regulating Vital and Physical Phenomena. 831 



served facts through the medium of general laws to simple vital 

 properties ; and the term vital principle has been used as a con- 

 venient expression for the sum of the unknown powers, which 

 are developed by these properties in action. This at least is its 

 true signification among those who have not regarded it as a 

 distinct intelligent agent. But when these vital properties shall 

 have been so far unveiled, and their laws so fully ascertained 

 that we can reason deductively from them, then the term Vital 

 Principle will become wholly useless, except as a comprehensive 

 expression of the siim of the properties of living organized mat- 

 ter not possessed by bodies in general. But perhaps it may be 

 speculated without improbability that the vital and physical 

 properties of matter may ultimately be shewn to result from 

 some higher, more general quality ; an advance in the path of 

 philosopliy, should it ever be proved, far beyond any which 

 has been already attained, or which we have in immediate 

 prospect. 



8. The term laid, which has been already more than once 

 employed, expresses the conditions of action of the properties 

 of matter. The Divine Creator of the universe " has, by 

 creating his materials, endued with certain fixed qualities and 

 powers, impressed them in their origin with the spirit, not the 

 letter, of his law, and made all their subsequent combinations 

 and relations inevitable consequences of this first impression." * 

 In our study of the phenomena of nature, it is our object to 

 ascertain their laws by the inquiry into the conditions under 

 which the occurrences present themselves ; and a law deduced 

 from this source is nothing more than a general expression of 

 the conditions common to a certain class of phenomena, leading 

 us to the belief, that, under the same conditions, the same phe- 

 nomena will constantly occur. When this is found to be the 

 case by the experimental application of the law to unknown 

 cases, the law is said to be verified, and it may then fairly rank 

 as a general fact to be included with others of like standing in 

 a still higher expression of tlie conditions common to all these, 

 and therefore to all the particular instances included in them. 

 By successive generalizations of this nature, we aim to ascend 



" Hersiher!< Preliminary Discourse, p. 37- 



