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If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this ebook. - -Title: The age of science - -Subtitle: A newspaper of the twentieth century - -Author: Merlin Nostradamus - -Release Date: October 31, 2020 [EBook #63581] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from - images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AGE OF SCIENCE *** - - - - - THE AGE OF SCIENCE. - _A NEWSPAPER OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY._ - - - BY - MERLIN NOSTRADAMUS. - - “Forerun thy time, thy peers, and let - Thy feet, milleniums hence, be set - In midst of knowledge dreamed not yet: - - · · · · · - - Thou hast not gained a real height, - Nor art thou nearer to the light.” - _Two Voices._ - -[Illustration] - - _LONDON_: - WARD, LOCK, AND TYLER, - WARWICK HOUSE, PATERNOSTER ROW. - - - - - LONDON: - PRINTED BY J. OGDEN AND CO., - 172, ST. JOHN STREET, E.C. - - - - - THE AGE OF SCIENCE - - -The greatest discovery ever achieved by man is beyond all question that -which it is now our privilege to announce, namely, that of the new -PROSPECTIVE TELEGRAPH. By this truly wonderful invention (exquisitely -simple in its machinery, yet of surpassing power) the obstacle of _Time_ -is as effectually conquered as that of _Space_ has been for the last -generation by the Electric Telegraph; and future years—even, it is -anticipated, future centuries—will be made to respond to our call as -promptly and completely as do now the uttermost parts of the earth -wherewith the magic wire has placed us in communication. - -For obvious reasons the particulars of this most marvellous invention, -and the name of its author, must be withheld from the public till the -patents be made out, and the enormous profits which must accrue from its -application be secured to the Company which is invited to undertake to -work it (with limited liability). We are only permitted by special -favour to hint that the natural Force relied on to set the machinery in -action is neither Electric, Magnetic, nor Galvanic; nor yet any -combination of these; but that other great correlated imponderable -agency, whose existence has been for some time suspected by many -intelligent inquirers, called the _Psychic Force_, whose laws of action -it has been reserved for this new and greater WHEATSTONE to develop and -apply to practical utility. That no scepticism may linger in the minds -of our readers, we desire to add that we have been gratified by the -actual inspection of several short fragments forestalled by this -invaluable process from the press of the next fifty, eighty, and one -hundred and thirty years respectively; and have at this moment in our -hands a complete transcript (the most important document of the series) -of a newspaper bearing date January 1st, 1977, photographed in a very -beautiful manner by the machine upon an enormous sheet of paper, which -was found needful to contain the type in the most compressed form. As -the printed matter of this gigantic periodical equals at least in bulk -the whole of Gibbon’s History, or Mr. Jowett’s edition of Plato, we -cannot attempt to do more than offer our readers a few brief extracts, -serving, however, we trust, as not inadequate samples of the literary -treasures which are shortly to be revealed to our curiosity, and -satisfying even the most incredulous that the invention of which we -speak has been crowned with triumphant success. We have only to add that -the great originator of this discovery entertains hopes that, by an -ingenious _inversion_ of the action of his machine, he may be able to -convert it, when required, into a RETROSPECTIVE TELEGRAPH, bringing back -the Past, as it already antedates the Future, and restoring to us all -the records of antiquity whose loss we have deplored, as, for example, -the Odes of Sappho, the missing Books of Livy, the Prometheus Unbound of -Æschylus, and the original MSS. of the Vedas, the Zend Avesta, and the -Pentateuch. The final completion of this latter discovery, however, is -scarcely perfected, and we shall not therefore pause to describe its -probable value, but proceed without further delay to put our readers in -possession of all the details for which we can find space concerning the -Newspaper of 1977, which has been very sagaciously selected by the -inventor as the first fruits of the working of his Prospective Machine. - -The name of this journal (which, we conclude, may be considered as the -_Times_ of the twentieth century) is - - THE AGE OF SCIENCE, - -and obviously refers with pride to the consciousness of its readers that -they live in a period of the world’s history when Science reigns supreme -over human affairs, having achieved unimaginable triumphs, and -altogether superseded most of the pursuits of mankind in ruder ages, -such as War, the Chase, Literature, Art, and Religion. This appropriate -title is printed, we may remark, in the largest and clearest possible -Roman type, instead of in the Old English character now commonly used -for a similar purpose. No fount, indeed, which we have ever seen -employed, save in a few old Italian folio _éditions de luxe_, has type -so large and legible as that in which the whole newspaper is printed, -the greatest care apparently being taken to spare the eyes—or perhaps we -should say the spectacles—of the readers, since, judging from the -opticians’ advertisements of “Spectacles for Infants,” “Spectacles for -Elementary Schools by the gross,” and “Cautions to Mothers” against -allowing babies to use their eyes, it would appear that unassisted -vision had become rare, if not unknown. There are ten columns on each -page, each ten times as long as it is broad, and there are a hundred -pages in the journal, proving that the decimal system has been -thoroughly adopted even in such details. Spread out open, the _Age of -Science_ would cover the floor of a very large hall, and we apprehend -from certain marks that a convenient method of suspending it on pulleys -from the ceiling, must have superseded our clumsy practice of holding -our papers with extended arms. - -Proceeding to peruse the intensely interesting contents of the _Age of -Science_, we first note that it is written in English differing from our -own chiefly by the use of a strange and, to our eyes, barbarous -orthography, (intended, we presume, to facilitate elementary education,) -and by the introduction of a vast number of technical terms of the class -we reserve for scientific treatises, but which are apparently brought -into use in everyday parlance. The familiarity of the contributors with -all gases, fluids, and substances of chemistry, all the bones of all the -beasts, birds, and fishes which live, or ever did live, on this planet, -and all the diseases incidental to humanity, speaks volumes for the -superiority of their scientific education over our own. At the same -time, on two or three occasions when illustrations have been chosen from -past History or Poetry, the writers betray that their studies have not -been much extended in the direction of Literature. One gentleman thinks -that Mr. GLADSTONE wrote the Iliad on hints afforded by Dr. Schliemann, -and that MILTON was the author of the Book of Genesis. Another refers to -the period when Rome was founded by ROMEO and JULIET, while a third -mentions the “once celebrated _Divina Commedia_ by MOLIERE,” and regrets -that “so curious a specimen of archaic Japanese art as Titian’s -‘Assumption’ should not have been spared from the pile in which the -‘Transfiguration’ of _Phidias_ and the ‘Last Supper’ of _Praxiteles_ -were so judiciously destroyed by order of the Committee of the Royal -Academy, to put a stop to the propagation of bad æsthetic taste.” For -the intelligence of our readers we shall be compelled to translate the -singular phraseology of the _Age of Science_ as nearly as possible into -familiar English, and our present spelling; and shall only quote a few -of the Leading Articles, touching on specially interesting topics, out -of the twenty-five which the vast newspaper publishes as its daily -contribution. - -The arrangement of the _Age of Science_ is a little different from and -more logical than that of our journals. The first page is rationally -devoted to TELEGRAPHIC INTELLIGENCE, which everyone may be supposed to -desire first to read. Instead of political news, however, or records of -battles, deaths of eminent personages, floods, storms, or fires, these -telegrams consist exclusively of minute verbatim reports of the -proceedings of above ninety Scientific Congresses, which seem to be -taking place at the same time in Europe, Asia, America, Australia, and -even in one instance (a Geographical Meeting) in Africa, on the shore of -Lake Albert Nyanza. The various sections of the British Association have -been obviously long broken up, and again divided and subdivided till -separate congresses have been found desirable for each department. - -It would occupy more space than the whole of this volume to offer even -the briefest condensation of these Reports, as the discussions and -papers of the learned members of the different congresses are carried on -chiefly in terms quite unintelligible to us, and refer to scientific -disputes to which we do not possess a clue. We must pass over these -columns of the _Age of Science_, and proceed to the next department, -which is a Report of the ASSEMBLY OF CONVOCATION—a topic which we were -surprised to find possessed such prominent interest, till we discovered -that the Convocation of 1977 will consist exclusively of Medical men. -The Upper House seems to be formed of Physicians and Surgeons who have -obtained titles of Nobility, and take rank according to the dioceses -over which they exercise medical supervision, and the Lower House to be -a representative body elected by medical graduates throughout the -kingdom. - -The meetings for the Province of Canterbury take place respectively in -Henry the Seventh’s Chapel, and in the nave of Westminster Abbey; -Jerusalem Chamber and the Board Room of the Bounty Office having -probably proved inconveniently small, and the whole Abbey (as we learn -accidentally from a paragraph in another part of the paper) having been -“set aside, since the Dissolution of the Churches, for the use of the -Medical Profession, and for anatomical and physiological lectures and -craniological researches, for which latter purpose the vaults beneath -offer peculiarly interesting specimens.” - -The Report runs as follows:— - - - _PROVINCE OF CANTERBURY._ - - UPPER HOUSE. - - SESSION CCXLI.