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orange, green, and blue must also be split into exact 

 halves. In short, the reduction must take place, not by 

 absolutely equal quantities, but by equal fractional parts. 

 In white light the preponderance as regards energy of 

 the larger over the smaller waves must always be 

 immense. Were the case otherwise, the physiological 

 correlative, blue, of the smaller waves would have the 

 upper hand in our sensations. 



My wish to render our mental images complete, causes 

 me to dwell briefly upon these known points, and the 

 same wish will cause me to linger a little longer among 

 others. But here I am disturbed by my reflections. When 

 I consider the effect of dinner upon the nervous system, 

 and the relation of that system to the intellectual powers I 

 am now invoking ; when I remember that the universal 

 experience of mankind has fixed upon certain definite 

 elements of perfection in an after-dinner speech, and 

 when I think how conspicuous by their absence these 

 elements are on the present occasion, the thought is not 

 comforting to a man who wishes to stand well with his 

 fellow-creatures in general, and with the members of the 

 British Association in particular. My condition might 

 well resemble that of the ether, which is scientifically 

 defined as an assemblage of vibrations. And the worst 

 of it is that, unless you reverse the general verdict re- 

 garding the effect of dinner, and prove in your own per- 

 sons that a uniform experience need not continue uni- 

 form which will be a great point gained for some 

 people these tremors of mine are likely to become 

 more and more painful. But I call to mind the com- 

 forting words of an inspired, though uncanonical writer, 

 who admonishes us in the Apocrypha that fear is a bad 



