ON THE STUDY OF PHYSICS. 



elation this loyal surrender of himself to Nature and to 

 fact, he lacks, in my opinion, the first mark of a true 

 philosopher. Thus the earnest prosecutor of science, who 

 does not work with the idea of producing a sensation in 

 the world, who loves the truth better than the transitory 

 bhize of to-day's fame, who cornes to his task with a single 

 eye, finds in that task an indirect means of the highest 

 moral culture. And although the virtue of the act depends 

 upon its privacy, this sacrifice of self, this upright deter- 

 mination to accept the truth, no matter how it may present 

 itself even at the hands of a scientific foe, if necessary 

 carries with it its own reward. When prejudice is put under 

 foot and the stains of personal bias have been washed away 

 when a man consents to lay aside his vanity and to 

 become Nature's organ his elevation is the instant conse- 

 quence of his humility. I should not wonder if my remarks 

 provoked a smile, for they seem to indicate that I regard 

 the man of science as a heroic, if not indeed an angelic, 

 character; and cases may occur to you which indicate the 

 reverse. You may point to the quarrels of scientific men, 

 at their struggles for priority, to that unpleasant egotism 

 which screams around its little property of discovery like a 

 scared plover about its young. I will not deny all this; but 

 let it be set down to its proper account, to the weakness 

 or, if you will to the selfishness of Man, but not to the 

 charge of Physical Science. 



The second process in physical investigation is deduction, 

 or the advance of the mind from fixed principles to the 

 conclusions which flow from them. The rules of logic are 

 the formal statement of this process, which, however, was 

 practiced by every healthy mind before ever such rules 

 were written. In the study of Physics, induction and de- 

 duction are perpetually wedded to each other. The man 

 observes, strips facts of their peculiarities of form, and 

 tries to unite them by their essences; having effected this, 

 he at once deduces, and thus checks his induction. Here 

 the grand difference between the methods at present fol- 

 lowed, and those of the ancients, becomes manifest. They 

 were one-sided in these matters: they omitted the process 

 of induction, and substituted conjecture for observation. 

 They could never, therefore, fulfill the mission of Man to 

 " replenish the earth, and subdue it." The subjugation of 

 Nature is only to be accomplished by the penetration of 



