26 ON SOME ASPECTS OF THE 



The novelty and the somewhat ambitious character of 

 the scheme rendered it desirable that it should be intro- 

 duced by lectures of a general nature ; the scheme, being 

 a nativity, should, it was urged, be vouched for by 

 sponsors. The duties of sponsorship are responsible as 

 well as honourable; and whilst acknowledging the honour 

 of being selected to aid in discharging them, I am but too 

 conscious of the responsibility. I feel, however, fortunate 

 in that the most important part of these duties has been 

 placed in other and abler hands ; my friend and col- 

 league, the President of Corpus, who has introduced the 

 whole subject as an operation of the mind, has done so in 

 such a lucid and instructive manner as to relieve me of 

 much anxiety in this respect. Indeed, since the scientific 

 method, whatever it may not be, is undoubtedly a mode 

 of thought, it is open to question whether there is room 

 for any further general introduction of the subject. This 

 consideration has, I confess, somewhat embarrassed me, 

 and other circumstances have contributed to my embar- 

 rassment ; the necessity of treating the matter generally, 

 and yet of bringing forward particulars to give the treat- 

 ment interest and point, the extensive scope of the 

 method even when limited to natural science, the diffi- 

 culty of rendering myself intelligible in a subject which 

 has so many side issues, and the difficulty of selecting 

 an interesting line of treatment ; above all, the difficulty 

 of prefacing any line of treatment with some definite 

 indication as to what this phrase, ' the scientific method ', 

 means to me. 



One may be a scientific man, pursuing scientific inves- 

 tigations, and making from time to time definite contri- 

 butions to scientific knowledge, without being able to 

 answer shortly the question, What do you understand by 

 this phrase, ' the scientific method ' ? How can it be 