—Monday, January 1st, 1977. - - The House assembled at eleven o’clock in Henry VII.’s Chapel, pursuant - to the order of prorogation. His Grace the Lord Archphysician of - Canterbury presided. There were also present the Right Rev. Lord - Doctors of Winchester, London, Oxford, Ely, Salisbury, Exeter, - Lincoln, and Peterborough. After the presentation of sixty-four - Petitions, a Report was received from the Venerable Congregation of - the Index, which was approved and ordered to lie on the table. Among - the works whose perusal will henceforth be prohibited to the laity - will be found all Medical Guides and Treatises on Domestic Medicine, - Household Surgery, and the like, which have pretended to direct the - multitude how to cure or prevent disease without the aid of a - physician. As the Lord Doctor of Lincoln judiciously observed, “the - heresy involved was precisely analogous to that of the old religious - sect of Protestants, who taught the ignorant laity that they might - save their souls without applying to a priest. Doctors,” his lordship - added, “were the appointed Ministers of the Body, and the man who - imagined his health could be saved without them would find out his - error when it was too late.” - - - LOWER HOUSE. - - The Doctors, Archdoctors, and Pro-Apothecaries constituting the Lower - House of Convocation assembled in the Nave of Westminster Abbey at 11 - o’clock. The Very Eminent Cyrup Camomile, M.D., Archdoctor of - Cheltenham, Prolocutor, presided. - - The Prolocutor having bowed to the busts of Hippocrates, Galen, and - Harvey (a ceremony which has been substituted for the old form of - prayers), præconization was taken by the actuary of the names of - members; assessors were appointed, and a multitude of petitions - presented. The Schedules of Gravamina and Reformanda were then called - for. Among the former the most important (which was sent up at once to - the Upper House as an _Articulus Medici_) was the gravamen of the - Archapothecary of Sarum, which set forth that, contrary the interests - of the profession and ordinary usage, a Coroner had been recently - elected for the county of Dorset who was not a Medical Man. Another - gravamen referred to the inadequacy of the fees to be legally claimed - by Doctors for granting Certificates of Birth, Vaccination, - Equination, Porcination, Sanitary Fitness for Factory or other - labours, Fitness for Marriage, and, finally, the most important - Certificates of having died under due Medical care and supervision, - and being consequently admissible for Cremation. - - Members were then called upon to give notice of motions, and - discussions followed on those of Sir William Puffin— - - That Convocation should remonstrate with Her Majesty’s Ministers for - the laxity wherewith the laws relating to Medical Heretics are - enforced. - - Of Sir Andrew Scrivener— - - That Convocation should desire Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for - Home Affairs to introduce immediately into Parliament a Bill - prohibiting Dinner Parties, exceeding seven persons in number, to be - held without the presence of a qualified Physician or Surgeon. - - Of Dr. Aqua Fortis— - - That a Bill should be likewise required, compelling Railway and - Steamboat Companies to employ, at suitable salaries, a staff of - properly qualified Surgeons, one of whom at least should travel by - every train and on every steamboat. - - And of Dr. Scurvydrop— - - That a Deputation from Convocation should wait on the Lords of the - Admiralty to remonstrate on the subordinate position allotted to - Surgeons on board Her Majesty’s Ships, and to demand that the Medical - Officer should at all times (except when the immediate conduct of the - ship is in question) takes precedence of the Captain as Commander. - - A similar motion was made by Dr. Turniquet for a deputation to the - Horse Guards on behalf of the Army Surgeons, and was, like all the - preceding motions, adopted unanimously. - -The Report concludes with the observation— - - As Parliament does not meet for another week, there must be a delay of - a few days before the recommendations of Convocation are carried into - effect, but it is unnecessary to remark that they will be adopted - unchallenged by the Legislature. Since the solemn Protest, carried by - the 50,000 doctors, who marched down Whitehall in procession, “against - the Interference of the Secular Power in Things Medical,” no Minister - of the Crown, much less any private member, has attempted to move an - Amendment to any of the numerous Bills presented by the profession. - -After the Report of Convocation, the _Age of Science_ contains one -column of STOCKS AND SHARES, not possessing any special interest for -readers of the present day, but appearing to prove, strangely enough, -that investments are much fewer than in our time, and cannot be made in -any Foreign securities. After these, in lieu both of NAVAL AND MILITARY -INTELLIGENCE, and of the CHURCH, five columns are devoted to MEDICAL -APPOINTMENTS AND PROMOTIONS, and to a considerable correspondence on the -proposed endowment of two new Physicianships (with seats in the House of -Lords) at St. Albans and Truro. After all these we find twenty columns -devoted to LATEST INTELLIGENCE, in short paragraphs, of which we cull a -few of the most interesting. - - - _OCCASIONAL NOTES._ - - The magnificent Joss House now in process of erection by the Chinese - of London forms a striking ornament to Regent Street, standing as it - does on the site of the old deserted Langham Chapel. It will, we - imagine, be the only place dedicated to religious purposes which has - been built during the last twenty years in the metropolis, and almost - the only one in actual use. Although we cannot, of course, ourselves, - as a Scientific nation, formally join in the worship of Buddha, we - must all regard with sympathy and satisfaction the honours paid to - that great Teacher by the very important section of our community, the - Chinese day labourers and domestic servants, of whom it is said more - than half a million have contributed to the erection and adornment of - this Temple. Considering the impossibility of inducing Englishmen to - undertake in these days the lower kinds of work, we should come - altogether to a standstill were it not for the tens of thousands of - industrious Chinese who have replenished our labour market. The statue - of Buddha is a noble work of modern sculpture by Mr. Merino. The - traditional pose of the crossed legs is slightly altered to bring them - within the rules of scientific anatomy, and the Sage is obviously - pondering those profound lessons of Pessimism (that it is a bad world - we live in, and that we need not expect a better) which have justly - secured for him the reverence of cultivated Europe. - - * * * * * - - An accident of the ordinary sort occurred last night to the new - Magnetic train, which was at the moment passing under the Channel, - about 10 miles from Dover. From messages sent by the portable electric - machine along the wires the moment before the catastrophe took place, - it would appear that the engineers have been again at fault in the - construction of the roof of the tunnel, and that the sea was rushing - in with such violence that little hopes were entertained of bringing - the train to the next watertight compartment. The result justified - these fears, for the whole compartment of the tunnel in which the - train was stopped is to-day entirely full of water, and it must be - assumed that the unfortunate passengers—numbering, it is supposed, - about 800—have been drowned like so many rats in a trap. The accident - is unfortunate for the proprietors of Submarine Tunnel Stock, and also - for several Insurance Companies, as extensive repairs will be - required; but Science teaches us to regard these occurrences with - composure, as serving to check the increase of a superabundant - population. - - * * * * * - - The Simian Educational Institute (on Frobel’s system), for members of - the Ape family, continues to attract the strongest interest. In - testing the educability of the Simian tribe we are solving one of the - most important