THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



sically worthless as the rest, lived on as 

 a power in the world of thought because 

 of the ingenuity of his speculations, the 

 impressive beauty of their literary forms, 

 the vitality of classical superstition in 

 later ages, and because his system of 

 ideas has been supposed to favor the 

 fundamental beliefs of Christian theol- 

 ogy- 



But modern thought made a new 

 starting-point when it began formally 

 to build on the verities of Xature. A 

 new element was then introduced into 

 philosophy which was capable of giv- 

 ing it permanence. The discovery of 

 the laws of motion, for example, was 

 an intellectual acquisition to stand for- 

 ever. "When it was proved that the 

 earth is not the stationary center of 

 the universe, but only a revolving plan- 

 et, there was given, not only a new fact 

 for all time, but a fact that shattered 

 whole systems of pre-existing opinion, 

 and became a permanent element to fix 

 and regulate the future thinking of 

 mankind. In further instance, the dis- 

 coveries of the circulation of the blood, 

 of the laws of nutrition, of the double 

 action and reflex functions of the nerv- 

 vous system, revealed facts of enduring 

 moment which threw new light upon 

 the nature of man. The establishment 

 of the indestructibility ol matter, and 

 that all mutations of material things 

 are governed by this law, was a new 

 key to the understanding of our world 

 which can never be lost. And when 

 the kindred truth of the conservation 

 of energy, or that in the known course 

 of Nature force is never created or de- 

 stroyed — which Faraday pronounced to 

 be " the highest law in physical science 

 that our faculties permit us to per- 

 ceive"- when this mighty principle 

 was demonstrated, whole systems of 

 speculation were undermined, whole 

 realms of previous error were destroyed, 

 and the philosophical interpretation of 

 Nature was put upon a new and inde- 

 structible basis. We have given a few 

 illustrations of that element which it 



was the destiny of science to contrib- 

 ute, and by which it has formed a new 

 epoch of thought; but all the sciences 

 are full of this new element. It con- 

 sists of contributions of fact and law 

 standing in everlasting contrast with 

 the baseless and transient assumptions 

 of philosophers for the past two thou- 

 sand years. But the two thousand years 

 of empty philosophical speculation got 

 a mighty headway ; and, as our educa- 

 tion is still dominated by tradition, the 

 cultivated mind of the age, saturated 

 with the " history of philosophy," re- 

 mains blinded to the profound signifi- 

 cance of that revolution of ideas which 

 modern science has introduced. There 

 are i)lenty of men whose culture is so 

 full of the past that they are sure to go 

 on spinning systems fanciful and futile 

 as their predecessors ; but such work is 

 certain to become more and more anom- 

 alous and less and less regarded. For, 

 with the development of science, there 

 has come a new mental culture. Sci- 

 ence forms habits of thought. Pursued 

 in its true spirit it enforces a special 

 discipline in the study of truth. It cor- 

 rects credulity by a wholesome skepti- 

 cism; it affirms the sujjremacy of per- 

 sonal observation, and demands caution 

 in forming conclusions. All these re- 

 quirements are repressive of that wan- 

 ton exuberance of imaginative inven- 

 tion in which speculative genius is so 

 prone to indulge. The system-maker 

 of these times must Tcnow something, 

 must build upon previous acquisitions, 

 or he will neither be listened to by the 

 present nor have a hold upon the fu- 

 ture. The rapid growth of science in 

 these days proves that its education and 

 its disciplines have not been without 

 eflect, and it is not to be questioned 

 that its method is gradually extending 

 into all the spheres of mental activity. 

 There is here a new element of stability 

 in intellectual constructions of which 

 nothing was known in all the historic 

 epochs of speculation. 



The writer in the " Commercial " 



