410 ACTUAL WORKING IN ORIGINAL RESEARCH. 



ledge of nature, including that of the human mind. The 

 man who is the most Ignorant of the great principles of 

 natural phenomena cannot possess the most intelligent 

 idea of their ultimate cause ; it is, however, often those 

 who know the least of its effects who profess to know 

 the most of the Ultimate Cause. As man himself is 

 but a very insignificant part of creation, a study of 

 him alone imparts a far more inadequate idea of the 

 Ultimate Cause of all natural phenomena than that of 

 the great principles of science in all departments of 

 nature ; and it was not by a partial study of mind 

 alone that the greatest truths of science were discovered, 

 nor is it by means of such a study alone that the most 

 intelligent idea of an ultimate cause is being disclosed. 

 Every man's idea of an ultimate cause depends upon his 

 conceptions and knowledge ; and as these are different in 

 every different person, so is the idea of an ultimate cause. 

 With regard to the conception of an ultimate cause, as 

 with all other profound ideas and questions, men usually 

 venture to entertain any notion, whether true or false, 

 which most pleases their feelings, and run the risk of the 

 consequences ; and they do so because indulgence in such 

 ideas is often a pleasing mental change. 



As all the natural changes by which we are surrounded 

 result from the molecular motions in bodies, and from 

 alterations in the universal ether which pervades all bodies 

 and all space, and as we know but little of either of these, 

 the comparatively essential causes and conditions of things 

 are to us an almost inscrutable mystery ; for instance, the 

 essential natures of time and space are utterly unknown to 

 us. The ultimate essences of all things, like infinite 

 existence, are quite beyond our comprehension. 



It is highly necessary to distinguish between real and 

 apparent causes when investigating or explaining physical 



