DEGENERA TION. 



the stars, or of the joints of a beetle's leg. Science 

 cannot be identified with knowledge of any particular 

 class of objects, however detailed that knowledge may- 

 be. It is a common mistake to consider all knowledge 

 of raw products, of living objects or other natural 

 objects, as necessarily *' science." The truth is, that 

 a man may have great knowledge of these things as 

 so many facts, and yet be devoid of '' science." And, 

 on the other hand, that which is properly called 

 science embraces not only such subject-matter as 

 that just alluded to, but also may find its scope in 

 the study of language, of human history, and of the 

 workinsfs of the human mind. 



The most frequent and objectionable misuse of the 

 word ' science ' is that which consists in confounding 

 science with invention — in applying the term which 

 should be reserved for a particular kind of know- 

 ledge to the practical applications of that knowledge. 

 Such things as electric lighting and telegraphs, the 

 steam-engine, gas, and the smoky chimneys of fac- 

 tories, are by a certain school of public teachers, 

 foremost among whom is the late Oxford Professor 

 of Fine Art, persistently ascribed to science, and 

 gravely pointed out as the pestilential products of 



