OF A SCIENTIFIC COSMOGRAPHY. 



31 



apprehend the present without understanding 

 the past. Each penetrates the other, and blends 

 in a natural picture of the globe ; just as in the 

 vast domain of language, the etymologist finds 

 reflected in various states of grammatical forms, 

 in their rise and progressive development, the 

 whole of the present in the past. But this re- 

 flection of what has been, is by so much the 

 clearer in the material world, as we now see 

 several products forming themselves under our 

 eyes. Among mountain masses, to choose an 

 example from geology, trachytic cones, basalt, 

 layers of pumice and amygdaloidal scoriae, en- 

 hven the landscape in a remarkable manner. 

 They work upon our imagination like tales from 

 antiquity ; their form is their history. 



Existence in its whole extent and intimacy 

 is first completely known as a something that 

 has become. To this original blending of con- 

 ceptions, classic antiquity bears witness in the 

 use of the word History, both by Greece and 

 Rome. If not included in the definition which 

 Verrius Flaccus(") gives of the term. History 

 is used in the zoological writings of Aristotle 

 to signify a narrative of things investigated, of 

 matters recognized by the senses. The de- 

 scription of the World of the elder Pliny bears 

 the title Historia Natural is ; in the letters of 

 the nephew, it is more worthily designated " a 

 History of Nature." In the times of classical 

 antiquity, the early historian makes little dis- 

 tinction between descriptions of countries and 

 the narrative of events of which these countries 

 were the theatre. Physical geography and his- 

 tory continued long to present themselves pleas- 

 antly mingled together, until increasing politi- 

 cal interests, and deeper movements in civic ex- 

 istence, pushed aside the former element, which 

 then took its place as a separate department of 

 human science. 



To embrace the multiplicity of the phenom- 

 ena of the Cosmos in unity of thought, in the 

 form of a purely rational series, is not, as I 

 conceive, possible in the present state of our 

 empirical knowledge. The sciences of experi- 

 ment are never complete ; the realm of the im- 

 pressions of sense is not to be exhausted ; no 

 generation of men will ever have it in their 

 power to boast, that they have surveyed the 

 whole of the world of phenomena. It is only 

 where phenomena can be grouped, and separ- 

 ated from one another, that we recognize in 

 the individual groups the empire and agency of 

 grand and simple natural laws. The more the 

 physical sciences improve, the wider also does 

 the boundary of this empire extend. Brilliant 

 instances of the truth of this have been afford- 

 ed by recent views of the processes going on 

 in the solid crust of the globe, as well as in the 

 atmosphere, which depend on electro-magnetic 

 forces, on radiant heat, and the propagation 

 of pulses of light ; brilliant examples, too, are 

 supplied by the late insight gained into the laws 

 of organic evolution, where all that is to be, is 

 indjcated beforehand, where the continuous 

 growth and progressive development of cells 

 give rise to all the varied tissues of plants and 

 animals. In this generalization of laws, which 

 at first seemed only to comprise much narrow- 

 er circles, mere isolated groups of phenomena, 

 there are numerous grades. The empire of 

 recognized laws gains in extent, that of ideal 



connection in clearness, so long as inquiries 

 are pursued in what may be called analogous 

 and allied masses. But where our dynamic 

 views, which are based on figurative atomic 

 premises, no longer suffice us, because the spe- 

 cific nature of matter, and its heterogeneous- 

 ness come into play, we find ourselves striking 

 suddenly upon reefs that rise from fathomless 

 depths, when we strive after unity of compre- 

 hension. Here the operation of a new kind of 

 force is unfolded. The law of definite propor- 

 tions, or numerical relations, which the genius 

 of modern chemistry has recognized, and has 

 applied so happily, so brilliantly, but still under 

 an antique vesture, in th'e symbols of atomic 

 representative expressions, has yet remained 

 isolated, has not been brought under the do- 

 minion of the laws of pure dynamics. 



The individualities to which all the imme- 

 diate perceptions of the mind are limited, can 

 be logically arranged into classes and families. 

 Such arrangements lead, as I have already had 

 occasion to remark, in so far as Nature is con- 

 cerned, to the high-sounding titles of Systems 

 of Nature. They facilitate the study, it is true, 

 of organic forms and their linear enchainment 

 with one another ; but as catalogues, they pre- 

 sent a mere formal enumeration ; they intro- 

 duce more of unity into the exposition than 

 into the knowledge itself As there are de- 

 grees in the generalization of natural laws, 

 according as they comprise larger or smaller 

 groups of phenomena, wider or narrower cir- 

 cles of organic forms and members, so are 

 there also grades in empirical inquiry. It be- 

 gins with isolated views, which are separated 

 and ordered according to their kinds. From 

 observation it goes on to experiment, to evo- 

 cation of phenomena under determinate con- 

 ditions, according to guiding hypotheses ; in 

 other words, according to the presentiment of 

 the intimate connection of natural things and 

 natural forces. What is attained through ob- 

 servation and experiment, leads, on grounds 

 of analogy and induction, to the knowledge of 

 empirical laws. These are the phases through 

 which observing intellect must pass, and which 

 indicate, at the same time, particular epochs 

 in the history of natural science among men. 



Two forms of abstraction dominate the en- 

 tire mass of our knowledge : one, quantita- 

 tive, indicative of relationship according to 

 number and volume ; the other, qualitative, 

 relationship in reference to material constitu- 

 tion. The former, and more accessible form, 

 belongs to the mathematical, the second to the 

 chemical sciences. In order to subject phe- 

 nomena to calculation, matter is assumed as 

 composed of molecules, or atoms ; the number, 

 form, position, and polarity of which give oc- 

 casion to phenomena. All myths about im- 

 ponderable matters and special vital forces in- 

 herent in organized beings, only render views 

 of nature perplexed and indistinct. Under great 

 variety of conditions and forms of apprehen- 

 sion, the heavy burthen of our accumulated, 

 and still accumulating knowledge, is moved 

 lazily and reluctantly. Reason, boldly and with 

 increasing success, now seeks to break down 

 the ancient forms, by means of which, as with 

 mechanical contrivances and symbols, man has 

 still been wont to strive to obtain mastery over 

 rebellious matter. 



