184? DISCOURSE ON THE STUDY 



Bacon's work, we shall here give a few examples 

 to illustrate the nature of some of his principal cases. 

 One, of what he calls "glaring instances," has just 

 been mentioned. In these, the nature, or cause en- 

 quired into, (which in this case is the cause of the 

 assumption of a peculiar external form, or the in- 

 ternal structure of a crystal,) " stands naked and 

 alone, and this in an eminent mariner, or in the 

 highest degree of its power." No doubt, such in- 

 stances as these are highly instructive ; but the 

 difficulty in physics is to find such, not to perceive 

 their force when found. 



(193.) The contrary of glaring are " clandestine 

 instances," where " the nature sought is exhibited 

 in its weakest and most imperfect state." Of 

 this, Bacon himself has given an admirable ex- 

 ample in the cohesion of fluids, as a clandestine 

 instance of the " nature or quality of consistence, 

 or solidity." Yet here, again, the same acute discri- 

 mination which enabled Bacon to perceive the ana- 

 logy which connects fluids with solids, through the 

 common property of cohesive attraction, would, at 

 the same time, have enabled him to draw from it, 

 if properly supported, every consequence necessary 

 to forming just notions of the cohesive force ; nor 

 does its reference to the class of clandestine in- 

 stances at all assist in bringing forward and ma- 

 turing the final results. When, however, the final 

 result is obtained, when our induction is complete, 

 and we'would verify it, this class of instances is of 

 great use, being, in fact, frequently no other than 

 that of extreme cases, such as we have already spoken 

 of (in 177); which, by placing our conclusions, as 



