Popular Science Monthly/Volume 52/November 1897/The British Association at Toronto
| THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT TORONTO. |
By Prof. DANIEL S. MARTIN.
THE meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, held in Toronto in August last, was an occasion of peculiar interest in many ways. The first visit of the association to America, thirteen years ago—the Montreal meeting of 1884—proved so successful and interesting that the invitation from Toronto, urgently pressed upon the body two years since, found a ready response, and has resulted in this important gathering. Our own association, meeting in Detroit during the previous week, had arranged the time and the place with reference to the other; and a large proportion of the American members, including most of those prominent in our association, came to Toronto and took a more or less active part.
The American members, indeed, were no strangers to Toronto, their experience when meeting in that city in 1889 having left a profound impression of the culture and the hospitality of that beautiful university town; so that all who had been there then were glad to revisit the place and renew their pleasing associations. Hence it came to pass that the recent meeting assumed an almost international character. Of the more than thirteen hundred people who attended, it is estimated that in a general way about one third were British members, one third Canadians, and one third from "the States."
Such meetings as this are good in every way. They bring together in bonds of common interest people widely separated by residence, by nationality, and by feeling; and they can not fail to help in the great object which all lovers of science and of humanity are seeking to promote—the era of universal brotherhood, of "peace on earth and good will toward men."
Some of the impressions of an American member attending this meeting, as to its varied aspects—scientific, political, and social—may be briefly presented in this article, which is intended less as a record of papers and proceedings than as a series of general notes.
Compared with the annual meetings of our own association, one fact attracts notice at once, as it did also at the American meeting in Toronto in 1889, to wit, the official recognition of such a gathering by the city and the provincial authorities, and the granting of liberal appropriations for the entertainment of the scientific visitors. In this case sums estimated at over twenty-five thousand dollars were appropriated, partly by the Dominion Government, partly by the Province of Ontario, and partly by the city, aside from private contributions and entertainments. Our association relies entirely upon the latter source; and its local committees in each place of meeting appeal wholly to wealthy and public-spirited citizens to defray the expenses of the occasion. Here comes to view one point of difference between our methods and those of a country equally free indeed, but in which there abides a slight flavor of that "paternalism" so jealously dreaded among our people.
It goes without saying, however, that in consequence of this liberal provision the meeting was brilliantly successful from a social point of view, the public gatherings and the viceregal reception by the Governor-General and his wife, Lady Aberdeen, being social functions of a very striking character. The scene at the great reception in the Parliament House was one never to be forgotten by those who witnessed it. The long line of invited guests moved slowly through the crowded hall, passing between statuelike guards, in scarlet uniforms or picturesque Highland plaids, to the low dais, where stood Lord and Lady Aberdeen, with Sir John Evans, president of the association, Lord Lister, the ex-president, Lord Kelvin, the greatest of living physicists, and a number of provincial and city officials. The spectacle was both brilliant and impressive, and illustrated a phase of life to which we Americans are strangers—the recognition of intellectual eminence with all the formal honors that official station and social rank can bestow.
At the opening meeting, on the first evening, Wednesday, August 18th, the spacious Massey Hall, in the heart of the city, was thronged. All around its horseshoe-shaped gallery were hung pennants, bearing the coats-of-arms of the past presidents of the association—an array of great names in the history of science. Herschel, Playfair, Tyndall, Huxley, Siemens, Lubbock, Rayleigh, among the great students and discoverers; the Prince Consort, Argyle, Salisbury, Vernon-Harcourt, among eminent public men; the Canadian Sir William Dawson, and many others, made indeed a "goodly company." Above the stage hung the arms of Toronto and of Evans. In a few very simple sentences Lord Lister handed over the presidency of the association to Sir John Evans, who then proceeded to deliver his formal address, to which reference will be made further on. At the close short speeches were made by the Governor-General, a man of tall and elegant aspect, of vivacious and rather youthful manner, and of great simplicity and cordiality in personal intercourse; then by Lord Kelvin, gray-haired and gray-bearded, wearing the elaborate insignia of the Grand Cross of the Victorian Order, who seconded the resolution of thanks to President Evans in a speech testifying his appreciation; and finally by Mayor Shaw, of Toronto, who put the resolution to vote. The manner of doing this differed constantly from ours; in no case were ayes called for, but the audience was requested to express its assent by applauding; this was done eagerly and warmly; and then, as the assemblage rose, it broke out into singing God Save the Queen as by a spontaneous impulse of loyalty.
