MATTER AND FOROS. 383 
to know the causes of things, and surrounded by objects 
which excite its questionings, and raise the desire for an 
explanation. It is related of a young prince of one of the 
Pacific islands, that when he first saw himself in a looking- 
glass, he ran round the glass to see who was standing at 
the back. And thus it is with the general human intellect, 
as regards the phenomena of the external world. It wishes 
to get behind and learn the causes and connections of these 
phenomena. What is the sun, what is the earth, what 
shod Id we see if we came to the edge of the earth and 
looked over? What is the meaning of thunder and light- 
ning, of hail, rain, storm, and snow? Such questions 
presented themselves to early men, and by and by it was 
discovered that this desire for knowledge was not implanted 
in vain. After many trials it became evident that man's 
capacities were, so to speak, the complement of nature's 
facts, and that, within certain limits, the secret of the 
universe was open to the human understanding. It was 
found that the mind of man had the power of penetrating 
far beyond the boundaries of his five senses; that the things 
which are seen in the material world depend for their 
action upon things unseen; in short, that besides the phe- 
nomena which address the senses, there are laws and prin- 
ciples and processes which do not address the senses at all, 
but which must be, and can be, spiritually discerned. 
To the subjects which require this discernment belong 
the phenomena of molecular force. But to trace the 
genesis of the notions now entertained upon this subject, 
we have to go a long way back. In the drawing of a bow, 
the darting of a javelin, the throwing of a stone in the 
lifting of burdens, and in personal combats, even savage 
man became acquainted with the operation of force. Ages 
of discipline, moreover, taught him foresight. He laid by 
at the proper season stores of food, thus obtaining time to 
look about him, and to become an observer and inquirer. 
Two things which he noticed must have profoundly stirred 
his curiosity. He found that a kind of resin dropped from 
a certain tree possessed, when rubbed, the power of draw- 
ing light bodies to itself, and of causing them to cling to 
it; and he had also found that a particular stone exerted a 
similar power over a particular kind of metal. I allude, of 
course, to electrified amber, and to the loadstone, or natural 
magnet, and its power to attract particles of iron. Pre- 
