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mere reports of experience, traditions as it were of dreams, 

 as establishing or confirming their philosophy, and have not 

 hesitated to allow them the weight of legitimate evidence. 

 So that a system has been pursued in philosophy with re 

 gard to experience resembling that of a kingdom or state 

 which would direct its councils and affairs according to the 

 gossip of city and street politicians, instead of the letters 

 and reports of ambassadors and messengers worthy of credit. 

 Nothing is rightly inquired into, or verified, noted, weighed, 

 or measured, in natural history; indefinite and vague obser 

 vation produces fallacious and uncertain information. If 

 this appear strange, or our complaint somewhat too unjust 

 (because Aristotle himself, so distinguished a man and sup 

 ported by the wealth of so great a king, has completed an 

 accurate history of animals, to which others with greater 

 diligence but less noise have made considerable additions, 

 and others again have composed copious histories and notices 

 of plants, metals, and fossils), it will arise from a want of 

 sufficiently attending to and comprehending our present 

 observations; for a natural history compiled on its own 

 account, and one collected for the mind s information as 

 a foundation for philosophy, are two different things. They 

 differ in several respects, but principally in this the former 

 contains only the varieties of natural species without the 

 experiments of mechanical arts; for as in ordinary life every 

 person s disposition, and the concealed feelings of the mind 

 and passions are most drawn out when they are disturbed 

 so the secrets of nature betray themselves more readily 

 when tormented by art than when left to their own course. 

 We must begin, therefore, to entertain hopes of natural 

 philosophy then only, when we have a better compilation 

 of natural history, its real basis and support. 



