38 COSMOS. 



will justify the title I have ventured to adopt for my work, 

 and exonerate me from the reproach of a presumption that 

 would be doubly reprehensible in a scientific discussion. 



Before entering upon the delineation of the partial pheno- 

 mena which are found to be distributed in various groups, I 

 would consider a few general questions intimately connected 

 together, and bearing upon the nature of our knowledge of the 

 external world and its different relations, in all epochs of 

 history and in all phases of intellectual advancement. Under 

 this head will be comprised the following considerations : . 



1 . The precise limits of the physical description of the uni- 

 verse, considered as a distinct science. 



2. A brief enumeration of the totality of natural pheno- 

 mena, presented under the form of a general delineation of 

 nature. 



3. The influence of the external world on the imagination 

 and feelings, which has acted in modern times as a powerful 

 impulse towards the study of natural science, by giving ani- 

 mation to the description of distant regions and to the deline- 

 ation of natural scenery, as far as it is characterised by vege- 

 table physiognomy, and by the cultivation of exotic plants, 

 and, their arrangement in well-contrasted groups. 



4. The history of the contemplation of nature, or the pro- 

 gressive development of the idea of the Cosmos, considered 

 with reference to the historical and geographical facts that 

 have led to the discovery of the connection of phenomena. 



The higher the point of view from which natural phenomena 

 may be considered, the more necessary it is to circumscribe 

 the science within its just limits, and to distinguish it from 

 all other analogous or auxiliary studies. 



Physical cosmography is founded on the contemplation of 

 all created things, ail that exists in space, whether as sub- 

 stances or forces, that is, all the material beings that con- 

 stitute the universe. The science which I would attempt to 

 define, presents itself therefore to man as the inhabitant of the 

 earth, under a twofold form as the earth itself, and the regions 

 of space. It is with a view of showing the actual character 

 and the independence of the study of physical cosmography, 

 and at the same time indicating the nature of its relations to 

 general physics, descriptive natural history, geology, and com- 

 parative geography, that I will pause for a few moments to 



