28 GENERAL YIEW AND BASIS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. 



entire domain of discoverable science, i.e. its complexity 

 will increase until a maximum is attained, and then be 

 gradually resolved into a simple yet complete system of 

 laws and principles in a similar manner. 



Another reason for concluding that the future of 

 science is immense is because, in a very large proportion 

 of new experiments, we are unable to predict the results 

 successfully. Knowledge of principles and laws enables us 

 to predict effects ; and the extent to which we are unable 

 to predict successfully indicates, in a rough sort of way, the 

 proportionate amount of such principles and laws yet to 

 be found. If we take 100 parts of a mixture to analyse, 

 and can only find 90 of them, we conclude that our know- 

 ledge of one-tenth of the bodies present is very incom- 

 plete ; and similarly, if in 100 proposed new experiments 

 we can only predict successfully the result of 10, the know- 

 ledge necessary to enable us to predict successfully the 

 remainder has yet to be obtained. In many cases, how- 

 ever, our predictions are true, although we are unable to 

 verify them, and allowance must be made for this circum- 

 stance. This inability to predict successfully occurs to 

 the greatest extent with the greatest discoveries, and was 

 specially true of the discoveries of electro-magnetism, and 

 the magnetic relation of light. 



As the human mind has discovered the present stock 

 of scientific truth, and is rapidly finding more and we 

 fully believe that what remains to be ascertained must be 

 of essentially similar character it is reasonable to suppose 

 that in course of time a vast deal more will be found ; but 

 how far man, with his finite intellect, will in the future be 

 able to explain the phenomena belonging to the various 

 parts of the universe, and successfully predict effects, no 

 one at present can even guess. It is, however, reasonable 

 to suppose that as the whole of nature is systematically 



