Science in relation to mental and moral culture : the president's address delivered the Annual General Meeting, July 24th, 1880 / by T. Spencer Cobbold.

  • Cobbold, T. Spencer (Thomas Spencer), 1828-1886.
Date:
[1880]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Science in relation to mental and moral culture : the president's address delivered the Annual General Meeting, July 24th, 1880 / by T. Spencer Cobbold. 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.

    1/12
    Science in Relation to Mental and Moral Culture. THE PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS Delivered at the Annual General Meeting, July 2-Wi, 1880. By T. Spencer Cobbold, M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S. Gentlemen,—In selecting a subject on whicli to address you, I must apologise for stepping out of the more or less well beaten track of my predecessors. Doubtless the great success of this Club arises from the fact that its practical working rests upon the broadest possible basis ; that basis being but an expression of the principle of equal giving and receiving. As long as this principle of action is retained, and as long as its office-bearers continue to be animated by that unselfish spirit which formed so conspicuous a feature in the career of John Quekett, so longwill the Club that bears his respected name continue to flourish. As I do not despise the humblest efforts in microscopic in- vestigation, you will permit me to remind you that the ultimate aims and profits of science do not solely rest either with the power of appreciating the loveliness of the objects presented to view, or even with the accuracies of description that may be made to accompany specimens. We neither undervalue the beauties of external form nor the mechanical adaptations shown by the com- plexities of internal structure, when, taking all the characters of any given organism into view, we draw what may be termed the higher conclusions which their consideration legitimately yields. It is only by the philosophical method of which I speak that the full value and significance of Nature’s teachings are arrived at; and, moreover, in this way only cun the area of science become enlarged. To enlarge the borders of science is the object of every scientific association, arid we think that the practical work, as embodied in our proceedings and in the Journal of tb Jlub shows that, however inconspicuous that work may be, we have at leastsome clearly defined part and lot in this matter. The Club does notunduly flatter itself by fearlessly asserting that it contributes towards the “extension of the known.” Viewed broadly, that extension involves issues of the highest possible con- sequence to society in general ; for, it not only helps to advance the