ON THE STUDY OF PHYSICS 313 



But while the scientific investigator, standing upon the 

 frontiers of human knowledge, and aiming at the conquest 

 of fresh soil from the surrounding region of the unknown, 

 makes the discovery of truth his exclusive object for the 

 time, he cannot but feel the deepest interest in the prac- 

 tical application of the truth discovered. There is some- 

 thing ennobling in the triumph of Mind over Matter. 

 Apart even from its uses to society, there is something 

 elevating in the idea of Man having tamed that wild force 

 which flashes through the telegraphic wire, and made it 

 the minister of his will. Our attainments in these direc- 

 tions appear to be commensurate with our needs. We 

 had already subdued horse and mule, and obtained from 

 them all the service which it was in their power to ren- 

 der: we must either stand still, or find more potent agents 

 to execute our purposes. At this point the steam-engine 

 appears. These are still new things; it is not long since 

 we struck into the scientific methods which have produced 

 these results. We cannot for an instant regard them as 

 the final achievements of Science, but rather as an ear- 

 nest of what she is yet to do. They mark our first great 

 advances upon the dominion of Nature. Animal strength 

 fails, but here are the forces which hold the world to- 

 gether, and the instincts and successes of Man assure him 

 that these forces are his when he is wise enough to com- 

 mand them. 



As an instrument of intellectual culture, the study of 

 Physics is profitable to all: as bearing upon special func- 

 tions, its value, though not so great, is still more tangible. 

 Why, for example, should Members of Parliament be 

 ignorant of the subjects concerning which they are called 

 upon to legislate ? In this land of practical physics, why 



SCIENCE V 14 



