SCIENTIFIC NOTIONS OF THE ANCIENTS. 217 



see geometry used in elucidation of the laws of light ; and 

 in the other, geometry and arithmetic made to measure the 

 phenomena of sound. 



Did space permit, it would be desirable here to de 

 scribe the state of the less advanced sciences to point out 

 how, while a few had thus reached the first stages of quan 

 titative prevision, the rest were progressing in qualitative 

 prevision how some small generalizations were made re 

 specting evaporation, and heat, and electricity, and mag 

 netism, which, empirical as they were, did not in that re 

 spect diifer from the first generalizations of every science 

 how the Greek physicians had made advances in physiology 

 and pathology, which, considering the great imperfection 

 of our present knowledge, are by no means to be despised 

 how zoology had been so far systematized by Aristotle, 

 as, to some extent, enabled him from the presence of cer 

 tain organs to predict the presence of others how in Aris 

 totle s Politics, there is some progress towards a scientific 

 conception of social phenomena, and sundry provisions re 

 specting thsm and how in the state of the Greek socie 

 ties, as well as in the writings of Greek philosophers, we 

 may recognise riot only an increasing clearness in that con 

 ception of equity on which the social science is based, but 

 also some appreciation of the fact that social stability de 

 pends upon the maintenance of equitable regulations. We 

 might dwell at length upon the causes which retarded the 

 development of some of the sciences, as for example, chemis 

 try : showing that relative complexity hud nothing to do 

 with it that the oxidation of a piece of iron is a simpler 

 phenomenon than the recurrence of eclipses, and the dis 

 covery of carbonic acid less difficult than that of the pre 

 cession of the equinoxes but that the relatively slo\v ad 

 vance of chemical knowledge was due, partly to the fact 

 that its phenomena were not daily thrust on men s notice 

 as those of astronomy were ; partly to the fact that Nature 

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