iY6 ' THE GENESIS OF SCIEXCE. 



see geometry used in elucidation of t"he laws of light ; and 

 in the other, geometry and arithmetic made to measure the 

 phenomena of sound. 



Did space permit, it would be desirable here to de- 

 scribe the state of the less advanced sciences — to point out 

 how, while a few had thus reached the first stages of quan- 

 titative prevision, the rest were progressing in qualitative 

 prevision — how some small generalizations were made re- 

 specting evaporation, and heat, and electricity, and mag- 

 netism, which, empirical as they were, did not in that re- 

 spect differ from the first generalizations of every science — 

 how the Greek physicians had made advances in physiology 

 and pathology, which, considering the great imperfection 

 of our present knowledge, are by no means to be despised 

 — how zoology had been so far systematized by Aristotle, 

 as, to some extent, enabled him from the presence of cer- 

 tain organs to predict the presence of others — how in Aris- 

 totle's Politics, there is some progress towards a scientific 

 conception of social phenomena, and sundry previsions re- 

 specting them — and how in the state of the Greek socie- 

 ties, as well as in the writings of Greek philosophers, we 

 may recognise not only an increasing clearness in that con- 

 ception of equity on which the social science is based, but 

 also some appreciation of the fact that social stability de- 

 pends upon the maintenance of equitable regulations. We 

 might dwell at length upon the causes which retarded the 

 development of some of the sciences, as for example, chemis- 

 try ; showing that relative complexity had nothing to do 

 with it — that the oxidation of a piece of iron is a simpler 

 phenomenon than the recurrence of eclipses, and the dis- 

 covery of carbonic acid less difficult than that of the pre- 

 cession of the equinoxes — but that the relatively slow ad- 

 vance of chemical knowledge was due, partly to the fact 

 that its phenomena were not daily thrust on men's notice 

 as those of astronomy were ; partly to the fact that Nature 



