THE ASTEOXOMICAL NIEW OF XATUKE. 305 



we owe the first begiimiiigs of a general and mtranational 

 STstem of units and measnrements, whiclL like the com- 

 mon Latin tongue in former centuries, or like the unirersal 

 lancruages of algebra or of music, enables as to express the 

 results of scientific research in fommlse intelligible everr- 

 where and at all tnnes, without laboiicnis translations and 

 time-absorbing reluctions. 



The effect of these international labours has been to 

 destrc'T the clearly marked differences of national thoi^it. 

 At least in the domain of sdenoe the peculiarities of the 

 French, the German, and the English schcwls are rapidlr 

 disappearing. The characteristics of national thoo^t 

 still exist : but in order to find them in the present age 

 we should have to study the deeper philoso^^iical leasiHi- 

 iuiTs, the general Kterarure and the artistic efforts of 

 the three nations. These aspects of the dioi^t of our 

 c-entury lielong to later portions of this work. I hc^ 

 there to take up many of the threads which I here leak 

 off. as for the present purpose they cannot be profital^ 

 continued. To separate the scientific work of the second 

 half of the centurv ac-cordins to c-ountries and natims 

 would lead to unnecessary repetition. The second half of 

 the c-enrury sees everywhere in the domain of science the 

 dying out of national restrictions in every country the 

 introduction of foreign meth3ds and foreign models, foreign 

 institutions and foreign apparatus. The establishment of 

 an observatory or a laboratory in oor age lays nnder con- 

 tribution almost every civilised c-ountry in the world, and 

 the mc-st international of sciences ^that of electricity 

 fixes its units by the names of discoverers of many 

 c-ountries. 



VOL. L r 



