METAPHYSICS. 33 



is able to extinguish the fire, and twist the necks of 

 his judges. 



Eyes. 



The sun might shine for ever on living bodies 

 without the smallest approach towards the producing 

 of the sense of light; for the action of the rays of 

 light upon the surfaces of animals has no tendency to 

 breed eyes in their heads, or elsewhere.* 



Perfectibility. 



A careful distinction ought to be made between an 

 unlimited progress, and a progress where the limit is 

 merely undefined. 



The present object of the graziers in breeding Lei- 

 cestershire sheep, is to procure a breed with small 

 heads and legs, but we must not suppose they can 

 ever attain that degree of perfectibility as to make 

 heads and legs evanescent quantities. 



The Rule and the Exception. 



It is not to be expected that the exception should 

 become the rule, and the rule an exception. 



Good and Evil. 



Not being able to acquire a knowledge of the 

 essence and qualities of things which are external to 

 us, we are continually mistaking evil for good, and 

 good for evil. 



Fortune. 



Fortune (rv^) among the ancients seems to have 

 denoted a principle of fortuity, whereby things come 

 to pass without being necessitated thereto ; but what 



* It has been asserted that certain birds, not naturally aquatic, 

 have, by living a long time in marshes, become web-footed. 

 D 



