing Of nervous impulses As they
sweep along the closely woven web 4 living
threads. Of which the brain is made We haV.
learned - experiment and observation that to-.
pattern Of The web determines th. play Of ,l.
impulses. and We can already explain many =
the obscure problems. not only Of nervous lis
eas-, bat Of nervous life. by an analysis that IS
tracking out the devious and linked paths "
nervous threads
b"f"ins great principle OF evolution now 50
HfAiy established. depend II largely FOR its con-
Yrcins power upon the revelations Of early
iorris If lite made 10y fossil deposits But for
s'pioeY evolution would have had hard tim.
IN gaining acceptance. Another class II nvi-
dci4ce. afforded only during the present century.
has also promoted faith in DarNinisrn. The
"arci notion regarding the processes which
take place in an egg while chick j. being
formed was that thu entir- creature lay thcf,.
coWp."t" but invisible 1t was not until
quarter of the present CENTURY had been added
t. the past. says ~ Michael that Won Earr
made known the result - his researches which
swept away tn old View once for all. H. and
others NorAing after MIN mad ii clear hat
each IndNidu put, On its fual form and
structure. not 10y an unfolding of pre-~xisting
hidden features. buy 10y the formation Of new
parts through the continued differentiation II
prui,iyciy simpi" material. It was also made
clear that the c.r~siNe changes which the
embryo uniersors in its pr,gre from the ovum
To maturity are H.. expression II morpho,usic
laws that the progress is one from the neral
% the special ana that the shifting scenes II
embryonic life arr hints and tokens ~ lives
lived hy anc, ~'or. in times long past In other
words the whole liue If d-s cnt from the lowest
10 th- highest form IS ,hadowcl forth by tho
successive stages Of development ~ ~ ind-
,.dual animal 90 man before birth