MATTER AND FORGE. 383 



to know the causes of things, and surrounded by objects 

 which excite its questionings, and raise the desire for an 

 explanation. It is related of a young prince of one of the 

 Pacific islands, that when he first saw himself in a looking- 

 glass, he ran round the glass to see who was standing at 

 the back. And thus it is with the general human intellect, 

 as regards the phenomena of the external world. It wishes 

 to get behind and learn the causes and connections of these 

 phenomena. What is the sun, what is the earth, what 

 should we see if we came to the edge of the earth and 

 looked over? What is the meaning of thunder and light- 

 ning, of hail, rain, storm, and snow? Such questions 

 presented themselves to early men, and by and by it was 

 discovered that this desire for knowledge was not implanted 

 in vain. After many trials it became evident that man's 

 capacities were, so to speak, the complement of nature's 

 facts, and that, within certain limits, the secret of the 

 universe was open to the human understanding. It was 

 found that the mind of man had the power of penetrating 

 far beyond the boundaries of his five senses; that the things 

 which are seen in the material world depend for their 

 action upon things unseen; in short, that besides the phe- 

 nomena which address the senses, there are laws and prin- 

 ciples and processes which do not address the senses at all, 

 but which must be, and can be, spiritually discerned. 



To the subjects which require this discernment belong 

 the phenomena of molecular force. But to trace the 

 genesis of the notions now entertained upon this subject, 

 we have to go a long way back. In the drawing of a bow, 

 the darting of a javelin, the throwing of a stone in the 

 lifting of burdens, and in personal combats, even savage 

 man became acquainted with the operation at force. Ages 

 of discipline, moreover, taught him foresight. He laid by 

 at the proper season stores of food, thus obtaining time to 

 look about him, and to become an observer and inquirer. 

 Two things which he noticed must have profoundly stirred 

 his curiosity. He found that a kind of resin dropped from 

 a certain tree possessed, when rubbed, the power of draw- 

 ing light bodies to itself, and of causing them to cling to 

 it; and he had also found that a particular stone exerted a 

 similar power over a particular kind of metal. I allude, of 

 course, to electrified amber, and to the loadstone, or natural 

 magnet, and its power to attract particles of iron. Pre- 



