58 



COSMOS. 



by a combination of molecules and atoms, whose number, 

 form, position, and polarity determine, modify, or vary phe- 

 nomena. 



The mythical ideas long entertained of the imponderable 

 substances and vital forces peculiar to each mode of organiza- 

 tion, have complicated our views generally, and shed an 

 uncertain light on the path we ought to pursue. 



The most various forms of intuition have thus, age after age, 

 aided in augmenting the prodigious mass of empirical know- 

 ledge, which in our own day has been enlarged with ever 

 increasing rapidity. The investigating spirit of man strives 

 from time to time, with varying success, to break through 

 those ancient forms and symbols invented, to subject rebellious 

 matter to rules of mechanical construction. 



We are still very far from the time when it will be possible 

 for us to reduce, by the operation of thought, all that we 

 perceive by the senses, to the unity of a rational principle. 

 It may even be doubted if such a victory could ever be 

 achieved in the field of natural philosophy. The complica- 

 tion of phenomena, and the vast extent of the Cosmos, would 

 seem to oppose such a result ; but even a partial solution of 

 the problem, the tendency towards a comprehension of the 

 phenomena of the universe, will not the less remain the 

 eternal and sublime aim of every investigation of nature. 



In conformity with the character of my former writings, as 

 well as with the labours in which I have been engaged during 

 my scientific career, in measurements, experiments, and the 

 investigation of facts, I limit myself to the domain of empi- 

 rical ideas. 



The exposition of mutually connected facts does not exclude 

 fhe classification of phenomena according to their rational 

 connection, the generalization of many specialities in the . 

 great mass of observations, or the attempt to discover laws. 

 Conceptions of the universe solely based upon reason and the 

 principles of speculative philosophy, would no doubt assign a 

 still more exalted aim to the science of the Cosmos. I am far 

 from blaming the efforts of others solely because their success 

 has hitherto remained very doubtful. Contrary to the wishes 

 and counsels of those profound and powerful thinkers, who 

 have given new life to speculations which were already fami- 

 liar to the ancients, systems of natural philosophy have in our 