problems of Science, and hitherto everything seems to - promise the triumphant success of the experiment. There are now among - the pupils at the Institute three Chimpanzees, whose grandfathers and - grandmothers have all been well-educated monkeys; so that the set of - the brain of these young people is already marked towards progress and - civilization. It is needless to observe that all the students are - required to wash and dress themselves every morning in the becoming - male and female habiliments provided by the taste of the Governors of - the Institute. Great pains are also taken with their manners at meal - times, and, to avoid temptation, nuts are not admitted at dessert. One - of the young gentlemen (Joseph Macacus Silenus, Esq., generally known - by his intimates as “Joe”) is said to exhibit extraordinary talents, - and to be able to answer any question in elementary science by means - of an alphabet and a system of knocks, which (in view of the yet - unconquerable speechlessness of monkeys) has been accepted as the best - substitute for language, having been formerly invented by an ingenious - race of impostors named Mediums, who flourished in the obscurity of - the Victorian age. The plan adopted in France, in deference to the - advice of the great French naturalist, M. Houzeau, to employ the - anthropoid apes as domestic servants, has proved, we are informed, - altogether successful in several families. Madame Le Singe, a fine - specimen of the Gorilla tribe, has acted for some months as - confidential Nurse in the family of a distinguished Member of the - Institute (M. Gobemouche), and is said to maintain discipline among - her charges excellently well. It is an instructive spectacle to see - Madame Le Singe walking on a fine day with the children, and pushing a - perambulator in the Gardens of the Tuileries. The more ordinary - employment found, however, for domestic Apes is that of cooks, when it - is observed they occasionally call in the services of the household - cat to assist them as kitchenmaid, especially when roast chestnuts - form part of the entertainment. - - * * * * * - - The cheerful ceremony of opening the new “Incineration Hall” was - performed an hour ago in Manchester by the Lord Doctor of Manchester, - attended by the Mayor. It is a magnificent building, with a furnace - capable of reducing 12 bodies at a time to ashes, which, after a - certain period, will be used in the manufacture of water-filters for - the drinking-fountains of the town. It is specially fortunate that the - Hall can be employed at once, since the number of persons despatched - by Euthanasia has been so great during the past week all over the - country that the other Cremation establishments have proved inadequate - to dispose of the corpses with sufficient rapidity. - - * * * * * - - An important addition has been made to that instructive place of - public amusement, the Zoological Gardens in Regent’s Park. The ground - formerly occupied by a great Dissenting College (long in ruins) has - been devoted to a department destined to contain those species of - animals which are rapidly dying out in Europe, and which, if not thus - carefully preserved, must soon be lost altogether to Zoological - science. Among these are the Ass, the Fox, the Dog, the Hare, the - Pheasant, and Partridge. In this age of Science it is, of course, - impossible to go on employing a creature like the Donkey, proverbial - for its intellectual deficiency, and we have no regret that only two - pair of animals of the species (both in the Regent’s Park collection) - now survive in England, though a few are said to linger in Egypt. - Connected with the dog (_Canis Familiaris_) there are so many - traditional records of sagacity, having a certain scientific interest - in connection with the form and size of its brain, that we should have - been glad if a more complete collection of the varieties could have - been preserved. The Foxhound, however, the Greyhound, Setter, and - Pointer, seem all to have become extinct within about thirty years of - the repeal of the Game Laws and the consequent cessation of held - sports; and several of the more favoured kinds of dogs—Italian - Greyhounds, Toy Terriers, Pomeranians, and Poodles—were, it is said, - privately destroyed by hundreds by their owners, who disgracefully - sought to withdraw them from the researches of physiologists. The - remaining kinds have been perhaps rather recklessly used by - vivisectors, whose ardour in the noble cause of science has caused - them to experiment, on an average, on about 14,000 dogs apiece (an - example originally set by the sainted Maurizio Schiff), and the result - has been that we only find at present twelve animals surviving, of - whom nine belong to the class Mongrel. One noble old Newfoundland, who - would have greatly graced the collection, was, it is said, drowned by - his owner last year under interesting circumstances. The dog was much - devoted to his master (a celebrated physiologist), and especially to - his boy, a child of six years old. One day the little fellow fell out - of a boat, and sank for the last time, when the dog arrived, and with - immense difficulty (the water being very deep and stormy) dived for - him and brought him safe to shore. The animal itself was so nearly - exhausted that its stertorous breathing and other symptoms suggested - to the physiologist the scientific interest which would attach to - watching it slowly drowning in a suitable vessel, where all the - conditions of that death could be accurately investigated on so large - a scale as that of a full sized dog. The learned gentleman - accordingly, in obedience to these fine and fleeting suggestions of - the intellect, drowned the animal in a tub in his physiological - laboratory as soon as his son was sufficiently recovered to witness - the instructive and entertaining spectacle. The dog, when withdrawn - half dead for a moment from the water, having attempted to lick the - boy’s face, the child was weak enough to implore his father to spare - it; but the learned gentleman of course pointed out to the boy the - folly of such a request, and the experiment was completed. We trust to - see this young gentleman hereafter as sound and eminent a physiologist - as his distinguished father. - -After some five columns more of similar _Intelligence_, the _Age of -Science_ proceeds to give its readers a few Reviews of Books. The -brevity of the remarks vouchsafed to these productions seems to indicate -that no great importance is attached to Literature properly so called, -but only to treatises on Physical Science. - -The Notices run as follow:— - - - _REVIEWS._ - - We do not usually in the _Age of Science_ intrude on the province of - the sixteen leading daily Scientific Newspapers devoted to critical - notices of the books which pour from the press on Electrology, - Physiology, Astronomy, Geology, &c. We are tempted to depart from our - rule, however, so far as to offer our meed of applause and - congratulation on the publication of the last of the six splendid - volumes forming the magnificent monograph on CHEESE-MITES, and the - still more costly and exhaustive treatise on the great mystery of the - FORMATION OF DUST IN DISUSED APARTMENTS. THE ANALYSIS OF THE DUST BIN, - which constitutes Book VIII. of this noble work, is a triumph of - scientific investigation and (to employ an obviously appropriate term) - of industry. In the inferior non-scientific walks of Literature we - find that no Histories have been published during the last - twelvemonth, and only one _Historical Essay_, namely:— - - _The Fall of the Church of England._ By the late (and last) Dean of - Westminster. The author of this book composed it, we are informed, - during his retirement in the Isle of Anglesea, whither, like most of - the clergy, and the Druids in former ages, he retreated after the - great victory gained by Science, when the Cathedrals and Churches were - made over by Parliament to the Medical Profession. The Dean traces the - fall of the Anglican Establishment to the disrepute into which it had - sunk in consequence of the folly of a party in the Church, who, in an - age of doubt and transition, when religion needed to be presented in - its most spiritual shape, made it appear by their practices a matter - of rites and forms altogether childish. It is quite possible that - these idle doings may have contributed to make sensible men impatient - and contemptuous, but we are persuaded that the abolition of the - Churches was due to a deeper and more widespread cause, namely, the - growth of that sound philosophy which recognises Matter as containing - itself the germ and potency of every form of life, and, of course, - dismisses the dream of a Soul in man, which might enjoy existence - after death. As soon as this great truth had had time to penetrate the - minds of the masses, the collapse of Religion obviously became - imminent. The sole attention and hopes of all classes have since been - confined to the preservation of health and the extension of life to - the utmost term of old age. That we have _bodies_, nobody can for a - moment question, and we properly recognise as our guides and masters - the Doctors who remedy their diseases. We have satisfied ourselves - that we have no _Souls_, and it would be truly absurd to expect of us - to maintain an