PREFATORY NOTICE.

be said to have changed as much in substance as in form. The new conceptions introduced into the Biological Sciences have revolutionised their points of view, methods of procedure, and systems of classification. In the light of larger and more illuminating generalisations, sections of the subject, hitherto only partially explored, have acquired new prominence and value, and are cultivated with the keenest interest. It is enough to specify the researches into the ultimate structures, serial gradations, and progressive changes of organic forms, into the laws of their distribution in space and time, and into the causes by which these phenome a have been brought about. The results of persistent labour in these comparatively new fields of inqui will largely determine the classifications of the future. Meanwhile the whole system of grot ing, and many points of general doctrine, are in a transition state; and what is said and done in these directions must be regarded, to a certain extent at least, as tentative and provisional. In these circumstances, the really important thing is, that whatever may be said on such unsettled questions should be said with the authority of the fullest knowledge and insight, and every effort has been made to secure this advantage for the New Edition of the Encyclopædia.

The recent history of Physics is marked by changes both of conception and classification almost equally great. In advancing from the older dynamic to the newer potential and kinetic conceptions of power, this branch of science may be said to have entered on a fresh stage, in which, instead of regarding natural phenomena as the result of forces actin between one body and another, the energy of a material system is looked upon as determined by its configuration and motion, and the ideas of configuration, motion, and force are generalised to the utmost extent warranted by their definitions. This altered point of view, combined with the far reaching doctrines of the correlation of forces and the conservation of energy, has produced extensive changes in the nomenclature and classification of the various sections of physics; while the fuller investigations into the ultimate constitution of matter, and into the phenomena and laws of light, heat, and electricity, have created virtually new sections, which must now find a place in any adequate survey of scientific progress. The application of the newer principles to the mechanical arts and industries has rapidly advanced during the same period and will require extended illustration in many fresh directions. Mechanical invention has. indeed, so kept pace with the progress of science, that in almost every department of physics improved machines and processes have to be described, as well as fresh discoveries and altered points of view. In recent as in earlier times, invention and discovery have acted and reacted on each other to a marked extent, the instruments of finer measurement and analysis having directly contributed to the finding out of physical properties and laws. The spectroscope is a signal instance of the extent to which in our day scientific discovery is indebted to appropriate instruments of observation and analysis.

These extensive changes in Physics and Biology involve corresponding changes in the method of their exposition. Much in what was written about each a generation ago is now of comparatively little value. Not only therefore does the system of grouping in there

sciences require alteration and enlargement; the articles themselves must, in the majority of instances, be written afresh rather than simply revised. The scientific department of the work will thus be to a great extent new. In attempting to distribute the headings for the new edition, so as fairly to cover the ground occupied by modern science, I have been largely indebted to Professor Huxley and Professor Clerk Maxwell, whose valuable help in the matter I am glad to have an opportunity of acknowledging.

Passing from Natural and Physical Science to Literature, History, and Philosophy, it may be noted that many sections of knowledge connected with these departments display fresh tendencies, and are working towards new results, which, if faithfully reflected, will require a new style of treatment. Speaking generally, it may be said that human nature and human life are the great objects of inquiry in these departments. Man, in his individual powers, complex relationships, associated activities, and collective progress, is dealt with alike in Literature, History, and Philosophy. In this wider aspect, the rudest and most fragmentary records of savage and barbarous races, the earliest stories and traditions. of every lettered people, no less than their developed literatures, mythologies, and religions, are found to have a meaning and value of their own. As yet the rich materials thus supplied for throwing light on the central problems of human life and history have only been very partially turned to account. It may be said, indeed, that their real significance is perceived and appreciated, almost for the first time, in our own day. But under the influence of the modern spirit, they are now being dealt with in a strictly scientific manner. The available facts of human history, collected over the widest areas, are carefully co-ordinated and grouped together, in the hope of ultimately evolving the laws of progress, moral and material, which underlie them, and which, when evolved, will help to connect and interpret the whole onward movement of the race. Already the critical use of the com-' parative method has produced very striking results in this new and stimulating field of research. Illustrations of this are seen in the rise and rapid development of the comparatively modern science of Anthropology, and the successful cultivation of the assistant sciences, such as Archæology, Ethnography, and Philology, which directly contribute materials for its use. The activity of geographical research in both hemispheres, and the large additions recently made to our knowledge of older and newer continents by the discoveries of eminent travellers and explorers, afford the anthropologist additional materials for his work. Many branches of mental philosophy, again, such as Ethics, Psychology, and Esthetics, while supplying important elements to the new science, are at the same time very largely interested in its results, and all may be regarded as subservient to the wider problems raised by the philosophy of history. In the new edition of the Encyclopædia full justice will, it is hoped, be done to the progress made in these various directions.

