SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY. 11 



above us, what is there ? Other starry skies. Well, and what 

 beyond those ? The human mind, swayed by an invincible impulse, 

 will never cease to inquire what there is beyond, and there is no 

 point, in time or space, which can set at rest the implacable ques- 

 tion. It is no use to reply that beyond any given point there are 

 boundless space, time, or magnitude. Such words convey no 

 tangible meaning to the human mind. The man who proclaims 

 the existence of the Infinite (and there is no man who does not) 

 accumulates in that bare statement more supernatural elements 

 than are to be found in the miracles recorded in all rehgions ; for 

 the notion of the Infinite has this double character, — that it is at 

 once self-evident, that it forces itself upon the mind, and yet is 

 incomprehensible. When that notion masters our mind, nothing 

 is left for us but to bow down and kneel, and at that moment of 

 poignant anguish, a man must crave mercy from his reason." 



I have endeavoured in this paper to survey, somewhat practi- 

 cally, the subject of "Scientific Inquiry" in that aspect of it which 

 concerns the intellect, and have done so because I am convinced 

 that there is growing up with, many of those who are beginning to 

 apply themselves to scientific pursuits, an ill-regulated condition of 

 mind respecting things universally regarded as of first importance, 

 which, if not apprehended, may in time lead to a pronounced 

 dogmatism that will handicap all research. A few principles, or as 

 many proved facts of science, are often, now-a-days, all the provision 

 made by such persons with which to weigh each question that can 

 arise, in any way touching the origin of physical creation. 



I have previously remarked, that merely natural inclination 

 towards scientific pursuits will become most disastrous in its effects, 

 where such inclination takes the form of piracy rather than of hon- 

 est research. Give me a lad that will watch for half-an-hour the 

 movements of a common House-fly, and then go and use his 

 thoughts, and I hold him up as a pattern to such as are simply 

 " constant readers " of our Scientific Notices. Keen observation 

 is the only condition of ability to grapple with questions in which 

 the principles of physical, mental, and moral science are involved, 

 and this observation must be honest. A subtlety has laid hold of 

 many of the younger members of our Scientific Societies, of which 

 they seem to be unaware, and which is leading them, practically, to 



