2 LIFE AND HABIT. 



the crusher. I have no wish to instruct, and not much 

 to be instructed ; my aim is simply to entertain and 

 interest the numerous class of people who, like myself, 

 know nothing of science, but who enjoy speculating 

 and reflecting (not too deeply) upon the phenomena 

 around them. I have therefore allowed myself a loose 

 rein, to run on with whatever came uppermost, without 

 regard to whether it was new or old ; feeling sure that 

 if true, it must be very old or it never could have 

 occurred to one so little versed in science as myself; 

 and knowing that it is sometimes pleasanter to meet 

 the old under slightly changed conditions, than to go 

 through the formalities and uncertainties of making 

 new acquaintance. At the same time, I should say 

 that whatever I have knowingly taken from any one 

 else, I have always acknowledged. 



It is plain, therefore, that my book cannot be 

 intended for the perusal of scientific people; it is 

 intended for the general public only, with whom I 

 believe myself to be in harmony, as knowing neither 

 much more nor much less than they do. 



Taking then, the art of playing the piano as an 

 example of the kind of action we are in search of, we 

 observe that a practised player will perform very diffi- 

 cult pieces apparently without effort, often, indeed, 

 while thinking and talking of something quite other 

 than his music ; yet he will play accurately and, pos- 

 sibly, with much expression. If he has been playing a 

 fugue, say in four parts, he will have kept each part 

 well distinct, in such a manner as to prove that his 

 mind was not prevented, by its other occupations, from 



