IN SEARCH OF TRUTH 147 



to man. The whole truth never can be. Ultimate truth was never 

 in any man's possession. The unknown surrounds on all sides all 

 knowledge in man's possession. The beginning, the end and the rami- 

 fications are beyond his reach. He was not present when the founda- 

 tions of the universe were laid. He may not be present when they are 

 destroyed. But scientific knowledge, though limited, is practical and 

 positive so far as it goes. It rests on experiment and observation alone. 

 Every step in observation, experiment or induction has been tested by 

 thousands of bright minds. He is already a master in science who can 

 suggest even one new experiment. There is nothing occult or uncanny 

 in scientific methods. The e magic wand ' which creates new species 

 of horses or cattle lies in the hand of any stock-breeder. The magic 

 key of the electrician by which the foam of the cataract becomes the 

 light of the city may be held by any municipal council. To take the 

 illustrations given above, ' there is such a thing as a squash,' because 

 the assumption that the squash exists constitutes a safe basis for action. 

 On that hypothesis you can plant squashes or raise squashes or make 

 them into pies. The brightness of the brandy-colored world we can 

 not trust. It requires no scientific instruments of precision to record 

 the failure of the man who guides his life on a basis of impressions 

 made by drugs or stimulants. 



" The transit of Venus is no product of fancy. To the astronomer 

 the coming of the planet between the earth and the sun is as certain a 

 thing as the coming of the earth into its own shadow at night. The 

 one incident is more common than the other, but not more mysterious. 

 And to go to that part of the earth which is turned toward the sun at 

 the moment of transit is the simple common sense thing to do if one 

 wishes to see the transit. The island, the abandoned hut and the cook- 

 ing utensils were only incidents to the astronomer. To the natives 

 these were the only realities and the purposes of sciences were to them 

 unknown or absurd. To the man of common sense the digging for 

 treasure under the direction of clairvoyants seems ridiculous. The 

 operation does not become more wise when we see it through the eye 

 of science. Tested by instruments of precision, ' clairvoyance ' be- 

 comes a myth and such truth as its phenomena contains is explainable 

 in simple ways. 



" The spectroscope grows more real and more potent as we study its 

 methods and results. The divining rod is only successful through 

 ignorance or fraud. The process of weighing planets is open to all 

 who will continue their studies till they understand it. The test of 

 knowing is doing. The oceanic cable in the service of all who have 

 concerns in another continent. It hides no mystery save the one 

 eternal mystery of matter and force. The phenomena of telepathy 

 have fled before every attempt at experiment. The study of the ' X- 

 rays ' is as far from occultism or spiritism as the manufacture of brass 



