LAW IMPLIES MIND. 303 



by the discovery of such laws and properties as 

 those of which we have been speaking; and we 

 shall therefore make a few observations on this 

 subject. 



CHAPTER V. 



On Inductive Habits ; or, on the Impression pro- 

 duced on Men's minds by discovering Laws of 

 Nature. 



THE object of physical science is to discover such 

 laws and properties as those of which we have 

 spoken in the last chapter. In this task, un- 

 doubtedly a progress has been made on which 

 we may well look with pleasure and admiration ; 

 yet we cannot hesitate to confess that the extent 

 of our knowledge on such subjects bears no pro- 

 portion to that of our ignorance. Of the great 

 and comprehensive laws which rule over the 

 widest provinces of natural phenomena, few have 

 yet been disclosed to us. And the names of the 

 philosophers, whose high office it has been to 

 detect such laws, are even yet far from numerous. 

 In looking back at the path by which science 

 has advanced to its present position, we see the 

 names of the great discoverers shine out like 

 luminaries, few and scattered along the line : by 



