ON THE PSYCHO-PHYSICAL VIEW OF NATURE. 547 



necessity of extensive statistical information before build- 

 ing theories. In one instance, that of language, his 

 advice was followed with signal success. 



But even some of the purely physical sciences, like 

 meteorology, are still almost entirely limited to statist- 

 ical information. 



Statistics have thus become a very important depart- 

 ment of knowledge, and before taking leave of the exact 

 lines of thought, it will be well to note more precisely 

 the part which these have played in our age, as also the 

 methods by which they proceed. This will be the 

 object of the next chapter, which will accordingly deal 

 with the Statistical View of Nature. 