President Evans is a bright, active-looking man, grizzled and elderly, but not aged, of medium stature, and with a pleasant though keen expression of countenance. There is nothing remarkable in his appearance, and one might pass him many times without imagining that he occupied so eminent a station in scientific circles. His address was one of much ability and great clearness, and developed some aspects of remarkable interest. His presentation of archæology as a true science, and of its relations to other departments, was admirable, and his concluding suggestions as to the immense break in time that intervenes between the palæolithic and the neolithic vestiges of man were striking and forceful.
The general feeling of cordiality toward the American visitors and members, which appeared in constant allusions, was early voiced in the address of Sir John Evans. After referring to the Montreal meeting of 1884, and now to this second visit of the British Association to Canada, he went on to say: "Our gathering this year presents a feature of entire novelty and extreme interest, inasmuch as the sister association of the United States of America—still mourning the loss of her illustrious president, Professor Cope—and some other learned societies, have made special arrangements to allow of their members coming here to join us. I need hardly say how welcome their presence is, nor how gladly we look forward to their taking part in our discussions and aiding us by interchange of thought. To such a meeting the term 'international' seems almost misapplied. It may rather be described as a family gathering, in which our relatives . . . intimately connected with us by language, literature, and habits of thought, have spontaneously arranged to take part. . . . Here on the frontier between the two great English-speaking nations of the world, who is there that does not inwardly feel that anything which conduces to an intimacy between representatives of two countries, both of them actively engaged in the pursuit of science, may also, through such an intimacy, react on the affairs of daily life, and aid in preserving those cordial relations that have now for so many years existed between the great American Republic and the British Islands, with which her early foundations are indissolubly connected?" President Evans then referred very gracefully to the recent incident of the "log of the Mayflower" as "an interchange of courtesies which has excited the warmest feelings of approbation oh both sides of the Atlantic—the return to its proper custodians of one of the most interesting of the relics of the Pilgrim Fathers"; and added the hope that this circumstance might be both an augury and a testimony of mutual regard and esteem between the nations.
This friendly and courteous tone toward Americans was indeed a marked and truly pleasing feature throughout the entire series of meetings; but, at the same time, no one could be misled. It was the tone of well-disposed neighbors, desiring to live in kind relations with us—the two peoples working out their problems and their destiny side by side, but separate. On the other hand, very striking and impressive were the tokens of Canadian national feeling, and Canadian love and loyalty to the empire and to the Queen. Every allusion to the sovereign, to the new ideal of the "Greater Britain," to the closer relationship between the mother land and the worldwide colonies, was received with outbursts of applause that betokened intense patriotic sentiment. The writer was much confirmed in the view, gained in previous visits to that region, that our people generally have no idea of the Canadians—of their resources and their spirit, of their national feeling and national pride, of their attachment to the empire of which they are a part. Joined to these there is more or less indicated a radical distrust of our methods and ideas, as compared with their own. Union or absorption with "the States" is as far as possible from the Canadian heart; and to one who considers impartially, it seems that a very long time must pass, and great changes be wrought in both countries, ere such an event can be other than a dream.
Nor is this a matter for regret; both peoples have their problems to solve and their work to accomplish; both have free institutions; both have energy, courage, and faith in themselves and their mission. As friends and brothers, each for itself, they can best develop this vast continent on the lines of Anglo-Saxon civilization. An enforced and uncongenial union could have no benefit for either people.
In welcoming the association at the civic reception on Wednesday afternoon, previous to the opening of the meeting, speeches were made by Lord Aberdeen, for the Dominion Government, and Mr. Shaw, the mayor, for the city—the Governor of Ontario, who was to represent the province, being unwell and not present. Mayor Shaw, alluding to the American visitors, expressed the feeling of the Canadians very aptly by saying: "They mingle with our people on the friendliest of terms; we are delighted to have them come, and sorry when they go away. They are our good neighbors—the Americans—but they are only our neighbors. You are more closely related; you are our own kith and kin, . . . though separated by three thousand miles of ocean."