order of clergy to undertake their “cure.” The - endowments originally devoted to the latter profession have been - naturally and fitly transferred to the former. - - - _POETRY._ - - _The Loves of the Triangles._ Reprinted from the _Anti-Jacobin_. We - rejoice to see the merits of this Poem recognised at last, and the - stupid idea of some dull critics that it was intended as a travesty - exploded in this graver age. With the exception of the _De Rerum - Natura_ of Lucretius, and of Darwin’s _Botanic Garden_, it is almost - the only poem bequeathed to us by the past worthy of retaining a place - in our libraries. - - _The Gout, and other Poems._ By the Poet Laureate. We warmly commend - this beautiful and affecting volume, especially to our youthful - readers. The accuracy wherewith the peculiarly poignant pangs of - Arthritis are delineated is beyond praise. We should, however, - recommend the omission of the episode of the patient’s marriage to his - shampooer. It is a tribute to that false taste which requires Poetry - to deal with Romance instead of with the facts of Science. - - - _FICTION._ - - _The Precession of the Equinox, and other Tales._ By Wilkinson - Collinson, Esq. This is a highly sensational story, and will sell like - wildfire at the bookstalls. The interest of the plot turns on the - phenomenon in question, but embraces subsidiary problems respecting - the sun’s path through the Zodiac. - - _Daniel Allround._ By George Evans. The chief attraction of this book - lies in the abstruse technical terminology which the author has - employed to illustrate profound observations of men and things. From - this point of view the work has a certain scientific value, but too - much space is lost by delineations of characters without tracing them - to the laws of Heredity. - - _Edwin and Angelina._ By J. Fitzparnell. Taking for his guidance the - observation of the immortal Bain, that the Tender Emotions are - exclusively Glandular Affections, the author of this charming novel - has afforded his readers a perfect study of the effects of each of the - passions—Pity, Sympathy, Regret, Disappointment, Hope, and Love—on the - various glands which they respectively affect. A simple love story - naturally describes each emotion in its turn, and allows us to pause - and acquaint ourselves with its physiological results. The lucid - explanation of the physiological reasons why Mothers love their - children is particularly valuable, as calculated to explode the last - stronghold of the superstitious reverence which was once paid to - parents among semi-civilized nations. - -After these critical Notices of Books, the _Age of Science_ proceeds to -offer the following remarks on Art and the Drama:— - - - _EXHIBITION OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS._ - - FIRST NOTICE. - - To-day being the first of the New Year, this Exhibition was as usual - opened to the public, and we think all true lovers of Art will agree - that it is a most satisfactory one, and displays more than the usual - average merit of our Exhibitions, whether we consider the aggregate - number of important works, their size, their execution, or the noble - prices they have realised to their authors; such prices having been, - according to the lately adopted custom, published in the catalogues - issued after the day of the Private View, when connoisseurs have made - their selection of the works not previously disposed of in the - _ateliers_ of the artists. This (which is, after all, the true test of - success) greatly enhances the interest of these catalogues, affording - a guide as to the degree of public favour in which the respective - artists are held. Reform in the Academy itself, so long demanded, has - been at last effected, in spite of all the obstacles thrown in the way - of the reformers, who desired to break down the monopoly so long - maintained by the painters and sculptors, who would only consent to - the admission of a limited number of architects and engravers into - their privileged body. Now, at last, the claims of all artists have - been recognised, and Decorators, Carpet-designers, Metalworkers and - Electrotypers, Wood Carvers, &c. &c., have been admitted within its - walls, and the magic letters R.A. may frequently be found attached to - the names of the leading members of many of our manufacturing firms. - In fact, we may say that Painting and Sculpture have found their - level, and now that the great canon of Art has been thoroughly - established, and it is acknowledged that _Utility_, not _Beauty_, is - its only legitimate aim, and Scientific Reality and Accuracy, not wild - attempts at attaining a so-called Ideality, its true goal of - perfection, the merits of these too-long unrecognised geniuses have - been found to surpass all others. The mechanical helps with which - Science has supplied us have rendered it possible to accomplish feats - of which our ancestors had no idea. Photography has enabled us to - reproduce all possible forms, thus securing, with great economy of - labour, the facile execution of stupendous works adapted for the - decoration of the outside as well as the inside of our buildings. In - this Exhibition, of course, these gigantic works cannot be seen, but - the smaller ones by the same artists give us good specimens of their - power. No. 3,004, for instance, is well worthy the attention of - visitors. It is intended, as the catalogue informs us, for the wall - decoration of the Terminus of the Great Central Balloon Station, and - gives a very wonderfully correct representation of the three Provinces - into which London is now divided, as seen from the distance of six - miles above the height of St. Paul’s. Every roof and chimney is - accurately represented, and every feature of the smallest interest, on - the scale of an inch to a mile. Portrait-painting may be said to have - been entirely superseded now that the Sun has been compelled to add - colour to form in the pictures taken by the photographic camera, and - Landscape Art has died out in its old inaccurate fanciful sense, - having been succeeded by a more scientific method of representing - Nature as she really is. The geological formation of every mountain, - the physiology of each tree and blade of grass, as determined by - expert geologists and botanists, will alone satisfy us in this age of - science, and we demand this accuracy from all who pretend to record - the aspect of our country. We find all these requirements met in the - works of the distinguished landscape painter of No. 60,072, “View of - the Great Smelting Works,” in the iron district, lately discovered in - the North of Scotland. We venture to affirm that none but a thoroughly - educated man of science could have painted the details of this - picture, and we cannot bestow higher praise. The “Interior of the - Factory,” No. 20,621, is also a work deserving of much commendation - for the minuteness of its detail, which must be examined with a strong - magnifier to be thoroughly enjoyed—the complicated arrangement of the - machinery escaping the naked eye; also the texture of the materials - which are being manufactured into webs of the most gossamer-like - lightness from heaps of rough coarse yarns and woollen threads. The - faces of the operatives are exquisitely rendered, and you seem to hear - the noise of the wheels and cranks. - - The Sculpture Gallery is perhaps less attractive to the general public - than are the pictures; still it contains some interesting works, and - the tailors and milliners who were consulted by the art critics as to - the details of the costumes of the portrait statues, gave their - opinion that very few errors had been committed this year, thanks to - the advice tendered by them at sundry lectures delivered on the - subject last summer. Our statesmen and benefactors are no longer - represented in dress, or undress, in which they were never beheld, but - in the exact apparel which they actually wore; and future ages will be - afforded a correct idea not only of their features, but of any bodily - defects they may have laboured to conceal. Thus an archæological and - historical interest will attach to these effigies, and truth will be - upheld. Science has done much for this art also. Mechanical means have - assisted this accuracy of representation—notably in the application of - metal, which can now be applied to the dress, &c., where great - elaboration of detail is required, so as to admit, for example, of - stamping out patterns in lace ruffles, and imitating the very texture - of the materials, while the resemblance to marble is perfect. - Especially useful is this invention for the application of colour; and - we defy anyone to detect the difference of substance without the - closest observation, such as a skilful workman alone could bestow. The - advantages offered by this discovery are obvious in the case of veiled - statues, so much admired by the British public. (See Nos. 720 to - 1,293.) We cannot bestow too much praise on the exquisite polish of - surface and delicacy of the workmanship of many of these works, - notably in the feathers of the bird’s wing in No. 2,320, “A Chinese - Scullion plucking a Goose.” Compare this with the rude and uncouth - attempts of the ancient Greeks to idealize the naked human form! - - - _THEATRES._ - - At this season in former times, when boys were