INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 3 



I have premised the above for two reasons : first, to obtain 

 a fair hearing, by requesting as far as possible a dismissal 

 from the minds of my readers of preconceived views by and 

 in favour of which all are liable to be prejudiced ; and, 

 secondly, to defend myself from the charge of undervaluing 

 authority, or treating lightly the opinions of those to whom 

 and to whose memory mankind looks with reverence. Pro- 

 perly to value authority we should estimate it together with 

 its means of information : if ' a dwarf on the shoulders of a 

 giant can see farther than the giant,' he is no less a dwarf in 

 comparison with the giant. 



The subject on which I am about to treat viz. the 

 relation of the affections of matter to each other and to 

 matter peculiarly demands an unprejudiced regard. The 

 different aspects under which these agencies have been con- 

 templated ; the different views which have been taken of 

 matter itself; the metaphysical subtleties to which these 

 views unavoidably lead, if pursued beyond fair inductions 

 from existing experience, present difficulties almost insur- 

 mountable. 



The extent of claim which my views on this subject may 

 have to originality has been stated in the Preface ; they 

 became strongly impressed upon my mind at a period when 

 I was much engaged in experimental research, and were, as 

 I then believed, and still believe, regarding them as a system, 

 new : expressions in the works of different authors, bearing 

 more or less on the subject, have subsequently been pointed 

 out to me, some of which go back to a distant period. An 

 attempt to analyse these in detail, and to trace how far I 

 have been anticipated by others, would probably but little 

 interest the reader, and in the course of it I should constantly 

 have to make distinctions showing wherein I differed, and 

 wherein I agreed with others. I might cite authorities which 

 appear to me to oppose, and others which appear to coincide, 

 with certain of the views I have put forth ; but this would 

 interrupt the consecutive development of my own ideas, and 

 might render me liable to the charge of misconstruing those of 

 others ; I therefore think it better to avoid such discussion in 

 the text ; and in addition to the sketch given in the Preface, 



B2 



