RATIONALISM AND SCIENCE 225 



east ; but this is no proof ; it is only a corroborative 

 probability that the earth is rotating under it. He denies 

 that my illustration of the spectroscope is a just one, and 

 says : " We actually subject the photosphere of the sun to 

 observation and experiment". I unhesitatingly deny 

 this ; for if the photosphere be composed of gaseous iron, 

 sodium, etc., not one of these elements ever reaches us. 

 Nothing but ethereal vibrations arrive at the spectroscope. 

 These, we believe, indicate the presence of those elements ; 

 but it is only an inference. My object in quoting the 

 above paragraphs is to show, first the exaggerated value 

 put upon Reason by Rationalists, and their inconsistency 

 in not recognising the importance of inductive evidence 

 where experiment is impossible. 



Now let us turn to Haeckel's views on science.^ 

 (i) "Truth unadulterated is only to be found in the 

 temple of the study of Nature ; and that the only avail- 

 able paths to it are critical observation and reflection — 

 the empirical investigation of facts and the rational study 

 of their efficient causes. . . . The Goddess of Truth 

 dwells in the Temple of Nature. . . . The rich gifts which 

 the Goddess of Truth bestows on us are the noble fruits of 

 the tree of knowledge and the inestimable treasure of a 

 clear unified view of the world." ^ 



These quotations will be sufficient. Other Rational- 

 istic authors write in the same strain ; but all true scien- 

 tists will recognise this as hyperbolic language, which far 

 exceeds the modesty of a Newton ! The serious omis- 

 sion, however, which I have emphasised, and shall do so 

 again, is the almost invariable want of any due apprecia- 

 tion of inductive evidence ; which can be quite equivalent 

 to a mathematical demonstration ; as in the Truth of the 

 rotation of the earth, 



1 The Riddle of the Universe. ^Fp. 345, 346. 



15 