It may be well, perhaps, to state at the outset the position taken by the Encyclopædia Britannica in relation to the active controversies of the time-Scientific, Religious, and Philosophical. This is the more necessary, as the prolific activity of modern science has naturally stimuated speculation, and given birth to a number of somewhat crude conied

PREFATORY NOTICE.

tures and hypotheses. The air is full of novel and extreme opinions, arising often from a hasty or one-sided interpretation of the newer aspects and results of modern inquiry. The higher problems of philosophy and religion, too, are being investigated afresh from opposite sides in a thoroughly earnest spirit, as well as with a directness and intellectual power, which is certainly one of the most striking signs of the times. This fresh outbreak of the inevitable contest between the old and the new is a fruitful source of exaggerated hopes and fears, and of excited denunciation and appeal. In this conflict a work like the Encyclopædia is not called upon to take any direct part. It has to do with knowledge rather than opinion, and to deal with all subjects from a critical and historical, rather than a dogmatic, point of view. It cannot be the organ of any sect or party in Science, Religion, or Philosophy. Its main duty is to give an accurate account of the facts and an impartial summary of results in every department of inquiry and research. This duty will, I hope, be faithfully performed.

T. S. BAYNES

EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT.

IN N issuing this Subscription Edition of the ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, two objects have been kept mainly in view,—in the first place, to secure perfect accuracy of reproduction; and, in the second, to do this at a cost so moderate as to place the work within the reach of the public at large. These ends have, it is believed, been attained in the edition now offered to the American people. To secure absolute correctness in the reproduction both of letterpress and illustrations, this work has been printed from the original stereotype plates of the English Edition. In all essential respects, therefore, the work as issued in the two countries is the same.

so

A word or two may be added as to the special features which make the Ninth Edition of the Encyclopædia a considerable advance on the last. In reconstructing the work 80 as adequately to meet the requirements of advancing knowledge, it was found necessary, while retaining its main outlines, to modify and enlarge the original plan. The modifications are seen in the greater number of headings devoted to Science in its two great departments of Physics and Biology. The new features will be found chiefly under the heads of Literature, History, and Philosophy. In relation to the first, the present edition will contain an historical outline and review of all the literatures of the world, both in ancient and modern times. I may point to the articles on American, Celtic, Chinese, English, and French literature, as illustrations of this new and important feature.

In the department of History, special attention has been given to the most fruitful branch of modern inquiry and research-the history of early culture, the growth and gradual development of primitive ideas, laws, customs, and institutions, as well as to the conditions and principles of social progress in historical and civilized communities. In a word, every effort has been made to represent in outline the circle of inquiries included in the modern sciences of Anthropology and Sociology.

EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT.

In the biographical section, all the more important names connected with science, literature, and public life find a place. But this rule applies only to the completed record of illustrious lives, contemporary names being excluded, as, apart from the invidious task of selection, any attempt to deal, even in outline, with living men of eminence would have seriously changed the character of the work.

In Mental Philosophy and the important topics connected with Biblical Criticism, Theology, and the Science of Religion, the distinctive change in the new Edition relates to the method of treatment. In the first place, these subjects are dealt with at greater length, in harmony with the keen, intelligent, and general interest now concentrated upon them. In the second place, they are uniformly looked at from the critical and historical rather than the dogmatic point of view, as that best fitted both to the character of the work and the requirements of the modern reader. In relation to all important points still under discussion, the aim is to give a full and impartial outline of the actual state of the question. These lines have I believe, been carefully followed in the volumes already published, and they will, as far as possible, be faithfully adhered to in those which

are to come.

In enumerating some of the features of the new Edition, it may be added that special attention has been devoted to the Geography, History, and Institutions of America, and that to obtain thoroughness and accuracy in this department, the services of well-qualified American writers have, as a rule, been secured. This was, indeed, essential to the character and aim of the work as an authoritative book of reference for English-speaking communities in every quarter of the globe.

THOS. S. BAYNES.