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slightest dependence to be placed upon it, whether there is any 

 foundation for the fact at all ? This, however, leads us to another 

 point worthy our consideration : the fact or circumstance may have 

 a very doubtful aspect, yet it may not be altogether untrue. 



It is remarked by one of the greatest thinkers of oui- day that 

 " not only is there a soul of goodness in things evil, but very gene- 

 rally also a soul of truth in things erroneous." Almost all our 

 beliefs are grounded upon something real however much that which 

 is real may have been distorted or exaggerated by report, or over- 

 laid with fiction, or incorrectly observed in the first instance from 

 hasty and careless examination. Hence all beliefs, especially those 

 widely embraced, or generally held in any particular place, and yet 

 more where there is agreement in the details among those who 

 profess them, deserve to be inquired into, however improbable the 

 things believed may be in themselves, and notwithstanding our own 

 strong persuasion that they are in the main erroneous. Truth and 

 error are so mixed up in this world that the man of science can scarcely 

 hope to have the one presented to him without more or less of the 

 other. Even that knowledge originating with himself is seldom to 

 be depended upon, till he feels sure that he has eliminated all 

 sources of possible mistake and deception. Sometimes generalisa- 

 tions long received as correct are found in fault and have to be set 

 aside ; or to be entirely recast in order to admit some new fact at 

 variance with all our old ideas on the subject. Look to the results 

 of the late deep-sea dredging explorations by Dr. Carpenter and 

 others, — the marvellous discovery of animals, even of a compara- 

 tively high organisation, existing at depths in the ocean where life 

 was formerly thought to be impossible, — along with other facts in 

 science — not only new — ^but spoken of as " diametrically opposed 

 to pre-existing beliefs." 



Indeed in Natural History the most startling facts are being 

 brought forward every year, showing how little we yet know of 

 the true order in which nature works, and how the supposed order 

 is from time to time broken in upon by anomalies we should never 

 have expected. The naturalist, and we might say the philosopher 

 generally, should be ready to believe everything not absolutely im- 

 possible, at the same time that he never give full credit to anything 