President Evans's address dealt, first, with archaeology as a science; he drew a strong distinction between archæology and "antiquarianism," and developed clearly the relations that must exist between archaeology, geology, and palæontology, in order to results of any established value. Then, reviewing the history of the science, in which he referred to the fact that the term "prehistoric" was first employed by the late Sir Daniel Wilson, President of the University of Toronto, he passed on to consider its scope. With regard to all questions of human remains or traces prior to the Glacial time, in the Pliocene or earlier, he could see no evidences at all trustworthy, and many elements of serious doubt. But, "when we return to palæolithic man," he said, "it is satisfactory to feel that we are treading on comparatively secure ground, and that the discoveries of the last forty years in Britain alone enable us to a great extent to reconstitute his history." He dwelt at length on the enormous amount of physical change that has taken place in the face of the country since the earlier palæolithic remains were deposited in the gravel beds and caves, and the immense lapse of time thereby indicated. Passing to the question of the origin of palæolithic man, he emphasized the view that he must have reached Britain and northern Europe by migration from a more genial climate, where food was more abundant and clothing less needful, rather than have originated in that inhospitable subarctic region. He then pointed out the wide diffusion of precisely similar implements to those of the Thames and the Somme Valleys, through numerous points of discovery in the Mediterranean region, into northern Africa southward even to Somaliland, and eastward through the valleys of the Nile and of the Euphrates to the Narbuddá Valley in India. Here they are associated with a Pleistocene fauna, closely akin to that of Europe in palæolithic time, though perhaps a little earlier in type. Along these lines, and from one or other of these tropical sources, he would seek the distribution of palaæolithic man. But what of neolithic man? Here President Evans dwelt emphatically on the absolutely unbridged chasm that separates the two types. The closing portion of palæolithic time was marked by the presence of the reindeer in Europe, and by a diminution in the size of the stone hatchets, apparently corresponding with the disappearance of the great mammals of the earlier time. But there is no indication of a ground or polished implement. He inclines to the view strongly that, owing to failure of food or other causes, man died out in northern and central Europe, possibly lingering in the Mediterranean region, as at the cave of Mentone, but that for the most part Europe became uninhabited, and remained so for a long period. When neolithic remains appear, the country has reached the physical conditions of the present time, and there is every indication of a new migration from the east and south. In Egypt and in India finely polished implements are abundant at certain points; and these doubtless indicate the pathway of the second great migration, from which we may more or less dimly trace the beginnings of historic development.
In closing, Sir John Evans urged the importance of establishing a bureau of ethnology for the Greater Britain, as of immense value, not only to the student of anthropology and archæology, but in the practical intercourse of Government officials, travelers, missionaries, and explorers with the native races on the borders of the empire. He paid a handsome tribute to the work of our own Bureau of Ethnology, and also to the researches being carried on in the Dominion, partly by the Government and partly by a committee of the association. The project of such a general bureau had been urged upon the Government by the last meeting, at Liverpool, but so far no action had resulted, the question being one of expense. But if, by a better understanding of native tribes and their modes of life and thought, one "little war" could be avoided, the cost of such an institution would speedily be saved.
The American Association was very much in evidence during the sessions, a number of our leading scientists taking prominent parts. This was most marked in the departments of Geology, Geography, and Anthropology; less so in the other sections, although some able representatives were present in nearly all of them, and most of the sectional committees included one or more names familiar to attendants at the American meetings.
