28 THE ADVANCE OF SCIENCE 



during the last half - century, I may be 

 thought to have exhibited more courage 

 than discretion, and perhaps more pre- 

 sumption than either. So far as physical 

 science is concerned, the days of Admi- 

 rable Crichtons have long been over, and 

 the most indefatigable of hard workers 

 may think he has done well if he has 

 mastered one of its minor subdivisions. 

 Nevertheless, it is possible for anyone, 

 who has familiarised himself with the 

 operations of science in one department, 

 to comprehend the significance, and even 

 to form a general estimate of the value, of 

 the achievements of specialists in other 

 departments. 



JNor is their any lack either of guidance, 

 or of aids to ignorance. By a happy chance, 

 the first edition of Whewell's 'History 

 of the Inductive Sciences' was published 

 in 1837, and it affords a very useful view 

 of the state of things at the commence- 

 ment of the Victorian epoch. As to sub- 



