The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-14


sentence in the paper of this author
is possibly the comment which he
makes upon the Spencerlan theory that
the spiritual is the Gnknowable. He
says:
THE true remedy for the evil Tof agnosticisnl
was to give up such abstract ways of thinking
and learn to think things together in other
words. To recognize the organic relation OF the
inner and outer life. and to explain the parts
by the whole, and not the whole by the arti-
tcially severed parts.
1t is a little curious to see how I'M
mistakably all these different writers.
each man of mark in his own line,
recognize the essential unity of all
thought in every line of experience
and imagination, and the absolute ne
cessity of reconciling the varying as
poets of existence and thus solving the
eternal riddle of the painful earth. -
In the Hegelian philosophy, as opposed
to that of Kant. we have a revival of
the idealistic philosophy, whose very
essence is the search for unity, for GEN.
trality, for that governing thought
which the religious call God.
Another great nineteenth century
movement is touched upon in the two
| following papers, On Medicine" and
Surgery" by William Osler and DR..
W. W. Keen, respectively. This is the
humanitarian movement. We lind dis
cussed in these the growth of pre-
ventive medicine, which arises from the
study of bacteria and chemistry, and
again proves the strength of the new
alliance of the sciences; in the second
paper is given the history of vaccina-
ton of anesthetics, and of antiseptic
treatment In the study of both these
branches of the science of healing, 1t
will be observed, more and more at
tention is given to preventive measures.
and to the general welfare. Mankind
is not content with curing the wealthy
and great; there must be care for the
Commonwealth. The oneness of the hu-
man race, the way in which all are
bound up together for good or i'll. has
been discovered, practically. within a
hundred years.
The next two papers are also akin in
subject The first, ON Electricity" is
by Prof. Elihu Thomson. and the sec
ond on Physics by Thomas c. Men
denhal The material progress of the
century has been sort of Intoxicating
draughC to the nations OF the world gem
orally. and it has had its different eff
feet on each. Some have been stupefied
and other eXhilarated. The things
which have been done are so mar
velous that it seems as if nothing were
electrician are familiar 20 everyone, for
they have come to pass almost within
one generation. In the realm of physics
We have four tremendous discoveries,
now such commonplace truths that few
people realize that they We're not al
ways known 10 man. The first was the
discovery of the nature of heat-that it
was a form of molecular motion and
not substance in itself The second
was the principle of the conservation
of energy. and here we have the sci
entists discovering once more their in
terdependence. Prof. Mendenhall points
out the fact that without the recog-
milton of the principle of the conserva-
ton OF energy chemistry would be an
impossible science; and he might have
added that evolution would also be i'm
possible. The third great event in the
history of physics in the last century
was the revival and establishment of
the wave theory of light; and the fourth
was the discovery of the relation be
tween electricity and magnetism dis
covery upon which most Of the useful
electrical inventions depend
The essay on Warfare" is the work
Ships by Captain Mahan Warfare
has naturally been dependent more or
less on all the sciences, and scientific
warfare has practically brought the
world to state of armed peace, since
strife is no longer a matter of indi-
vidual bravery. but Of carefully calcu-
lated resources. The way In which all
branches of human activity are being
brought under the domain Of acknowl-
edged law is strikingIy shown in these
two papers The change has been
tremendous one, and so unprecedented
in its nature that, as one cannot but
notice. even these two acknowledged
authorities would hardly be able to say
what the next development will | e.
Unlike other sciences, that of warfare
must finally, III its growth toward
mathematical certainty and the union
of forces, reach a point where it will
cease. In the paper on Engineering"
by Thomas c. Clarke, we find an ac-
count of some of the causes which have
contributed TO the present perfection
in warlike appliances, and also the
statement that the tremendous devel-
Opment of material prosperity was
caused by this same tendency toward |
union, which produced the alliance of |
scientists, inventors, and engineers--of !
the imagination, the brain, and the !
hand, the forth-leaping soul, the busy
mind, and the skillful hand
The paper on Literature" is by An |
drew Lang, and though he confines |
himself in the main to a catalogue Of |
the great writers Of the age, it Is to be |
noted that the great literary work !
of the nineteenth century Is the novel. |
In other words, the record of the evolu-
ton of a human soul. Here we have
once more the influence of the evolution
principle. Logic was in the air. The
man whose creative genius Is wholly
must stiS be logical. and
thus we have. not great imaginative
dramas, but realistic novels and ac-
rurate histories. This much one may
CLEAN from the somewhat brief and