In the section of Anthropology, presided over by Sir William Turner—a portly, florid old gentleman, with white whiskers and a somewhat impressive manner—the first two papers read were by an American—and a lady—Miss Alice C. Fletcher, whose enthusiastic labors in the field of Indian folklore and traditions are familiar to all American scientists. Her interesting account of the significance of the "scalp-lock" among the Omahas, and of the mystical rites connected with it, giving an insight, as it did, into much that is obscure and unintelligible in the thought and the culture of these peoples, was received with great appreciation. Sir William Turner expressed not only his interest in the paper itself, but his admiration of the manner in which it had been given, and held up Miss Fletcher's delivery as a model to those who should further address the section. Another of the British members, who followed in the discussion, said that one of the objects of interest that had led him to cross the ocean to this meeting was the hope of seeing and hearing Miss Fletcher. Prominent in this section were also Prof. F. W. Putnam, so long the efficient secretary and now chosen as the president of the American Association, and Prof. W J McGee, of the Bureau of Ethnology, Prof. Edward S. Morse, and Lieutenant Cushing, of Zuñi fame. Professor Putnam explained quite fully the great Jesup expedition, now partly in the field, for the ethnological study of the shores of the North Pacific, with the object of obtaining light on the origin of the North American races. This led to an exceedingly animated discussion on the question of Asiatic or other migrations, in which Professor Morse, at the request of the chairman, took a leading part. He presented very forcibly, from his long and familiar acquaintance with Japan and the east coast of Asia, the notable absence among the American coast peoples of many, or nearly all, of the habits and utensils that are most widely and commonly diffused on the Asiatic side. On the other hand, he was inclined to trace some curious art resemblances from the Mediterranean, by the Canary Islands, to South and Central America. Sir William Turner then called on Lieutenant Cushing, who dwelt upon the spontaneous origin of peculiar forms of utensils and decorations, and the need of caution in drawing conclusions from resemblances. Another most active and interesting discussion was that held on the last day, before a joint meeting of the departments of Anthropology and Geology, which was again opened by Professor Putnam, on the subject of the evidence of Glacial or Pre-glacial man in America. His remarks were principally an account of the argillite implements from the Trenton gravels, first discovered by Dr. C. C. Abbott, and now being systematically worked for by Professor Putnam's assistants. He was followed by Professor Claypole, of Ohio, describing a finely chipped flint implement obtained in a deep well, firmly imbedded in glacial drift. The discussion was then taken up by Sir John Evans, who at some length expressed his dissent from the views thus far presented, holding that nothing had yet been found in North America that would properly be called palæolithic in the Old World—i. e., presenting certain types of shaping, and associated with a properly extinct fauna. If the remains thus found and described are truly associated with glacial deposits, then we can only say that the neolithic period extends much farther back in America than it does in Europe. Professor McGee followed in a somewhat similar strain, questioning the age of the beds. Professors Putnam and Claypole responded; and the whole discussion was a battle of chieftains on both sides, of great interest, but with little definite result. The foreign archæologists are indisposed to admit the remote age of our American specimens; and it is plain that a great deal remains to be done ere archæeology in this country can be definitely adjusted to a recognized correspondence with that of the European continent.
In the department of Geography, the opening address of Prof. J. Scott Keltie, on the areas of the globe that are yet unmapped and awaiting the explorer, included an able summing up of geographical progress during the Victorian era, embracing not only the opening of the unknown interior regions of Asia, Africa, and Australia, but the whole science of oceanography, and nearly the entire history of polar and circumpolar exploration. A figure of much interest was the explorer and "mighty hunter," F. C. Selous, of Africa, well known to all the tribes from the Zambesi to the Cape, whose paper, On the Economic Value of Rhodesia, was one that attracted much attention. It is said that Mr. Selous is the original after whom Rider Haggard drew his character of Alan Quatermain. Another leading figure was Sir George Robertson, the defender of the Chitral forts in the contest of 1896, who occupied the first place after the president's address with an illustrated paper on Kafiristan and the Kafirs. It was of interest also to see Prince Krapotkin, who presented papers in both this and the geological section, illustrated with maps, which he remarked had been kindly sent him from Russia after his escape from prison! American geographical work had a prominent place among the papers and proceedings of this section, as may be seen from the following list: Mr. Marcus Baker, Institutions Engaged in Geographical Work in the United States; Prof. W. M. Davis, Geography as a University Subject, and The Coastal Plain of Maine; Prof. R. E. Dodge, Scientific Geography for Schools; Mr. Henry Gannett (communicated by General Greely), The Material Conditions and Growth of the United States; Mr. F. H. Newell, The Hydrography of the United States; Prof. T. C. Mendenhall, The Geographical Work of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey; Prof. Charles D. Walcott (read by Prof. G. K. Gilbert), The Geographical Work of the United States Geological Survey.
