Address to the Sub-Section of Physiology of the British Association, Birmingham, 1865 / delivered by the President, Henry W. Acland.

  • Acland, Henry W. (Henry Wentworth), 1815-1900.
Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Address to the Sub-Section of Physiology of the British Association, Birmingham, 1865 / delivered by the President, Henry W. Acland. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    that I have been speaking of the intrinsic difficulties of biological study. If I have correctly, though bi-iefly, sketched the domain of Biology, the existence of these difficulties will be conceded. They are now insisted upon, not ceitainly so much for the sake of those skilled experts, our teachers, who are carrj'ing on the con- quest of Nature, as of those many cultivated learners who, from want of leisure, ca»nnot actively pursue, but who, from real interest, desire to aid and promote the study of Biology. For them it is desirable to take from time to time a general surA-ey of the aims and extent of Biology, in order that they may bring the weight of their influence in support—1st, of free, unfettered pursuit of Biology for its own sake ; and 2ndly, ot public education, such as may conduce in the next gene- ration to a just appreciation of its scientific, its educational, and its practical value. I am thus led to consider, 2ndly, the Prejudices of Mankmd, opiniuiies pr(ep(dicat(s in respect of Biology. These resolve themselves into Active Prejudices and Passive Prejudices. Active lead men to object to it as hai-mfulj Passive lead them to regard it with in- difference. These prejudices are rapidly undergoing modification, but they have existed hai-m- fully more or less, fi'om vaiious causes, among almost all but professed Physiologists. I need only advert among the Active prejudices to the so-called theological dread of free inquiiy into the origin of Races, and the origin of Species generally. Among the Passive prejudices, I would point to the want of appreciation of purely scientific inquiry that has no practical end in view; to objections of various kinds brought against experiments made for Physiological, Toxicological or Therapeutical pur- poses ; to objections to the introduction of Biological studies into courses of general education ; to the tardy recognition of Biological knowledge as the basis of practical Medicine, and of Hygiene, public and private. History gives the clue to the source of these prejudices, namely, the empirical assumptions of supposed truths made at fomier, and often ancient epochs, which have one by one to be eradicated from their respective departments before the advancing knowledge of ascertiiined Natural Law. What we see around us in the natm-al world is admitted on all sides to be the result of the operations of causes working by fixed laws. Why those laws exist, or how they came to be, it is not within the domain of Physical Science to discuss. What (in so far as they affect living beings) they are, and what the mode and limit of their action, including (of course) the mode and limits of their possible modifi- cation, is the special pro-vince of Biological Science. Science therefore is not only at Ubeily, but is bound, at all times to test the coiTectness of opinions which bear on or have relations to the subject matter of science, and do not appear to have been founded on adequate scientific evidence. A great part of the scientific work in the present century has been that of recasting or rejecting received dogmas. This work IS not yet complete, and possibly never will be. It is eiident that new means of research show the incorrectness of the belief of many of the gi-eatest minds. Plato was satisfied that the use of the Liver was to be the seat of prophetic agency for the soiU. Yet are we sure that, notwithstanding the researches of Bernard, Pavy, and others, we know even at this moment all the functions and uses of that organ ? How long since is it tliat taurine was found to contain 25 per cent, of sidphur, and was not, as had been supposed, devoid of that substance ? How complicated are tlie chemical questions ot the hepatic functions, when viewed as a whole through- out the animal series, may be seen by a glance at M. Milne-Edwards's summary of these questions in his elaborate work now in course of publication. The utmost toleration is required in dealing with the prejudices which we ai'e considering: among other reasons, because tridy there may be scientific prejudices as well as popular prejudices. A scientific man may become impatient of every opinion which rests ouly on probability; whereas some of the important issues of human affairs are not susceptible of absolute proof A physician or a la-svyer, or a moralist, who always refused to act on the greater probability would be a sorry adviser to his client. But the work of the chemist or the physiologist would be at once set aside if probability and not ascertained fact entered into his formula. Different subject matters are taught or studied with different dcgTees of cer- tainty, or by different methods; the methods and degrees of certainty must be