foolishly allowed to - leave school for the holidays, the theatres (as some of us are old - enough to remember) were much frequented, and were principally used - for a silly kind of entertainment called Pantomimes. Of the three - theatres in London which still continue to be devoted to some sort of - dramatic performance, and have not been transferred into Lecture - Halls, one only (the _Gaiety_) seems successful this winter. Crowds - attend every night to witness “School,” a piece in which there is no - folly of love-making, but the anxieties of a Competitive Examination - for Honours in Science are finely realised. A tragic interest is - imparted to the plot by making the hero become insane just as he has - achieved the object of his ambition. At the _Haymarket_ there has been - a failure which we fear will result in the ruin of the lessee. This - enterprising gentleman imagined it might be possible to revive in - these days an interest in some of the old plays once popular in this - country, and after (it appears) long consultation and deliberation, - determined to bring the _Merchant of Venice_ upon the boards. It was - hoped that the proposal of one of the characters of the piece, named - Shylock, to cut a pound of flesh from another, and the discussion - whether this could be done without the effusion of blood, would excite - the interest of the spectators. Unfortunately, as the author of the - drama (Shakespeare, we are informed) stops short at the very crisis of - the physiological experiment, and allows the intended subject to - escape, the audience not unnaturally have exhibited disappointment, - and the piece has been pronounced a failure. - - At the St. James’s Theatre the manager has likewise made a mistake in - reviving Moliere’s _Malade Imaginaire_. We see no humour in this, - so-called, comedy. Where is the point, for example, of the supposed - jest of making the young medical student, _Thomas Diafoirus_, present - his lady-love with a ticket of admission to a dissection? The act was - a natural and delicate attention. - -The next department of the _Age of Science_ is very short as usual. - - - _COURT._ - - Her Most Gracious Majesty, accompanied by the Princess Urania, and - attended by Dr. Brown and Dr. Robinson, Lords Physicians in Waiting, - honoured Dr. Scalpel’s studio by a visit, during which Dr. Scalpel - exhibited to the youthful Princess several beautiful preparations of - various cutaneous diseases, and of the morbid anatomy of Lupus and - Elephantiasis. - - Sir R. Atmosphere, Astronomer Royal, Sir A. Diggory, Geologist in - Ordinary to her Majesty, and the eminent Chemist, Herr Von - Pestle-Mortar, had the honour of dining with the Queen at Windsor - Castle at 10 P.M. The Lord Doctor of Winchester, Her Majesty’s Medical - Confessor, said the new Grace (“May good digestion wait on appetite”) - at the commencement of the repast, and the Band, with chorus of male - and female voices, performed at the conclusion the Hymn, “Oh, take thy - pill,—Oh, take thy pill,—Oh, take thy pilgrim home.” - -In examining the journals of a foreign country, the intelligent reader -will generally be able to gather some insight into the habits of the -natives by passing his eye down the columns of advertisements and noting -the class of objects presented for sale. In the _Age of Science_ there -are no less than fifty the vast pages we have described devoted to -announcements and puffs of the most astonishing variety, including -hundreds of articles whose names and uses are at present quite unknown. -Of advertisements of servants and other persons requiring employment we -have not found a single instance, but there were at least twenty columns -of invitations to “Ladies and Gentlemen” to be so kind as to act for the -advertiser in the capacity of housekeeper, steward, superintendent of -the house, or some equally well-sounding office, the remuneration -offered being at the lowest, it would seem, about £200 a year, with “the -use of a steam carriage,” and “every other luxury desired.” - -We must, however, leave the columns of ADVERTISEMENTS for future -examination, and proceed to give an account of the more important LAW -AND POLICE REPORTS, which form, perhaps, the most surprising part of the -_Age of Science_. It would appear that it had become necessary to hold -assizes in at least twenty towns and villages in every county; and that -the judges were incessantly occupied with cases of robbery, garrotting, -arson, rape, stabbing, poisoning, and (strange to remark) a number of -offences with new names, of whose nature we can merely guess, but which -appear to involve mortal injury to the victim. The words employed, such -as “Debarrassing,” “Morbifying,” “Disbraining,” “Petroleumization,” -“Electroding,” “Mesmeraciding,” &c., seem to have become so common as to -need no definition, and to have taken their place in the statute book. -For all these crimes the same class of penalties are allotted; the -convicted persons are invariably sentenced by the presiding judge to so -many weeks’ or months’ detention—not in prison, but in the Penal -Hospitals of their respective towns or villages. The principle on which -crime is thus visited appears from the addresses of several of the -magistrates, who remark that the “diseased minds” exhibited by the -robbers and murderers “obviously require careful medical treatment,” and -that they trust that the eminent Physicians and Surgeons to whom the -prisoners are consigned will not fail to complete their cure. In -numerous cases, as the offenders have been sentenced many times -previously, the judge speaks of their crime as exhibiting “an -intermittent fever” of homicidal rage, or of covetousness. Remarks are -also always made by the reporters as to the “abnormal cerebral -development” or “morbid symptoms” exhibited by the criminals, and the -tone assumed in speaking of them (even in cases of what we should term -the most cruel and brutal murders) is invariably one of scientific study -and calm philosophic analysis. - -A very different method of treatment, however, is adopted towards -another class of offenders, whom it would appear the authorities in the -_Age of Science_ are determined to put down in grim earnest. That our -readers may not suppose we mistake the sense of the amazing paragraphs -in which these new features of English legislation appear, we quote them -as they stand in the _Age of Science_, pp. 63 and 64. - - - _POLICE._ - - At the Mansion House this morning, 79 men and 140 women were summoned - for the non-attendance of their boys under two years old at the Public - Infants’ Science Classes in the new Kinder Garten in the Tower. - Various pleas were, as usual, put forth by the defendants, purporting - to prove in some cases that the children were ill with small-pox and - scarlet fever, and in several instances that they were dying or dead. - Mr. Alderman Busby remarked that “if they were to listen to such - pleas, children would grow up to three or four years old without - learning even the rudiments of astronomy or palæontology.” He ordered - all the fathers to be publicly flogged, and the mothers to receive - each a dozen stripes of the birch privately, in the State Whipping - House, and to stand on benches for three days in the nearest - Elementary School during school hours. - - [Similar judgments are recorded at Westminster, Worship Street, - Clerkenwell, and several other police-courts in London and the - provincial towns.] - - - _MIDDLESEX SESSIONS._ - - The Duke and Duchess of Broadacres, the Marquis of Carabas, Lady Clara - Vere de Vere, and the Lady Adeline Amundeville were brought up (in - chains) to receive sentence on the charges (fully proved against them - last week) of having deceived the Officers of Domestic Inspection - respecting their own and their children’s Canination and Porcination. - It was shown that all the defendants had been Vaccinated according to - law four times during the last twelvemonth, and Equinated twice during - the late prevalence of glanders, but though Rabies and the Measles - were both known to be raging in London, they had not only neglected to - present themselves and their children at the Canine and Porcine - Stations in Queen’s Gate, but had deceived the Inspectors as above - stated by exhibiting the former scars for the latter. Being unable to - produce any medical certificate showing that they had obeyed the law, - and having been found “guilty” by a special jury (containing, of - course, the legal proportion—three-fourths—of Medical graduates), all - five prisoners were sentenced by Mr. Justice Draco to the extreme - penalty of the law. They will be vivisected for the instruction of the - students at the magnificent new School of Physiology in Carlton - Gardens, as soon after the opening of the session as may be - convenient. Some sympathy was expressed in court for the Duke of - Broadacres, who, being an elderly nobleman in feeble health, seems to - have feared superstitiously the processes (unknown in his youth) of - using, for the purpose of inoculations, the saliva from mad dogs, as a - preventive of hydrophobia, on the principle of “a hair of the dog - which has bitten you.” The expression of misplaced public - commiseration was instantly checked by the learned Judge, and the - prisoners were removed, exhibiting many signs of trepidation. Lady - Clara Vere de Vere