294 FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



during the acts of measurement and calculation, de- 

 stroys those notions of size which appeal to the poetic 

 sense. It is a mistake to suppose, with Dr. Young, that 



An undevout astronomer is mad ; 



there being no necessary connexion between a devout 

 state of mind and the observations and calculations of 

 a practical astronomer. It is not until the man with- 

 draws from his calculation, as a painter from his work, 

 and thus realizes the great idea on which he has been 

 engaged, that imagination and wonder are excited. 

 There is, I admit, a possible danger here. If the arith- 

 metical processes of science be too exclusively pursued, 

 they may impair the imagination, and thus the study 

 of Physics is open to the same objection as philological, 

 theological, or political studies, when carried to excess. 

 But even in this case, the injury done is to the in- 

 vestigator himself: it does not reach the mass of man- 

 kind. Indeed, the conceptions furnished by his cold 

 unimaginative reckonings may furnish themes for the 

 poet, and excite in the highest degree that sentiment 

 of wonder which, notwithstanding all its foolish vaga- 

 ries, table-turning included, I, for my part, should be 

 sorry to see banished from the world. 



I have thus far dwelt upon the study of Physics as 

 an agent of intellectual culture; but like other things 

 in Nature, this study subserves more than a single end. 

 The colours of the clouds delight the eye, and, no 

 doubt, accomplish moral purposes also, but the self- 

 same clouds hold within their fleeces the moisture by 

 which our fields are rendered fruitful. The sunbeams 

 excite our interest and invite our investigation; but 

 they also extend their beneficent influences to our 

 fruits and corn, and thus accomplish, not only intel-. 

 lectual ends, but minister, at the same time, to our 



