XI PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE 367 



sense, we should call that an experimental verifica 

 tion. And, if still opposed, you go further, and 

 say, &quot; I have heard from the people in Somerset 

 shire and Devonshire, where a large number of 

 apples are grown, that they have observed the 

 same thing. It is also found to be the case in 

 Normandy, and in North America. In short, I 

 find it to be the universal experience of mankind 

 wherever attention has been directed to the sub 

 ject.&quot; Whereupon, your friend, unless he is a 

 very unreasonable man, agrees with you, and is 

 convinced that you are quite right in the conclu 

 sion you have drawn. He believes, although per 

 haps he does not know he believes it, that the 

 more extensive verifications are, that the more 

 frequently experiments have been made, and re 

 sults of the same kind arrived at, that the more 

 varied the conditions under which the same results 

 are attained, the more certain is the ultimate con 

 clusion, and he disputes the question no further. 

 He sees that the experiment has been tried under 

 all sorts of conditions, as to time, place, and people, 

 with the same result ; and he says with you, 

 therefore, that the law you have laid down must 

 be a good one, and he must believe it. 



In science we do the same thing ; the philo 

 sopher exercises precisely the same faculties, 

 though in a much more delicate manner. In 

 scientific inquiry it becomes a matter of duty to 

 expose a supposed law to every possible kind of 