implored that she might be even Ratified sooner - than given over to the students, but her request was, of course, - sternly refused. It is indeed specially fortunate that so sensitive a - subject as this young and delicate-looking lady is likely to prove - should fall, in course of law, under physiological investigation at - the moment when the exquisite experiments of Dr. Blacksmith on the - Nervous System are in course of exposition. - -Even these startling announcements, however, are less surprising than -the following:— - - - _SANITARY OFFICE._ - - Dec. 25, 1977. - - The proceedings of this most high and solemn Court in the Realm were, - as usual, held with closed doors. There were present five Lord - Doctors, and sentences were passed, after due deliberation, and (it is - rumoured) the application of the Question, ordinary and extraordinary, - on nine obstinate heretics. Three of these were members of that - fanatical sect, the Peculiar People, who refuse to consult physicians - on the ground of religious scruples—an instance of the survival of - outworn superstitions scarcely credible in this enlightened _Age of - Science_. One of these miserable delinquents, named John Nokes, - alleged that his twelve children had enjoyed unbroken health till his - youngest little boy cut his finger. The wretched father, instead of - hurrying instantly for the nearest surgeon, himself dressed the - child’s wound (which appears to have been superficial) with adhesive - plaster, and gave the child a fragment of toffee to stop his crying, - in lieu of the proper therapeutic remedies for the shock to the - nervous system which any medical attendant would have exhibited. The - crime came fortunately to the knowledge of the police, who immediately - brought the matter before the Sanitary Office. A second offender of - the same sect, named Styles, had, it seems, an attack of Podagra, but - took no advice, and having rather quickly recovered, was in hopes (it - is supposed) that his neglect to obey the law would pass undiscovered. - A crutch seen in his room raised the suspicion of a visitor, and the - offender was eventually arrested. When interrogated by the Lord - Presiding Doctor of the Sanitary Court as to the motives of his crime, - the man (as his sentence sets forth) actually dared to reply by - quoting a passage from an obsolete book, wherein it is narrated of a - certain King, “Now Asa was diseased in his feet, yet in his disease he - sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. And Asa slept with his - fathers.”[1] This narrative, as Styles had the audacity to argue, was - an authentic, and, indeed, inspired report of a fit of the gout—its - diagnosis, treatment, and the result. As he did not desire to “sleep - with his fathers,” he (Styles) had avoided consulting the physicians, - and had endeavoured to consult the Lord by following the dictates of - common sense, and the consequence was that he had recovered with - unusual rapidity. The Lord President was moved to great indignation by - the obduracy of this heretic. He remarked that the book which - contained such a passage—a volume which, he was happy to say, he had, - for his part, never read—ought to be burnt before the doors of the - London University; and as to the prisoner Styles, it would be useless - for him to hope to escape sharing in the same combustion. - -Footnote 1: - - 2 Chron. xvi. 12. - - After the Peculiar People, two Homœopaths were found guilty—one of - administering globules to an old woman, the other of refusing to join - in the processions on the 5th of November, when the busts of Hahnemann - are carried to be calcined. The remaining four heretics avowed belief - in as many different heinous errors. One gave credit to MICHEL’S - process for the cure of external cancer, another thought new-born - infants ought not to be dosed with castor oil; a third placed - confidence in bone-setters, and the fourth (a very old lady) retained - an infatuated preference for the remedies which were in vogue a - century ago—bromide of potassium and chloral—which, of course, have - been since peremptorily condemned and pronounced highly injurious by - the supreme authority of the Faculty. - - The aforesaid nine heretics, having been solemnly found “guilty,” - after due inquisition by the High Sanitary Office, were condemned as - contumacious by the Lord Presiding Doctor, and the Most Eminent - Doctors Pole, Gardiner, and Bonner, and were delivered over last night - to the Secular Arm. Piles are in process of erection in Trafalgar - Square. It is announced that Her Gracious Majesty Queen Mary III. will - preside at the execution, which will take place on Sunday morning - next, after hearing a Lecture on “True Medical Belief,” to be - delivered by Her Majesty’s Medical Confessor in Ordinary, Dr. Torr - Quemada, under the dome of St. Paul’s. - -Such is a brief abstract of these most astounding _Law and Police -Reports_ in the _Age of Science_. We make no comments upon them, except -the expression of our wonder at the similarity between the office and -behaviour of a Priest of Religion in the fifteenth century and a Priest -of Science in the twentieth. With complete citations of four out of the -twenty-five Leading Articles of the _Age of Science_, we must conclude -this imperfect but thoroughly reliable account of the remarkable journal -of 1977, whose discovery has been the glorious first-fruits of the -PROSPECTIVE TELEGRAPH. - - Since the epoch, now nearly forty years past, when SMITH made his - immortal discovery of the Army Exterminator, followed up so rapidly by - JONES’ invention of the Fleet Annihilator, international policy has - necessarily undergone a great modification. As war has become - impossible as an _ultima ratio_ in any case, and the principle of - Arbitration, on which such hopes were founded, has proved ineffective, - in consequence of the general refusal of the working classes to permit - their governments to pay the _amendes_ agreed upon by the Arbitrators, - a permanent state of discord between nations seems to have become - established. The dream of Free Trade having also been exploded, - following the example of the American Empire, at that time a Republic, - (prohibitive duties having been placed by the different States on - their own exports and the imports of other countries,) commerce is - undoubtedly, just now, considerably hampered. The immense facilities - for travelling which we possess, thanks to the æro-magnetic propeller, - have also their disadvantages, since the abandonment of extradition - treaties allows the criminals of each country to take refuge - immediately in the neighbouring State, when they happen to entertain - any serious objection to detention in the Penal Hospitals. For all - these drawbacks to our progress, however, SCIENCE will no doubt soon - provide an efficient remedy. - - We are on the high-road, it cannot be doubted, to a period of - prosperity and universal longevity (after all, the main object of all - rational ambition) such as the world has not hitherto beheld. - - The foreign news of the hour is somewhat unsatisfactory. In - consequence of the generally lawless condition of the Southern Russian - Republics, the great corn districts of those regions have for some - years been falling out of cultivation; and no hopes are entertained - that we shall be able to import any more grain from Odessa, or indeed - from any quarter of the world. In a similar way, the native rulers to - whom we restored what was formerly called our Indian Empire, and also - China after its brief occupation, have so far adopted American and - European ideas as to place for this next year such duties on rice and - tea as will almost prohibit the importation of those articles into the - English market, while they have positively forbidden the introduction - of English cotton or iron into their respective States. The bad and - deceptive quality of the goods furnished by our manufacturers is the - alleged cause of these unfortunate regulations. SCIENCE will, no - doubt, ere long enable us to supply the deficiencies thus caused both - in our Commissariat and the income hitherto derived from manufacture; - but, for the present, some anxiety is naturally felt in commercial - circles regarding these untoward events. Against all mishaps, however, - we rejoice to set the announcement—which will be greeted with - universal exultation—that the researches of the learned Professor - Coppervale respecting the animalculæ causing the Vine Disease, the - Silk-worm Disease, and the Potato Disease, have resulted in the - glorious discovery of a method of conveying the infection with - absolute scientific certainty from a plant or insect which has been - attacked to another still healthy. In this manner the vineyards of - Château La Rose and of Château Yquem have both been effectively - inoculated by the processes recommended by the English Professor to - the French Director of Agriculture; and the result is perfectly - satisfactory. Not a grape on either ground was available during the - last vintage for wine-making. In the words, then, of an illustrious - philosopher of last century, “From this vantage ground already won we - look forward with confident hope to the triumph of science over all - the loss and misery which the human race has experienced.” Anyone who - has eaten a grape infected with