COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



will unite, the volume of the gases which are 

 to be given off, or the intensity of the radia- 

 tion which is to warm the room. Her prevision 

 is qualitative, not quantitative in its character: 

 she can foresee the kind of effect, but not its 

 amount. 



A moment*s reflection, however, will show 

 us that this statement, as it stands, does not 

 convey the whole truth. It is not quite true 

 that our servant-girl can foresee the kind of 

 effect. She can foresee a part of it : she can 

 tell us that the wood will burn, but she will 

 know nothing about the union of oxygen with 

 carbon ; and will thus illustrate the superiority 

 of science even with respect to qualitative pre- 

 vision. On the other hand, she can, after a rude 

 fashion, foresee the amount of effect which will 

 follow her proceedings ; since she can, if intel- 

 ligent, estimate the amount of fuel which will 

 be required to produce a comfortable warmth. 

 So the savage can estimate the amount of ten- 

 sion which he must impart to his bow in order 

 to send his arrow to the requisite distance. 

 Thus we see that, even with respect to quanti- 

 tative prevision, science can be distinguished 

 from ordinary knowledge only by the superior 

 accuracy and greater extent to which it carries 

 such prevision. Just this same difference of de- 

 gree between science and ordinary knowledge 

 constitutes also the chief difference between the 



48 