The section of Geology was opened by the address of its president, Dr. G. M. Dawson, F. R. S., who gave an admirably clear and unbiased outline of the history and progress of Canadian geology, with special reference, of course, to the great labors and discoveries of Logan, Murray, Selwyn, and their co-workers in the Archæan and pre-Cambrian rocks of Canada. Professor Dawson well described and defined the Laurentian and Huronian terranes; but he does not favor the term Algonkian, and does not recognize it as expressing any definite system of rocks between the Huronian and the Cambrian. To go into any discussion of the many interesting papers in this section would be impossible within the limits of this, sketch. A large amount of attention was given to glacial geology, both by American and Canadian contributors—Professors Chamberlin, Fairchild, Gilbert, Hitchcock, and Willis among the former, and Professors Coleman, Spencer, Taylor, and Tyrrell among the latter. Mr. Tyrrell's account of the succession of the glaciers over Canada was of great interest, indicating three successive centers of ice-sheet movement over the region between the Rocky Mountains and Hudson Bay—the first western, the second central, and the third eastern. In the discussion that followed, some of the British members expressed great interest in this view, as corresponding with indications of a similar shifting of the glacial center of movement in Europe, but in the opposite direction—from the east westward. Prof. John Milne, who gave the evening lecture on Earthquakes and Volcanoes, laid before the section a report—the second made to the association—on Seismological Investigations, in which he developed some striking views. He regards the ocean floors as the great areas of instability and the seat of by far the chief part of seismic movements, and believes it probable that important faultings and sinkages are constantly occurring, and that such peculiar abyssal areas as the "Tuscarora deep," etc., and the frequent accidents to ocean cables, are evidences of this condition.
Passing over the sections devoted to biological subjects, zoölogy, botany, and physiology, in all of which the presidential addresses and the papers and discussions were of abundant interest, a few words must be given to those that dealt with other classes of facts—physical, chemical, and sociological. The address of Professor Ramsay on The Evidences for the Existence of a yet Undiscovered Gas coming between helium and argon in its density and its properties, and describing his elaborately delicate experiments to separate it, if possible, from helium—though as yet without definite result—was a striking example of the combination of actual physical experimentation with the most abstruse theories and problems as to the properties of matter. The paper of Professor Meslans, of Nancy, on his own and Moissan's process for the separation and liquefaction of fluorine, was a matter of extraordinary interest, as the experiment was conducted in the presence of the section. The number of physical and electrical papers was very large, and no attempt can here be made to discuss them. Section A, Mathematical and Physical Science, has subdivisions or "departments"—one on electrical science, one on meteorology, one on general physics, etc.—all of which were active during the meeting.
The section on Economics and Statistics had a smaller number of papers, but of a class that has great attraction for many minds, especially at the present time. Our own Labor Commissioner, Mr. Carroll D. Wright, presented a paper on The Relation of the Employment of Women and Children to that of Men; and various other papers, relating largely to American and Canadian problems as to finance, trade, taxation, etc., were read and discussed.
It remains to allude briefly to a few of the more general public occasions. There were two evening lectures delivered in Massey Hall, before referred to: one on Friday, by Professor Roberts-Austen, F. R. S., on Canada's Metals, and the other on Monday, by Sir John Milne, on Earthquakes and Volcanoes. Both of these were interesting and instructive. Professor Roberts-Austen, who now is to succeed the Hon. Mr. Vernon Harcourt, who resigned the office of general secretary after fourteen years of service, presented a very full account of the resources of the great Dominion in metallic wealth; and Sir John Milne gave a large amount of novel and striking matter in regard to earthquakes and seismology, derived from long residence and study in the restless region of Japan. Some of his large projected illustrations of earthquake action, as photographed in that country, were highly impressive.