the _phylloxera_ according to - Professor Coppervale’s stupendous discovery, will have enjoyed a - foretaste of the triumph of Science in ages to come. - - * * * * * - - Considerable excitement prevails just now in many of our large towns - in consequence of the needful, but somewhat troublesome, formalities - required by law before any trade or handicraft may be exercised. - Blacksmiths’ apprentices, we are told, very generally resent the - necessity of passing their proper examinations in Metallurgy before - they are qualified to shoe a horse; and the Artificial Flower Makers - constantly evade attendance at the lectures on Botany, given expressly - for their benefit. The candidates for licenses as Cabdrivers have more - than once exhibited signs of discontent, when rejected on the grounds - that they failed to answer some of the simplest examination questions - on the principles of Mechanics applied to Traction, and on the - correlation of Heat and Motion, as discovered by the illustrious - author of “Heat as a Mode of Motion.” A strike (it is even rumoured) - is impending among the stonemasons and bricklayers and slaters in a - certain large city, because the Police, at the order of the - Magistrates, having brought up several members of those trade-unions - to the Local Examining Board for inquiry, it was elicited that none of - them had acquired a competent knowledge of Geology in general, nor - even of the formation of the strata of rocks wherewith their proper - business is concerned. - - These difficulties were to be anticipated in the progress of - Scientific knowledge among the masses, and we earnestly hope that no - proposal to relax the late very wise legislation will be made in - Parliament, but rather to reinforce the existing Acts by severer - penalties upon ignorance and inattention. Who can for a moment think, - for example, of allowing his shirt to be washed by a person who knows - nothing of the chemistry of soap, blue, and starch? or his dinner - cooked by a man who (however skilled in the mere kitchen art of - sending up appetising dishes) is totally ignorant of how much albumen, - salts, and alkalies go to the formation of vegetable and animal diet? - - A kindred subject of unreasonable popular dissatisfaction are the - Medical Certificates of good Health now legally required from men, - women, and children performing any kind of labour in factories, - warehouses, shops, fields, ships, or in domestic service. Obviously it - is impossible to certify the health of any individual for more than a - few days at a time, and the necessity which the recent Act enforces of - obtaining a fresh certificate (and, of course, paying the doctor for - it) every week, is felt by discontented persons as a burden unfairly - laid upon them by the State. We regret that the process is, in truth, - slightly troublesome and expensive (the _minimum_ fee for the humbler - trades is, as our readers are aware, half-a-crown; for exercising the - higher professions—artists, merchants, lawyers, &c.—5_s._), but it was - recognised so long ago as 1876 as a right principle of legislation in - the case of factory works, and it now forms so legitimate a source of - regular income to a large body of most respectable medical gentlemen, - who make it their business to grant certificates, that we cannot - imagine anyone being so ill-advised as to suggest the repeal of the - law. Of course the number of persons thus excluded from the labour - market is very considerable indeed, but we must accept such a - consequence as inevitable. Since cripples were rejected a century ago - for the office of schoolmasters and schoolmistresses, the practice has - been constantly followed of placing restrictions upon the feeble - attempts at industry of persons labouring under natural defects and - disabilities, and the Blind, for example, are no longer allowed to - compete with the seeing in making mats and baskets. For all such - wretched people there are open the proper asylums, the Hospital for - the diseased, and the Workhouse for the feeble, the maimed, the deaf, - and the blind. Charity itself can ask no more. The resistance of these - unfortunates against entering these institutions must be put down. The - world is, after all, made for the strong—the strong in mind, and the - strong in body; and the notion that it is our business to “bear each - other’s burdens” belonged altogether to an Unscientific age. What if - physicians and surgeons _do_ try experiments daily on the patients in - the hospitals, sometimes involving a good deal of pain, or loss of - limb or life? These people are fed and housed, and often extravagantly - fattened up on the most luxurious food, on the condition of serving - the cause of Science as subjects of experiments. And what, again, if - the children in the workhouses be given over now and then by the - Guardians, at the request of the Medical authorities, for vivisection? - They are nearly always placed under the influence of anæsthetics, - indeed, we may say invariably so, unless the object of the experiment - would be frustrated by their use. Could the humanest of our - humanitarians ask anything more? The rule of SCIENCE is the most - benign, as well as enlightened, the world has ever seen. - - * * * * * - - The sanitary interests of the community are now recognized on all - hands as the supreme concern of the State, as the care of his own - health and the prolongation of life at all costs are the chief ends of - each individual man. We therefore commence our yearly review by noting - in what manner the advance of SCIENCE, (in which lies our only hope,) - has contributed during the past twelvemonth towards this grand object. - - The foremost place of honour is, of course, due to the discovery of - the eminent Dr. Howlem of the scientific way to give Cholera; after - which we may reckon Dr. Mowlem’s short method of conveying the Plague; - and last, Dr. Bowlem’s most interesting and valuable plan for - producing Leprosy. These immense discoveries (effected, it is needless - to remark, by laborious pathological experiments on animals and - idiots) may well make the past year memorable in the annals of the - Science of Medicine; and though the particular specific remedies for - the diseases in question have not yet been ascertained by the Faculty, - we can scarcely fail to attain that secondary object ere long, - together with the proper treatment of Consumption, Scarlet Fever, and - other maladies which Science has been able to convey for the last - hundred years, and _must_ ere long find out how to cure. - - Next in importance to actual discovery we are inclined to place the - new Regulations which Parliament has laid down in obedience to the - High Court of Convocation. The absolute prohibition to Women to read - or write—even in cases where they may have formerly acquired those - arts (now recognised as so unsuitable to their sex)—will, we - apprehend, tell importantly on the health of infants, and of course - eventually on that of the community. So long as females indulged in no - more deleterious practices than dancing in hot rooms all night, - unclothing their necks and chests, wearing thin slippers which exposed - their feet to deadly chills, and tightening their waists till their - ribs were crushed inwards, the Medical Profession very properly left - them to follow their own devices with but little public remonstrance. - The case was altered, however, when, three or four generations ago, a - considerable movement was made for what was then called the Higher - Education of women. The feeble brains of young females were actually - taxed to study the now forgotten Greek and Latin languages, and even - Mathematics and such Natural Science as was then understood. The - result was truly alarming; for these poor creatures flung themselves - with such energy into the pursuits opened to them, that, as one of - their critics remarked, they resembled “the palmer-worm and the - canker-worm—they devoured every green thing”—and not seldom surpassed - their masculine competitors. At length they began to aim at entering - the learned Professions—the Legal, and even the Medical. Our readers - may be inclined to doubt the latter fact, which seems to involve - actual absurdity, but there is evidence that there once existed two or - three Lady Doctors in London, who, like Pope Joan in Rome, foisted - themselves surreptitiously into an exalted position from which Nature - should have debarred them. Of course it was the solemn duty of the - Medical Profession to put a stop at once to an error which might lead - to such a catastrophe, and numerous books were immediately written - proving (what we all now acknowledge) that the culture of the brains - of women is highly detrimental to their proper functions in the - community; and, in short, that the more ignorant a woman may be, the - more delightful she is as a wife, and the better qualified to fulfil - the duties of a mother. - - Since SCIENCE has thoroughly gained the upper hand over Religious and - other prejudices, the position of women, we are happy to say, has been - steadily sinking, and the dream of a Higher Education has been - replaced by the abolition of even Elementary Schools for girls, and - now by the final Act of last Session, which renders it penal for any - woman to read a hook or newspaper, or to write a letter. We