10 PHYSIOLOGICAL REGULATIONS 



standing the apparent vagaries and diversities of living units 

 (§153). 



(4) Interrelations among measured phenomena become ex- 

 tended and multiple. A considerable part of scientific activity 

 (sometimes believed to be the whole of science) is the placing of 

 facts in relation to one another. It might be said that any datum 

 may be viewed in an almost infinite number of ways. Ordinarily 

 the first observer of fact A places it in relation with facts B, C, etc., 

 arbitrarily according to his own knowledge, interests, and interpre- 

 tations. This prejudices the future relations in which the fact A 

 will be thought of, considered, and used ; especially this limits the 

 relations of which the discoverer will think. Another person is, so 

 far as I can discern, freely entitled to reisolate the fact A and put 

 it in relation with facts D, E, etc. Often the second scientist will 

 put the fact A to as fruitful use as the first did. 



Nevertheless, the ignoring of those relations among facts that 

 have previously been promulgated, and the emphasizing of other 

 relations, often arouses resentment. Divorcing facts from conno- 

 tations is perhaps as important as, and is often more difficult than, 

 finding connotations for them in the first place. The plan of re- 

 cording an investigation is a responsibility ; but to enable another 

 to separate the observed fact from the scheme of representation is 

 also a responsibility. 



I know of no means of predicting beforehand which, of the semi- 

 infinite number of correlations that are possible, will prove to be 

 more interesting than the average, in the eyes of many generations 

 of scholars. After correlations are established, the positive and 

 negative ones look happier than the zero ones ; and those with small 

 perturbations have more statistical significance than others. But 

 it seems as though any correlation that is made, takes on signifi- 

 cance to the investigator as he observes it and thinks upon it (§ 144 

 and §150). Hypotheses are gradually formulated about it, and 

 an interrelation that to one physiologist looks arid will to another 

 be pregnant with meaning. 



Hence, the procedures are such as to emphasize : description of 

 relations, quantitative data and comparisons, generalization from 

 similarity of relations and multiple interrelations. No doubt the 

 conclusions to be found depend upon the particular data utilized; 

 insofar as they have been tested, the conclusions that are reached 

 appear to be of considerable generality. 



