TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS PRECEDES CELESTIAL. 179 



erics on the fall of heavy bodies.&quot; On this, our comment is 

 simply that it is a misrepresentation based upon an arbi 

 trary misuse of words a mere verbal artifice. By choosing 

 to exclude from terrestrial physics those laws of magnitude, 

 motion, and position, which he includes in celestial physics, 

 M. Comte makes it appear that the one owes nothing to 

 the other. Not only is this altogether unwarrantable, but 

 it is radically inconsistent with his own scheme of divisions. 

 At the outset he says and as the point is important we 

 quote from the original &quot; Pour la physique inorganique 

 nous voyons d abord, en nous conformant toujours a 1 ordre 

 de generalite et de dependance des phenomenes, qu tlle doit 

 etre partagee en deux sections distinctes, suivant qu elle 

 considere les phenomenes generaux de 1 univcrs, ou, en par- 

 ticulier, ceux que presentent les corps terrestres. D ou la 

 physique celeste, ou 1 astronomie, soit geometrique, soit 

 mechanique ; et la physique terrestre.&quot; 



Here then we have inorganic physics clearly divided 

 into celestial physics and terrestrial physics the pheno 

 mena presented by the universe, and the phenomena pre 

 sented by earthly bodies. If now celestial bodies and ter 

 restrial bodies exhibit sundry leading phenomena in com 

 mon, as they do, how can the generalization of these com 

 mon phenomena be considered as pertaining to the one class 

 rather than to the other ? If inorganic physics includes 

 geometry (which M. Comte has made it do by comprehend 

 ing geometrical astronomy in its sub-section celestial phy 

 sics) ; and if its sub-section terrestrial physics, treats of 

 things having geometrical properties ; how can the laws of 

 geometrical relations be excluded from terrestrial physics ? 

 Clearly if celestial physics includes the geometry of ob 

 jects in the heavens, terrestrial physics includes the geometry 

 of objects on the earth. And if terrestrial physics includes 

 terrestrial geometry, while celestial physics includes celestial 

 geometry, then the geometrical part of terrestrial physics 