anticipate - the very happiest results from this thoroughly sound and manly - legislation. - - The last sanitary event to which we need at present advert is the new - law by which, on the certificate of any single Medical Graduate that a - person is Insane, the police will be called on immediately to arrest - and consign him to such mad-house as the Medical graduate shall - appoint. The magistrate by whose order the arrest is made is left no - option as to obeying the Medical graduate’s certificate, and we are - glad also to see that, by another clause in the Act, the only - remaining difficulty connected with these Asylums has been removed. - None but a Medical graduate, responsible only to the great Medical - Trades Union Council, is henceforth eligible to the office of - Inspector of any Lunatic Asylum throughout the kingdom, nor can any - Justice of the Peace grant an order for admittance or search, except - to such a graduate. These wise and reasonable regulations will afford - much satisfaction to the Medical gentlemen who have undertaken the - arduous but not unprofitable profession of managers and proprietors of - Lunatic Asylums. - - * * * * * - - Our prognostics of last New Year’s Day have been amply justified by - the Summary of Crime for the past twelvemonth, which has just been - published, according to the excellent recent appointment of the - Registrar General of Offences. Crimes of the lesser class, such as - murders, poisonings, electroding and exploding, have indeed increased - considerably in number, and perhaps also in the degree of recklessness - and violence exhibited by the offenders; but on the other hand, as we - prophesied, those crimes which involve so much larger evils to the - community—the detestable Homœopathic and Hydropathic heresies, - Infidelity respecting the sacred doctrine of Evolution, neglect of - Schooling, and neglect of Equination, Vaccination, Canination, and - Porcination, have dwindled under the severe measures of punishment - which we urged for so long on a too lax legislature, but which have at - last been thoroughly enforced. We may really hope to see a few years - hence the Reign of SCIENCE so complete that no man, woman, or child in - the land will presume to whisper a doubt on any subject on which the - Sanitary Office has pronounced, or attempt to evade the seasons - appointed by authority for receiving the Rites above mentioned. The - Act passed at the end of the last century, whereby certificates of - Vaccination were substituted for all legal purposes for Baptismal - certificates, was the first step towards the happy order of things - under which we now have the privilege to dwell. - - Lest our readers should feel a not wholly unnatural anxiety, founded - on the admitted increase of the lesser crimes to which we have - adverted, we wish to remind them that such an occurrence was - inevitable on the final collapse of Religion, and that we must be - content to wait till Science shall have had time to substitute some - more effectual checks on human passions than it has yet been in our - power to apply. It is too obvious to need remark that since men have - learned that Death is the end of their existence, they must be - expected to seize more hastily and resolutely every pleasure which - life may offer, nay, that it would be absurd and unscientific to - expect them to do otherwise. Let us do justice to the old effete - superstition, and admit that the delusive notion that an invisible - Being watched human actions, loved good men, and would punish bad ones - in another world, if not in the present, was calculated to exercise - considerable influence of a beneficial sort on ordinary minds. Certain - types of character (not now, of course, to be found in the world) seem - to have flourished under the fictitious charm of these antique - ideas—characters exhibiting a certain courage and unselfishness, of - which it is scarcely possible to read without some little regret that - they are not conformable with sounder philosophic views of the nature - and destiny of man. People had, we must remember, in former days, four - distinct motives for doing good instead of evil. First, they believed - in an omnipotent Lord and Master whom they called “God.” 2nd, they - believed in a sacred internal Guide whom they called Conscience; and - 3rd, they believed in a peculiar principle of action which they called - Honour. After all these came the Criminal Law, ready to punish those - who neglected what were deemed to be loftier motives. Now we, in this - glorious _Age of Science_, must remember that of all these four - incentives to virtue only one remains. We know there is no God, or, at - least, that, if there be, he is Unknown and Unknowable; and we are - persuaded that Conscience is merely the inherited prejudice of our - barbarous ancestors in favour of the class of actions which were found - conducive to the welfare of the tribe. As to the Law of Honour, men - had already begun to forget what it signified a hundred years ago, - when the Age of SCIENCE was just dawning, for we find at that epoch a - writer of considerable pretensions, in a periodical called the - _Fortnightly Review_, actually asserting that its standard “is - submission not to Law but to Opinion ... deference to the opinion of a - particular class.” Up to that period we think it was universally - understood by “honourable” persons to signify, quite on the contrary, - Reverence for an inward standard of rectitude, truth, and generosity; - for a man’s own private sense of Honour and self-respect, which he - would not forfeit to gain the applause of a world. In our time, of - course, it is needless to say that all these fine ideal sentiments - have gone utterly out of vogue, and, having left them behind us, we - have only the Criminal Law on which to rely for the protection of life - and property. It is needless to repeat that the delusive exhortations - of some amiable but short-sighted philosophers of the last century to - “labour for the good of Humanity in future generations” (a motive - which they supposed would prove a substitute for the old Historic - Religions) have been once and for all answered by the grand discovery - of the Astronomers that our planet cannot long remain the habitation - of man (even if it escape any sidereal explosion) since the Solar heat - is undergoing such rapid exhaustion. When the day comes—as come it - must—when the fruits of the earth perish one by one, when the dead and - silent woods petrify, and all the races of animals become extinct—when - the icy seas flow no longer, and the pallid Sun shines dimly over the - frozen world, locked like the Moon in eternal frost and - lifelessness—what, in that day predicted so surely by Science, will - avail all the works, and hopes, and martyrdoms of man? All the stores - of knowledge which we shall have accumulated will be for ever lost. - Our discoveries, whereby we have become the lords of creation and - wielded the great forces of Nature, will be useless and forgotten. The - virtues which have been perfected, the genius which has glorified, the - love which has blessed the human race, will all perish along with it. - Our libraries of books, our galleries of pictures, our fleets, our - railroads, our vast and busy cities, will be desolate and useless for - evermore. No intelligent eye will ever behold them; and no mind in the - universe will know or remember that there ever existed such a being as - Man. _This_ is what SCIENCE teaches us unerringly to expect,—and in - view of it, who shall talk to us of “labouring for the sake of - Humanity”? The enthusiasm which could work disinterestedly for a - Progress destined inevitably to end in an eternal Glacial Period must - be recognised as a dream, wherein no man in a Scientific Age can long - indulge. - - There is, then, but one Method on which we can rely to repress human - passions and hold together the somewhat brittle chain of Society. That - method is the Scientific Treatment of Crime, under such conditions as - careful investigation and experiments may prove to be best suited to - effect its cure. We can hold out no supersensual motives to the - _Minds_ of the multitude, but we can treat their _Bodies_ in the very - best manner possible to render them virtuous and industrious citizens. - It is true that as yet the results of our efforts in this direction - have not been very satisfactory. The salutary processes employed in - the Penal Hospitals under the most eminent physicians have not been - altogether crowned with success; and crime of the violent kind - increases year by year almost in geometrical proportion. Nevertheless, - it would ill become any of us who have the privilege to live in this - enlightened age to entertain a shadow of a doubt that our Scientific - method is the right one, and that by-and-by (while we respectfully - wait the results of their experiments) our great Medical men will - discover the proper remedies for murder, rape, and robbery. For our - own part, it is superfluous to assure our readers, we retain - unwavering, unbounded faith in the resources of SCIENCE to provide a - perfect substitute for Religion, for Conscience, and for Honour. - - - J. OGDEN AND CO., PRINTERS, 172, ST. JOHN STREET, E.C. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. 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