282 FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



exercise songs new or old, festive or solemn ; the edu- 

 cation of the voice being the object aimed at, the songs 

 may be regarded as the means by which this education 

 is accomplished. I think this expresses the state of 

 the case more clearly than if we were to call the songs 

 a branch of education. Regarding also the education 

 of the human mind as the improvement and develop- 

 ment of the mental faculties, 1 shall consider the study 

 of Physics as a means towards the attainment of this 

 end. From this point of view, I degrade Physics into 

 an implement of culture, and this is my deliberate 

 design. 



The term Physics, as made use of in the present 

 Lecture, refers to that portion of natural science which 

 lies midway between astronomy and chemistry. The 

 former, indeed, is Physics applied to ' masses of enor- 

 mous weight,' while the latter is Physics applied to 

 atoms and molecules. The subjects of Physics proper 

 are therefore those which lie nearest to human per- 

 ception : light and heat, colour, sound, motion, the 

 loadstone, electrical attractions and repulsions, thunder 

 and lightning, rain, snow, dew, and so forth. Our 

 senses stand between these phenomena and the reasoning 

 mind. We observe the fact, but are not satisfied with 

 the mere act of observation : the fact must be accounted 

 f or fitted into its position in the line of cause and 

 effect. Taking our facts from Nature we transfer 

 them to the domain of thought : look at them, compare 

 them, observe their mutual relations and connexions, 

 and bringing them ever clearer before the mental eye, 

 finally alight upon the cause which unites them. This 

 is the last act of the mind, in this centripetal direction 

 in its progress from the multiplicity of facts to the 

 central cause on which they depend. But, having 

 guessed the cause, we are not yet contented. We set 