The two universities, Toronto and Trinity, which have their beautiful buildings and grounds in the city, had both arranged to confer honorary degrees upon the leading officers of the association at a formal "convocation." The one held by the University of Toronto came first, and took place in the large pavilion building of the Horticultural Gardens, on the afternoon of Friday, August 20th. The scene was highly interesting; the president of the university, Dr. Loudon, in his academic gown, with the red-lined hood of a doctor of laws, announced in each case to the audience the action of the institution in conferring the degree; then, turning to the recipient, he addressed him in Latin with the words of formal investiture; and then called him forward to the front of the platform to sign his name in the volume of the university register, while the building rang with applause. The recipient, who also wore the redlined hood of his new doctorate, then responded in a short address. In succession this form was gone through for Lord Kelvin, Lord Lister, Sir John Evans, and Mr. Hardy, Attorney General of the Dominion. Prof. Wolcott Gibbs, President of the American Association, was also similarly honored, but he was unable to be at Toronto in consequence of illness.
The addresses made by the recipients were interesting as being characteristic. Lord Kelvin spoke, in his distinctly Scotch accent, as a univarsity man, of his interest in the univarsity, and his pleasure in receiving its honors as a tribute not to himself personally, but to the interests of science, to which he had devoted his life. He rejoiced in the growth and progress of Toronto University, its beautiful site, its noble buildings, and its great influence on education throughout the province; himself the son of a univarsity professor, growing up in the atmosphere of such institutions into his own career, first as a student and then as a professor, all his life had been spent in such relations, and he knew them and loved them best of all. Lord Lister spoke but briefly; he is a man of rather few words, with a sweet and genial benevolence of aspect that is characteristic of the kind, cultured, and aged physician. He could add little, he said, to what Lord Kelvin had already expressed, save to make some particular reference to the work of the university in establishing and advancing the high grade of medical education in the Dominion. Sir John Evans followed, and referred to the contrast between his own history and experience and that of Lord Kelvin, he never having been a university man, and having gained and learned whatever he had achieved without those early advantages and associations that were so rich and attractive. Other addresses were made by Mr. Hardy and the viceroy, Lord Aberdeen.
The convocation at Trinity University was similar in general character and aspect; but the beautiful chapel in which it was held was so crowded that the writer was unable to enter, and can not describe it in detail.
The conversazione, held on the last evening before the close of the meeting, in the main building of Toronto University, was a brilliant social reception, less formal than that of the viceroy, and unmarked by the military guards that formed so conspicuous a feature at the Parliament House, but in other respects equally handsome and equally thronged.
After the adjournment, on Wednesday, a banquet was given to the chief officers of the association, which is described by those present as again a very brilliant scene. The speeches that followed have been more or less reported in our public press, in particular that of Mr. James Bryce, on Jingoism, which has naturally attracted considerable notice. Of this, and the many kind and enthusiastic words that were uttered on this occasion, there is no space here to remark. Suffice it to say that there is a profound belief in the minds of cultivated and thoughtful men of both Britain and America that the real heart of each nation is friendly to the other, and that the harsh and reckless utterances of a sensational or partisan press are no index to the true feelings of the people. Lord Lister expressed this precise idea in a brief conversation with the writer, as Mr. Bryce has also most forcibly done in both public and private relations.
Other aspects of the meeting must perforce be omitted, although there is much temptation to linger upon them. The private hospitality so freely shown, the attractive lawn parties in beautiful grounds and houses of the city, such as "The Grange," where Prof. Goldwin Smith received the visitors, and many like occasions of social converse; the labors of the Local Committee, from the hard-worked and efficient secretary, Professor Macallum, to the many courteous assistants whose names are unrecognized and overlooked; the immense impetus given by such a meeting to many forms of scientific interest in the community and the Dominion, to bear fruit and achieve important results for years to come—all these, and many more, are subjects of delightful remembrance. For us, in "the States," there should be also the influence of a healthful pride and a kindly rivalry to strengthen and build up our own association, and to appreciate more than perhaps we have before its importance to the country and to science. The next meeting will signalize its first half century, and it will be held, very fittingly, in Boston. President Putnam, at the closing banquet, invited the British members to come over and be our guests in 1898. At all events, let us endeavor to make that meeting a memorable success, as was the British meeting at Toronto.