REFLECTIONS ON HEAT. 



THE most excellent gift which man has received 

 from the Author of his being is the power which 

 he possesses of freeing himself from the prejudices aris- 

 ing from the deceptive testimony of his senses, and of 

 penetrating into the mysteries of Nature. 



The animals see as we do, without doubt, that the 

 sun, moon, and stars rise and set ; man in a state of 

 nature, when his attention is aroused, discovers irregu- 

 larities in these movements ; the man of genius, how- 

 ever, does not allow himself to be deceived by appear- 

 ances, but causes to come forth from this confusion that 

 vast and wonderful system of laws which govern the 

 mechanism of the Universe. 



The first step in science is to observe facts attentively, 

 and in their proper connection ; the second is to learn 

 to doubt. The sublime in science consists in employ- 

 ing it to extend the power and increase the innocent 

 enjoyments of the human race. 



There is no branch of the physical sciences which is 

 so intimately connected with all the every-day occupa- 

 tions of man as that of Heat, and consequently there is 

 no one of them which interests him so closely. 



Fire is the most universal and active agent with 

 which we are acquainted, and it is to the power which 

 he has been able to acquire over this wonderful princi- 

 ple that man owes the supernatural strength which has 



