PREFATORY NOTE. 



abstrahere " for his motto, the champion of free 

 speculation may retort with another from the same 

 hand, " Citius enim emergit veritas e falsitate quam 

 e confusione ; " 2 and each may adduce abundant his- 

 torical proof that his method has contributed as much 

 to the progress of knowledge as that of his rival. 

 Every science has been largely indebted to bold, nay, 

 even to wild hypotheses, for the power of ordering and 

 grasping the endless details of natural fact which they 

 confer ; for the moral stimulus which arises out of the 

 desire to confirm or to confute them ; and last, but not 

 least, for the suggestion of paths of fruitful inquiry, 

 which, without them, would never have been fol- 

 lowed. From the days of Columbus and Kepler to 

 those of Oken, Lamarck, and Boucher de Perthes, 

 Saul, who, seeking his father's asses, found a kingdom, 

 is the prototype of many a renowned discoverer who 

 has lighted upon verities while following illusions, 

 which, had they deluded lesser men, might 'possibly 

 have been considered more or less asinine. 



On the other hand, there is no branch of science 

 which does not owe at least an equal obligation to 

 those cool heads, which are not to be seduced into the 

 acceptance of symmetrical formulae and bold genera- 

 lisations for solid truths because of their brilliancy 



1 Novum Organon, li. 



2 Partis instaurationis secuncise delincatio. 



